Posts Tagged ‘Chevy Duramax’

7 seconds - part 2

by Jeff Barker
Sunday, March 15th, 2009

Race day!

It’s Saturday March 7th 2009 and we’re back at the SpeedWorld drag strip in Wittman Arizona. It’s time to go racing. Being as this is my first diesel only event I’m really not sure what to expect. Oh sure, I’ve been to some NHRA events before, but the only diesels there were in the parking lot and were hooked up to the race trailers. Here we’ve got both. Diesel trucks towing trailers loaded with, well, diesel trucks. Ok, not all of them. The crew from Texas Diesel Power just arrived with their diesel powered Funny Car, and another crew just showed up with a diesel powered “rat-rod”. I must admit both of those cars are so very cool, I’d love to go over and check them both out, but we have work to do.blog_s10_f2

For starters we need to get the Sidewinder S-10 out of the trailer (again), but at least we don’t have to unload everything else like we did yesterday. Now that she’s back up on the race stands the crew fires her up. Needless to say there’s a large crowd forming very quickly. Now, again, I’ve been to NHRA events before, and some, not all, but some of the crews there usually aren’t very happy when people start coming into the race booth. I check with the crew on their feelings on letting “civilians” come in and get a closer look. Our calibration engineer tells me that “Gale wants anybody and everybody to see this truck up close. As long as they aren’t getting in the way, you let them come on in and take a look. Let them take any pictures they like and answer any questions your able to”. Well now that’s just plain cool.

The crew is almost finished warming up the truck and I notice that several people are getting neck cramps from trying to look in without crossing some imagined line on the ground. The look on their face is one of shock when I tell them “Come on in, take a look”. Almost instantly out come the cameras. Pictures are being taken at a rate that would make any Hollywood celebrity jealous. Then, of course, here come the flurry of questions; and some of them sound like Banks is involved in some kind of government cover up. In less then five minutes I heard nearly a dozen theories on what kind of fuel the truck runs. I was asked everything from “are you running compressed natural gas?” to “You have to be using propane”, to “I heard you use some kind of diesel/alcohol/plutonium combination”. I can tell you point blank the only things used in the engine are straight USLD #2 diesel fuel and nitrous oxide and nothing else. I should know, I watched these guys like a hawk all weekend. In fact the crew from Texas Diesel Power were running low on nitrous themselves so we filled their bottle for them from our own supply. Our calibration engineer is giving us the thumbs up; all is ready, and its time to stretch the S-10’s legs a little. Driver Wes Anderson is back behind the wheel and he drives the S-10 over and gets in line. Interestingly enough the car in front of us is the Funny Car from Texas Diesel Power so he’s going first. This is going to be so cool!blog_s10_h

The crew from Texas Diesel Power does their burnout. They stage the funny car but they seem to be having a little trouble getting their turbo to “light” properly. The green light comes up and the funny car takes off. About a third of the way down the track a loud “POP” can be heard followed by a lot of white smoke. I’m hoping everything is ok as the driver John Robinson gets over the finish line and pulls off the track. Wes is up next in the Sidewinder S-10. He does his burnout and stages the truck. I’m making a mental note to keep my jaw from dropping open again as he gets ready to launch. The green light comes up and the S-10 blasts off the line. Strangely I find myself not watching the truck but I’m looking up at the stands. There’s several hundred people watching the truck rocket down the track and every one of them is on their feet. Wes crosses the finish and the tower lights up with 7.83 seconds and 176 miles per hour just as the crowed erupts in applause. Hey, I guess they liked it. In minutes Wes is pulling back into the pits and another crowd is forming.

The funny car is back in the pits so I take a little stroll over to not only introduce myself, but to see if everything is OK with their Funny Car. I must say that the guys from Texas Diesel Power are some really good people. We spend a few minutes talking about their run and all, and it seems the loud pop we heard was their intercooler boost tube popping off. Not really a big deal and they should not have any trouble getting her back up and running. It’s never fun to see somebody break on the track so it’s a relief they don’t have to put it back on the trailer. I head back over to our pit area as I see there’s another dozen people standing outside trying to take a look at the race truck. Once again it’s a look of shock when I tell them “Come on in, take a look”. I’m starting to enjoy this.

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Posted in Sidewinder S-10 Drag Truck | 1 Comment »

Hoist the colors! or With great power comes great responsibility!

by John Espino
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

I’m on my way back from Tampa and the Truck U shoot. I’m on the plane and just finished watching the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean for the umpteenth time (a truly bitchin’ movie no matter what anyone says! Naysayers can walk the plank) and I feel compelled to finish my story from my first entry. Arrr… Ye sees me hardies me thinks the show is going to be pretty neat, says I. It focuses on safe towing power (that’s where Banks comes in). Apparently the truck they borrowed for the taping was an ‘08 Chevy Duramax that was used to tow a five-car hauler. That alone takes a lot of grunt, and while the D-max is up for the job, it still could use some help by infusing it with Herculean power. So what we did was put a full Banks PowerPack on it, which if it was FDA recommended would come with a prescription.

