You can see that Gale Banks wishes that the car companies would have embraced his small displacement engines and turbochargers back in the '80's...they are now though...
There were quite a few of them getting around europe and Japan, now rare as hens teeth and worth a mint or clapped out trash bags sitting a under a tree in someone's backyard.
They started to back in the 80s, but bearing tech wasn't quite good enough to handle the tens of thousands of RPMs turbos are regularly spinning at, so they ended up with a bad reputation for failing relatively frequently.
Great point Adam. I had a buddy that had one of the early model trans-ams (82 I think) and every time you turned around he had burned it up and it was at the dealership being repaired.
Saab really was the first one to get serious about small turbo engines in the mid 80's, by 88 they were running water cooled center section Mitsubishi turbos on the 900's. Getting 190 net hp from a 2.0L, while now doesn't sound like much, back then it was as much as the V8's were putting out.
In every form of racing from F1 down has outlawed turbocharging, because like Gale explained even in it's infancy in the 70's they were generating 1,000-2,000hp EASY. People are amazed at some of these outlaw street cars that makes 1,000-2,000 Hp 40 years later. Race cars would be putting down 3-4-5 thousand HP if not more if they were allowed to innovate. IRL outlawed turbos because they claimed it increased cost. They tried several times to outlaw Porsche Turbos in road racing because they would dominate. Porsche was an early adopter and figured out how to make the cars reliable for 24 hours of pounding down the Muslane at 210-220 MPH. BMW and Porsche/TAG were making 1,000+hp on less than 1.5L V6 engines in F1. They couldn't find a fuel that allowed them to make that kind of power, so they basically ran liquid rocket fuel in the things, look it up; the stuff was so caustic they had to wear all sorts of safety equipment just to re-fuel the cars before qualifying. Naturally they would reduce the boost down to a more managable 700-800hp for the race.
+Anthony Thomas A lot of these designs were outlawed due to the inability of the human component. Group B rally is a great example of this, pretty much no restrictions on what they could do to the car and as a result these cars were putting out as much power as the F1 cars of the day, only they were on tight crappy roads, both sealed and unsealed. A group B rally car was able to complete a lap of a similar sized circuit just 4 seconds slower than a F1 car...only difference being that the group B vehicle did it on gravel and dirt. A lot of people died. I don't think race cars in these categories would ever try to put 3-5 thousand HP down simply because no one would be able to drive it. We could maybe push it a little further with an exceptional driver and new tech, perhaps streamline what has already been accomplished, but as for more power? Its simply unnecessary for those sorts of applications. Ill leave you with an extract from wikipedia in regards to the rules around Group B rallying- 'When these rules were decided it was felt that these displacement restrictions would be enough to control power, but in the early and mid-80s engineers learnt how to extract almost unlimited amounts of power from turbo engines (the same thing was happening in F1)'
+MagsN4 Yeah I remember these from my youth, I was fortunate to live between 2 of the then Lombard RAC rally stages and remember seeing them in action. Cars which at there height could near 1000 bhp, weighing not much more than a Harley hurtling down snow covered dirt tracks at speeds most couldn't control on a dry asphalt track
sorry to tell you this guys but you should check the specs of group b rally cars before buying into the hype. 500-600hp and 1000 kg. crazy on rally stages but way slower than f1 cars on race tracks.
+Anthony Thomas Turbos are gaining ground in racing as well these days. F1, INDYCAR, LMP1 and some GT3 cars, are using turbos these days. But to limit power the engines are fuel limited instead. F1 are able to produce around 650hp+ from a 1.6L engine that's limited to 100l/h, and together with electric engines, and turbos using generators in place of wastegates, the total power F1 can produce is around 800+hp. Turbos are back in racing as well, but these days it's for efficiency, and the power is still immense!
This was an awesome episode. Gale Banks is a legend in the engine building world. Most of his work is in marine applications, but he's obviously made a huge impact on the automotive world as well. Very enjoyable to listen to him explain turbo technology.
Lots of respect for Gale , he's been around since the beginning of using turbos & has vast technical knowledge both in in theory & in the field . He has made big leaps in the applications of turbocharging , charge cooling & engine management , Thanks Gale
Really liking the /Engineered series. As I'm an aspiring engineer, these videos keep me interested in what I'd like to do in the future. That last quote was amazing though, "It's a fun time to be a car guy."
