Since the Diesel has become the engine of choice in LMP1 and most of today's engine builders don't have any real experience with diesel....... would it make sense to go to someone like Gale Banks and have them design and build you a diesel motor? They already have a Duramax V-8 that will make like 550 bhp.... He ought to be able to squeeze another 100 hp out of 2 or 4 more cylinders......

smuff76 - 12 May 2008 09:33 AM

Since the Diesel has become the engine of choice in LMP1 and most of today's engine builders don't have any real experience with diesel....... would it make sense to go to someone like Gale Banks and have them design and build you a diesel motor? They already have a Duramax V-8 that will make like 550 bhp.... He ought to be able to squeeze another 100 hp out of 2 or 4 more cylinders......

Banks is a tuning shop, they don't build motors from scratch there.

Saleen didn't build complete cars until he built one............

Then let him build a race motor and shop it around...

noise boy - 12 May 2008 09:58 AM

smuff76 - 12 May 2008 09:33 AM

Since the Diesel has become the engine of choice in LMP1 and most of today's engine builders don't have any real experience with diesel....... would it make sense to go to someone like Gale Banks and have them design and build you a diesel motor? They already have a Duramax V-8 that will make like 550 bhp.... He ought to be able to squeeze another 100 hp out of 2 or 4 more cylinders......

Banks is a tuning shop, they don't build motors from scratch there.

Shows you how much YOU know....

Gale knows more about turbos and diesels than 90% of the people on the planet EARTH, has a degree in fluid dynamics as well.

As for building engines from scratch, well he has broad connections with GM; GM and Ford are both working on smaller displacement turbo-diesel engines (4.2L and 4.4L) and Gale has talked about giving up some of the tremendous strength of typical turbo-diesel engines in turn for better flow, lighter parts and more RPM. Are you trying to say because VW AG and PSA Group push diesels in their home markets hard, that THEY are the only ones capable of producing a winning turbo-diesel power-plant????

All it takes is desire and turbo-diesels are part of the answer, there is no magic bullet to solve environmental problems.

Ford has currently no interest in putting there diesel in cars, just the 2009 update of the F-150

GM has hinted at putting turbo-diesels in the Malibu and other cars.

GM and Katech can build a 5.0L V8 Turbo-Diesel that could make just as much power and torque as the others do, the problem would be packaging as Audi's and PSA's are both ONE off pure racing engines that just happen to be oil-burners.

But GM would get inlet break because its based on production power-plant and that could make things interesting to say the least...

I didn't know all that, but I did know that Gale was really into building CRAZY diesel's. If you go to the web site and look at some of the huge HP diesel's he has built. Considering diesel was a bad word for a long time in the US most of the manufacturers haven't been focusing on them. I thought using someone like Gale would seriously lower the learning curve.

I've always thought Cummins made the best diesel on the planet....... at least back in 96-99, the new ones aren't bad either though. I think they also made those small diesel's in the jeep's didn't they?

Some of Banks's work. YouTube The Sidewinder R is interesting, also the AREX.

I think the issue here is the technology that Audi and Peugeot have put into CLEAN Diesels. I am not sure Banks, or any others, could design from scratch an engine that would be able to run as cleanly as the Audi and Peugeot.

smuff76 - 13 May 2008 10:47 PM

I didn't know all that, but I did know that Gale was really into building CRAZY diesel's. If you go to the web site and look at some of the huge HP diesel's he has built. Considering diesel was a bad word for a long time in the US most of the manufacturers haven't been focusing on them. I thought using someone like Gale would seriously lower the learning curve.

I've always thought Cummins made the best diesel on the planet....... at least back in 96-99, the new ones aren't bad either though. I think they also made those small diesel's in the jeep's didn't they?

Because Americans keep memories they shouldn't keep and forget things they should remember...

There is no such thing as "old diesel" technology in Europe's MODERN Turbo-Diesel engines.

Only our high sulfur content fuel kept most of the cars with 48-49 certification.

That has changed and with the push towards Bio-Diesel and the push by most European companies to bring Diesels in America, the Big 3 are only focused on putting them in light-duty trucks (especially Ford) continuing that typical "American" theme that Diesels are only good for trucks.

That's at least until get your doors blown off by the few modified TDi Golfs and Jettas running around, mostly on the eastern seaboard.

Most modified cars are around 180whp/300ft of torque, some have crested 200whp and over 320-330ft of torque all from 1.8L

In fact I've been looking at adding a TDi Jetta to my garage because I like the fact you can get over 40mph highway and still have a fair quick car without a ton of modifications, the wonderful world of TURBOCHARGING.