Banks Blog Archive
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Accelerated Breathing or Product Evolution
You know the feeling when you have a cold and your nose is all plugged and it's a doggone burden to even breathe? Well, I imagine that is kinda how your vehicle must feel day after day with the stock intake and exhaust system that it was born with. It doesn't stop there, because if it's turbocharged, it just might have a terribly restrictive intercooler to boot. With all of the backup in airflow, it's a wonder your vehicle even moves, and with you behind the wheel demanding more performance to move around that Sunday driver in front of you, the situation is only exasperated. It's no wonder why the mileage is not really quite what that window sticker said your ride was supposed to get.
Many moons ago, when I worked in the Installation department here at Banks, folks would often ask what we do to get more power and economy out of a vehicle. I simply explained it like this: You have a fantastic athlete under the hood, that being the engine, which is designed and bred to be a winner. The factory tells that athlete that he has to wear an extra heavy backpack and carry arm and leg weights. Next, they tell him to run a marathon, but he has to run the race with a piece of tape over his mouth and an index finger up one nostril. What do you think will be the outcome of the race for the poor fellow under these conditions?
Posted by John Espino on May 29, 2008The Indy 500’s first and only turbo diesel
Q: When did the first turbocharged car appear at the Indy 500?
A: It was in 1952, and the car was not only turbocharged but it was a Cummins diesel - a first for both!
The inline 6-cylinder engine displaced 401 cubic inches and made 400 horsepower at 4,000 rpm on 20 inches of boost. The smart-looking yellow and red car sat on the pole for the 1952 Indianapolis 500 Mile Sweepstakes Race with California kid Freddie Agabashian in the driver's compartment turning a track record 139.10-mph lap.
The diesel engine's great mileage meant that the race car could theoretically go the full 200 laps of the race without stopping for fuel. Unfortunately, tire wear with the overly heavy car was dismal. (The machine came in at nearly 2,500 pounds dry and weighed a whopping 3,100 ready to race!) In fact, in qualifying trim, future racing hall of famer Agabashian had very nearly worn out a set of tires just running his four laps for the pole!
Posted by Doug Stokes on May 29, 2008Gambling on alternative fuels or A mighty wind
I spent last weekend (not this one that just passed but the other one) in Las Vegas with my buddies from Bosch. We were in the city of sin to set up Bosch's Learning Center for the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference that was being held there. It's kind of hard to think of diesel as an "alternative" fuel since it's been around for such a long time, but it's lumped into the same category as all of the future fuels that are making headlines these days. I'm going to list these different fuels in an upcoming blog and go over what makes them real - or just plain wishful thinking - but right now I just want to share a little about the event we were getting ready for on Monday, May 12.
Posted by John Espino on May 22, 2008Sidewinder S-10 Drag Truck Update
Dear gearheads and fellow diesel freaks,
It's mid-May 2008, and we are now at a power level with the Banks Sidewinder S-10 that is reminding me of all the nitromethane-burning engines I raced back in the day. We are using up pistons like a good thing. We're not changing them every run like I did with my nitro-burning rails and drag boats, but we're changing them too damn often for a diesel. We've been doing it for a while, and it's only gotten more problematic as we've made more power and gotten down into the 7.70s. Now we are too close to "running on kill" for my liking.
The culprit is injector on-time as measured in crank angle degrees. As we have gained engine speed (now 5,800 rpm at times) and increased fuel rate, our piston position at injector closing has gone down the hole. The truck weighs 2,930 pounds, we're in the low 7.70s, and we're making good power (1,280 bhp). Of course there's more power to come, but first we need to address getting more fuel in and using less crank angle to do it.Right now, at 1,280 bhp, the thermal energy from the injected fuel is gradually drilling 7 holes in each piston right at the top edge of the firing cup. We have not killed an engine, but this is not good for long-term piston life. We have gotten to this level using a single Bosch 3.3 pump that we have modified for proper fuel control at the flow and pump speed (same as engine speed) that we are demanding. Honestly, with this engine combination, 1,200 bhp is probably the safe limit. Beyond that, we begin to have demanded rail pressure problems.
