Banks Race Shop Archives

Speed Addicts or The Cool Factor

Power is an interesting and cruel mistress: Get a taste of it and not only do you want more, but you often spend valuable brain cells and neurons scheming of a way to get it. Call it lust — and an addiction if you will. Power can come in many forms, but I’m of course thinking of horsepower. Being who I am, where I’ve worked and what I’m surrounded by on a daily basis, it’s no wonder I have these thoughts fermenting in my skull. Be it for work or for personal gratification, I can’t stop thinking about the mechanisms that can bring about “more.”

June 13, 2008

A Meeting of Engineering Minds

More than 50 members of the Society of Automotive Engineers gathered in the tech bay of Banks Power’s North Engineering building on Tuesday evening to listen to company president and founder Gale Banks speak about the many great aspects of high-performance diesel power. The attendees, gathered from all around southern California, represented a wide cross section of industry and academia. Automotive engineers from Honeywell, Subaru, General Motors, Nokia, Mazda, Denso, HR Textron, US Hybrid Corp., and more mingled well into the night with representatives from local universities Cal Poly Pomona and the University of Southern California.

June 12, 2008

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

May 29, 2008

Gambling 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…

May 22, 2008

Sidewinder S-10 Drag Truck Update

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.

May 14, 2008

Hoist 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…

May 7, 2008