Banks Power

The Leader in Diesel Performance

We killed a supercharger on this episode of Building a Monster Truck Engine. Gale is standing in the dyno cell.
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KILLED Supercharger | Building a Monster Truck 6

This roots-style supercharger produces insane heat! In an attempt to reduce the temps, Gale Banks injects water-methanol and straight methanol. But it doesn’t turn out the way he planned.

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The Goal

Gale wants to use the supercharger to get a low-speed throttle response. The ability to get low-speed throttle response is crucial in the monster truck world.

Banks & Supercharger Info

Supercharger: 20% over the crank speed
20 lbs boost
480-degree compressor outlet temperature

Erin and Gale run a series of tests on the dyno with the Banks PowerBlend fuel. After fueling up, they take a look at what happens to torque, manifold temperature, and a whole lot of other things. During the first test, they run straight methanol, followed by the Banks blend which is 50% methanol and 49% water, and 1% corrosion protection.

Gale with charts breaking down the performance of the supercharger with the methanol and blended fuels.

Methanol Test

Pilot injection set at 41-degrees BTDC
Main injection set at 8-degrees BTDC
Diesel to methanol final ratio 1:1

Next Time

Whipple vs. Roots Superchargers! Following killing the Roots-style 10-71 supercharger, Gale decided to switch to a screw-style 5.0L Whipple. To truly know which is better, he tests the two comparatively with no intercooler. Watch to find out which supercharger outperforms the other! Conversely, if you need to catch up, watch episode 5.