I am absolutely loving this series. As an automotive engineering student I love hearing these pros talk about stuff I already learned in school. Makes me feel smart!
When he start's talking about the future of Turbocharging, he mentions thinking about small 1.5L highly-boosted engines - just like my Abarth! It's amazing how much power you get from that thing, and the fuel economy is great too. And so much potential.
I like this gentleman. His voice is full of years of experience. He seems kind and generous and hypes me up more for my first build, which I'm currently in the middle of.
really loved this video. I have had 4cylinders, 6 cylinders 8 cylinders and now have a turbo 4 cylinder. there is just nothing like having a turbo. it makes the car amazing. the faster I go the more power I make. I love the drama a turbo makes when boost kicks in and throws you in the back of your seat. the sound is incredible, the ease of making power is incredible. with direct injection and turbocharging I can not wait to see where petrol engines are going to be in the next 10years
Thank u for sharing this. I've been modifying, turbocharging and playing with boost for years and it taught me a lot. Its always interesting to sit and listen to someone when they're so passionate about something. And what better than subject than what I've become an addict to!
One of the best series you guys have. Im a mechanical engineering student and watching these gives me a reason to want to go to class. Thanks for making these videos and not charging us to watch them
I love listening to the /Drive /Engineered as a car guy its great to have information given from pasoniate and intelligent people in the business. If your a learner or just need to rehash its great.
Love seeing an older guy like Gale so passionate still about the thing he's been doing for so long. I also learned about electric motor-driven turbochargers; I had never heard of this before watching this video.
I don't know why this doesn't have more views or likes. This is awesome and this guy really loves his 'job'. I would spend a whole day just listening to his 'back in my day' stories.
Gale Banks is the man. I've had respect for this guy for many many years. His company's innovations are not only novel, they're applicable in the real world. Seriously, THE man.
Well spoken MR. BANKS, I have respected you since the 80’s when I was a child and read about the awesome things you were doing back then. Keep up the good work my friend. You will always be loved and respected by the entire Gearhead community 👍
Formula 1 turbo engines are amazing in how they utilise motor generator units to eliminate turbo lag, and even pretty much eliminate the waste gate to put every last bit of energy back into the crankshaft. That's the future of turbo.
As I understand it, the thing is electric but runs off a battery charged via the alternator. It's kind of like KERS in that you get about 10 seconds of boost for maybe 2 minutes of charge.
They got the right guy to explain turbocharging when they got Gale Banks. He's been a hero of mine for 40 years. I'd like to sit down with him over dinner and bench race about turbos and the future of engines. I have the book by Hugh MacInnes that had a picture of the twin-turbo Chevy big-block that was featured in the video. Good stuff.
also its truely wonderful to see and hear someone with decades of car experience and tell there opinion when they have seen and done it all. i want to be like that one day.
/drive is so good. I really enjoy learning from people who are passionate about their particular area of interest and how it adds to the overall scheme of making power!
i'm loving this engineered series! fantastic way to teach people about mechanics. can't keep out of my head the delta s4 when he talk about supercharged+turbocharged :)
Highly recommend listening to him on the smoking tire and hooniverse podcast. He is an amazing story teller and goes over his entire history with them.
first time i see this guy , man i love how he talks about turbo , such passion. i agree with him small engine and boost them, save space and fuel. make a small 1.5L - 2.5L engine build them good and strong and just boost them 300+hp is not an unsafe number if the engine are built right.
And we have the engineers at Saab to thank for the amazing application of turbocharging in passenger vehicles. They truly pioneered the application (not the first to do it - I think that was GM) but the first to do it well and in such a fun, useable way across so many vehicles.
