World’s First Roadracing Pickup Truck « Banks Blog

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The World’s First Roadracing Pickup Truck

by Tim Gavern

Wednesday, July 6th, 2005

How many of you know that Banks’ Race Shop is building a roadracing truck? Did you know that the truck is going to be diesel powered? That’s right! A diesel powered roadracing truck! And it will be twin-turbocharged!

What’s the big deal you say? Well, diesels have several advantages over gasoline. First is mileage. Diesels generally achieve 20-40% higher mileage than gasoline-powered equivalents. Improving mileage means less fuel stops in an endurance race. This is a huge advantage and one that can shave critical minutes off of a team’s total time.

Secondly, producing massive amounts of torque from less than 2,000 r.p.m. is a distinct advantage. Getting more power to the ground quicker at the exit of a corner can play a big factor in determining who wins the drag race down the straight. Advantage two.

Banks likes the advantages of diesel and is gambling that his newest diesel showcase, dubbed the D-Max Type-R, for its full-race General Motors 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 will be a smashing success.

If Banks last racing diesel gamble is any indicator, the new truck should be successful - Banks’ Sidewinder Dakota set several world records at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2002. And, how about this for a test? The fully street-legal Sidewinder Dakota just returned from Hot Rod Magazine’s 2005 Power Tour, where it got an unbelievable 23.6 miles per gallon on the 1,700-mile tour.

Here are a couple of sneak peeks to show you how the truck is coming along. The engine photo shows one of the new Banks twin-turbocharger intake manifolds mounted on the engine. The entire buildup of the Banks D-Max Type-R is updated continually on the bankspower.com website. It can be found at: http://www.bankspower.com/DmaxTypeR.cfm

There are over 200 Banks employees on pins and needles waiting to see how Banks’ D-Max Type-R does at its first race. If nothing else, Banks’ D-Max Type-R should gain a new audience and following for performance diesel.