Folks are jittery about doing something to a new truck with a particulate trap on it, and why shouldn’t they be? You see, there are a lot of choices out there in Performanceville, but not all products are created equal. Sure, I work for Banks and am going to say my stuff is the best, but really it’s true and not an overbiased opinion. At Banks, we spend a bundle getting everyone’s offerings and then proceed to test the snot out of ‘em with equipment that rivals the original manufacturers. You see, companies rushing to get their products to be “first to market” aren’t really that good for you if quality and efficiency go out the window or, more importantly, out the window goes the safety factor that the stock system afforded you. What will it do to your rig while it unleashes its rush of power? You see, that smile on your face from the extra speed only lasts so long when your investment starts to puke parts like an anorexic model after a hardy meal. Three words can bring confidence to your choice of go-powerful parts: CleanTune™, ActiveSafety® and AutoRate®.

CleanTune is what we call our tunes or calibrations. They are made specifically to grant you the full power potential of your truck by not only adding fuel and twisting the timing to what we prescribe for work, sport or race, but doing so by ensuring that all the extra fuel that we add will be used. Running a dirty tune gets you a plugged-up DPF on new trucks and more frequent regens, which equates to overall lower performance, extra wear on the filter and lower fuel mileage. Plug the filter up too much and that extra soot that you added by running that “other product” will need to be burned to ash so that it can be ready to accept more crud you’re going to load it up with. The substrate ceramic core is actually pretty fragile, being that it basically starts to melt at temps of 1,200 degrees. Seeing that DPF outlet temps were measured at the DPF outlet at 1,100 degrees, I’d venture to say that regular regen cycles get pretty close to the danger zone…without help. Now put a dirty tune on and it has to clean itself more often because it is loading up with more soot, further degrading the internal material. A full filter lowers performance and mpg. Plug it up too much and it’ll work harder to burn itself clean, which causes excess temps and possibly an uncontrolled regen event. If that sounds like a bad thing, then give yourself a gold star. And here’s something funny: Some of these products allow you to force the regen. Maybe they think you’d like to impress your pals by setting things on fire by command, or maybe the tunes are so bad that you’ll need to do it more often to get more performance. The fun ends quickly when you realize that replacing a trap costs thousands of bucks. Oh, then there’s the fact that the ECU keeps track of how many events have taken place and rats you out when you visit the dealer.

Good: Inlet side of DPF
The good side of the DPF. Note that the internal ceramic substrate is intact and was doing its job of grabbing the diesel soot.

Bad: Compromised outlet side of DPF
Same filter, just the outlet side. The inside material has taken enough of the excess heat caused by a dirty tune and has begun to collapse, break and plug up the airflow. This DPF is now toast.

Ugly: Result of a dirty tune on DPF
Just one of the hunks of material from the failed DPF. Figure that this and smaller parts are eventually going to shoot out of your tailpipe — that or rattle until you get it changed. By the way, premature failure of the DPF is not covered under warranty, and a new one can cost a couple grand.

ActiveSafety really does one thing: Through a series of redundant systems, it ensures that in the event (an unlikely one at that) that the tuner fails, it will take itself out of the equation and allows all of the stock signals to reach their destination uninterrupted. Good? You bet, as this action will keep the engine running in stock form while other tuners kill the engine by creating roadblock for the essential signals. No signals=dead truck, be it in a safe place or on the railroad tracks.

Now for AutoRate, our system of checks and balances. We give you power, but you know that absolute power corrupts absolutely. What the heck am I saying? We give you performance, but not at the cost of your truck. The tuner becomes an active member of the truck, monitoring things like temperatures and the transmission. Fluids get too hot; we pull power to keep things safe. When readings reach acceptable levels, AutoRate gradually gives power back to you. Start the vehicle up in subzero temps and we won’t give you all the power until your truck warms up and the various temps are in check. Power is pulled out just before the automatic transmission shifts, and then we give you the power after the shift, thereby allowing the shift to be made on stock power. And there’s more, but for that you should take a look at the test section on our website  You’ll learn all kinds of neat stuff there.

In closing, I’d say that our power products don’t rape and pillage your truck…or plunder your wallet at the pump. We honor your investment and you as a customer.

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Posted in Banks Power | 1 Comment »