Traditionally, diesel engines haven't been thought of as performance alternatives but for the past decade Gale Banks has worked hard to disprove that perception. Now in his fiftieth year of building high-performance powerplants, Banks has been working closely with companies like Bosch, General Motors and Cummins to wring performance out of diesels. While most people don't think of saving fuel when they think of racing, the reality is that the best race engineers are always thinking of efficiency. By consuming less fuel to create the same power, the vehicles can carry less weight and perform better. In 2001, Banks built a diesel-powered Dodge Dakota pickup truck that set a world record for trucks at over 213 mph, and could still achieve 25 mpg cruising on the highway. These days he is working on a diesel power dragster, testing a wide variety of alternative liquid fuels in his lab and working with the Automotive X-Prize to evaluate the business plans of entrants. Banks took time out to talk about his interest in diesel during the Detroit Grand Prix last weekend. Check out the videos after the jump.
[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]
[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]
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