Posted by Gale Banks on May 14, 2008Fuel-injected childhood dreams
It's Friday, but not an ordinary Friday by any means. It's actually a day that I have waited for most of my life. I've never kept it a secret that I'm somewhat of a nerd and a child at heart. Today, both of those traits are in for a treat as I use up a half day of vacation and split work early to catch a showing of Speed Racer! Yep, the show that gave me the automotive bug when I was just four years old is finally a movie!
I'd have to say I'm kinda lucky that my parents didn't really pay too much attention to me as a kid. There was TV, right, so why interact? No hard feelings; after all, I wouldn't be who I am today if it hadn't been that way. I had great playmates and teachers: Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, Johnny Sako and his Giant Robot, several Japanese super robots, Spider-Man, Batman, Ultraman, and Speed Racer.Posted by John Espino on May 09, 2008Hoist the colors! or With great power comes great responsibility!
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®.
Posted by John Espino on May 07, 2008What's my motivation? or Trucking in Tampa
For the plane ride back, I've got to remember to at least try for a window seat. It was bad enough being the middle child in my family, but it was torture being in the middle on a plane ride across the country. Heck, I even ran out of mints! At least sitting by the window on the plane trip back I can spend the hours looking for the gremlin that crawls on the wing and jacks around with the engine. I'm going to get that little jerk some day! Some day!
Anyways...
So here I am in Tampa, on the set where they film Two Guys Garage and Truck U. It's always cool visiting where TV and film magic happen. Most people think that it all happens in sunny California, but really it can happen anywhere. For example, the set where I am now happens to be in a very inconspicuous area next to what looks like an auto repair joint. Inside this bunker is everything you need to film whatever you want, really, and through the magic of HD recording gear, the process is a short one. Edits and all the other film stuff can be done on the fly, saving huge amounts of time. The shoot is expected to wrap up early this evening.
Posted by John Espino on May 06, 2008Being the middleman or Fire-breathing exhaust
Wouldn't you know it, I'm trapped in the middle seat on this leg of the flight to Florida. It's not a good situation due to the fact that the gents on either side of me are asleep with their mouths open, a trait I deplore among sleepers. That and folks whom you can hear chomp, slurp and downright overly masticate their sustenance - be it gum or a meal. Worse yet is their lack of understanding for my personal boundaries as their lifeless appendages rest on me. Under these circumstances, I can't use my laptop and have to write this on my trusty pocket PC using a tiny keyboard. Urgh...good thing I'm a techno-geek.
Anyways, so I'm flying to Tampa. I've never been there, maybe because I've never needed to or the fact that it sounds like a medical condition. But now I'm headed there as a technical representative for Banks Power during a shoot for an episode of Truck U, which airs on Speed Channel. It's a companion show to Two Guys Garage, which is a pretty good show in its own right. The episode will cover safe power for DPF-equipped diesel trucks. (Aw geez! The guy next to me has frequent spasms while sleeping. Maybe he's dreaming about being in school again and not having his homework turned in...that or cobras.)
A diesel particulate filter, or DPF, is something relatively new to a diesel's emission system, and it is both misunderstood and feared...kinda like the Hulk. Unlike the green goliath, however, a DPF unit isn't infused with gamma radiation and can't tear up a city, but it can breathe fire and destroy property if provoked. Let me explain: The filter is in place to load up with soot particles that would normally make their way out of the tailpipe. After a certain amount of miles, the DPF goes through a regeneration cycle to burn itself clean. In order to do this, the ECU commands the injectors to spew an extra amount of fuel and plays with the timing so that it can be ignited, causing an afterburner effect. This event effectively makes the trapped soot burn to ash and makes the DPF clean again. The byproduct of this "event" is a stunning EGT level. This same exhaust that burns the soot into ash also blows out of the tailpipe, bringing about the need for a special kind of exhaust system that draws in colder outside air to mix with the blowtorch-hot exhaust.Posted by John Espino on May 06, 2008
