5 Minutes with Gale Banks
At a recent Southern California event highlighting the benefits and strengths of the new 6.6-liter Duramax V-8 turbodiesel, we spent some time with Gale Banks of Banks Engineering.
For those who know the powerboat and heavy-duty diesel engine industry, Gale Banks’ name resonates with more than 50 years of experience. If there’s anyone in the auto industry qualified to talk about the current state of existing technology and what might lie ahead, he is. Of course, Banks has a few strong opinions, but they’re grounded in his decades of test experience and his own projects.
On Ram’s 6.7-liter Cummins I-6:
"The Cummins is a strong engine and excellent for what it was designed to be. The problem is that it’s basically an old tractor motor. … It’s certainly not lousy by any stretch of the definition, but the Ram HD is now owned by a company that makes some good diesels. That’s the biggest unknown factor right now. What will Fiat do with Cummins — invest, cut it loose or let it die? They’re clearly the most likely to bring a small diesel into the U.S. before either Ford or GM, but beyond that, they’ve got guys like Mark Allen at Jeep and Ralph Gilles at Dodge who want to shake things up … and not just in design. They’re the ones to watch in my book."
On Ford’s 6.7-liter Power Stroke Diesel V-8:
"[This new Power Stroke] doesn’t live up to its 400 horsepower and 800 pounds-feet of torque promise. Wide open throttle torque and horsepower curves should tell the whole story, but there are other factors at play, too. You have to look at gearing, rolling tire diameter, transmission ratios and the slip allowed inside the transmission at the output shaft and inside the torque converter. With all that said, everything you need to know is likely in the zero-to-30 mph time. … As a hot-rodder, when I open the hood and can’t squeeze a finger anywhere, I wouldn’t want to mess with it."
On GM’s 6.6-liter Duramax V-8:
"This is a tried-and-true engine block, with several generations of improvement behind it, without any of the tricky design strategies to make it work. … I like the fact that the exhaust ports are where God intended them to be. Traditionally designed engines are always going to be the best engines for gearheads like me. I like that the D-Max designers have had four generations to improve this engine, making it lighter, more fuel efficient and more powerful at each step along the way. I’m an advocate of high-speed diesel, that’s where we need to go, where we can back off the engine torque to save transmissions and keep the horsepower running strong. If we do that, we’ll have a better shot of meeting the CARB regulations, increasing durability, and getting the powertrains into more passenger vehicles."
It’s clear that Banks Engineering sees that the Duramax engine, built in Moraine, Ohio, is where his company will continue to spend its R&D dollars; however, only time will tell if the Duramax will have the legs to survive as Ford gets more time and a few more generations under its belt with its new Power Stroke. And we’re hearing Cummins is due for a significant overhaul as well (depending on how you slice it, the B-motor goes back almost 35 years). For now, it looks like the Duramax could be the HD turbo-diesel engine the aftermarket partners with the most — that is, if Gale Banks has his way.
