|
Cummins-Powered Gale Banks Sidewinder Sets Bonneville Speed
Record At 217 mph!
Gale Banks is a true believer in diesel power. Banks, a Southern
California entrepreneur and former hot-rodder, runs Gale Banks Engineering,
a fast growing automotive accessories company specializing in performance
enhancement kits for diesel pickups and RVs.
Banks believes that diesel engines offer the power of the future
for clean, efficient and high-performance light-duty vehicles. And
a few years ago, he set out to prove it.
First, he needed the right diesel engine partner. Two years ago,
at a Turbo Diesel Register (TDR) rally in Long Beach, California,
Banks met John Stang, Cummins Vice President Light-Duty Automotive.
He told Stang of his plan to showcase diesel power and break the
land speed record at the Bonneville, Utah, Salt Flats.
Stang enthusiastically signed up the Cummins Light-Duty Automotive
(LDA) team and the Cummins 5.9-L Turbo Diesel used in the Dodge
Ram to support the Sidewinder Land Speed Record project.
Through enhancements to the cylinder head, intake and exhaust manifolds;
the addition of a Holset HY55 Variable Geometry Turbocharger; auxiliary
ice water cooling tank; and new controls software; the team produced
an engine with 735 hp and over 1300 lb-ft of torque.
"The whole idea of the Sidewinder project is to show that
a diesel can be an extraordinary performance engine configuration,"
said Banks. "For twenty years Ive believed that the future
fuel is diesel there is an inherent efficiency," he
added. Banks calls the Cummins 5.9-L engine "anvil tough"
and the ideal platform to showcase both the efficiency and power
of the diesel engine.
Nearly two years and many modifications later on
October 17, 2002, Banks blew away the land speed record, not just
for diesel-powered pickups, but for ANY pickup with an average
speed of 217.314 mph (and overall top speed of 222.139 mph!) with
his Cummins-powered Dodge Dakota.
Unlike other race vehicles, the Sidewinder is street driveable.
In fact, while other contenders arrive in trailers, Banks
crew drives the Sidewinder to the Bonneville Speed Trials, towing
its spare parts in a trailer. The Sidewinder project has received
a lot of press from the cover of Diesel Progress to a mention
by Gales friend Jay Leno in his Popular Mechanics magazine
column.
|