There's no displacement for replacement. I love my turbo Cruze, 1.4L with a tune and 91 octane that little booger gets up and goes. Now my 2.7L Ecoboost kicks ass with just running 93 octane. My goal with my truck is to make in excess of 600whp/650ft-lbs of torque with upgraded compressor wheels, bigger intercooler and running E85. If my stock LC2 motor(3.8) push rod v6 in my GN with a CAM upgrade and a good set of ported heads with a Precision 6765 turbo can crank out 620rwhp and 683ft-lbs of torque on a junk 109 block then, then this stout as hell 2.7L which is made out of same material as a diesel block should be able to crank out 600whp and 650ft-lbs of torque and not have to worry about breaking a crank, main cap, rod or piston. The new EcoBoost blocks and hell even the Ecotec blocks are stout as hell and 3.5L twin turbo EcoBoost is the best in the class of the turbo charged Eco motors. I'll give GM some love here to, the LS motors are kick ass, slap a turbo on one of those bitches and they become a monster. But my favorite GM block, originally developed by Buick is the 3800 series 2/3. The blocks have deep skirts, beefy main bulk heads, beefy main caps 4 bolt main caps and one very tough nodular iron crank. GM never realized the full potential of these blocks. There are guys running in the 8's at 160 with the stock main caps and tty bolts and stock crank, with nicely ported stock heads. The only aftermarket parts are rods and pistons. I'm building one up right now to put in a Grand National or T and I'm going to run the hell out of it.
Every /DRIVE video is always so beautifully put together. The video is always timed perfectly with the music in the background, the shots are all so perfect, and the topics are always ones that pull you in :)
The series is really great. Learning mech stuff doesn't even feel like regular tiring learning. Thanks /Drive for going in this direction. The editing is great as well, maybe if you lower the music juuust a tad.
Mr. Banks is the kind of guy that if he said, "When I was your age," or, "I remember when," you immediately listen to him because you know you're in for a treat :)
I came here expecting useful information. What I got was useful information delivered in a very passionate way. This guy makes me smile. I get like this when I'm not screaming curse words at my 88 mm turbo setup on my e39 m5.
Great series! I was thinking of electric turbo/super charging back in the late 80s. Sure wish I'd had the skills to do something about it. It's good to see that someone may actually try the idea out.
As a Ford Guy I am Hoping that New Shelby GT500 for 2018/19 will be a Twin-Turbo Eco-Boost DFI 5.0L Coyote engine putting out over 800+ HP! Also this was a very educational Video about Turbo-Charging!...Thanks and God Bless!
We do have a few quite powerful turbo engines straight out of the factory in Europe right now. Heres a few of them Vauxhall Corsa VXR with a 205bhp 1.6 turbo Vauxhall Astra VXR with 280BHP 2.0 turbo Peugeot RCZR with a 270BHP 1.6 turbo [also used in the 208GTI] Ford Ecoboost [1.0 3 cylinder with either 100bhp or 125bhp up to a 2.3 4 cylinder with 345bhp] Japan has a few as well [cant list them all, they know how to get big horsepower out of small engines.]
Great info for sure. People shouldn't fear air to water intercooling. The electric assisted tubro's will herald a new level of performance for adding an almost torque fill like parameter to OEMS and tuners alike. I'm seriously looking forward to the possibilities.
Great video!! I agree with Mr. Banks 100% - very exciting time, lots of new technology, lots of great cars being built... The ultimate workaround for turbo lag is electric power - not necessarily via electric turbocharging but through electric motors, which produce 100% torque at 0rpm. IMO we'll eventually get to a point where all cars are turbocharged hybrids and I'm anxiously awaiting the day when I'll be able to buy a car with a 500cc DOHC boxer twin, big intercooled variable geometry turbos hung on each side, direct injection, continuously variable valve timing/lift, and an electric motor sandwiched between the crank and dual clutch transmission!
Andy Harman To build that type of engine and have it work perfectly is 100% feasible today, in 2016. It's just a matter of time until the cost of building such a thing drops. BMW is able to get nearly 400HP out of a 1,500cc 3-cylinder with the aid of turbocharging and electrons in the i8. Engines are getting smaller, more efficient and more potent every year while batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper to manufacture.
I'm sick of hearing people talk about getting X amount of power out of a small engine. Any amount of specific power is possible from an engine with turbocharging. This was amply demonstrated in the first F1 turbo era when BMW was making 1300HP out of 91 cubic inches in their qualifying engines. The "don't trip over your beard" part of it comes from building all that technology into a powertrain, making it reliable, and selling it at a price that enough people can afford to make it a profitable exercise to the manufacturer. And how many people do you really think want to buy a boxer twin engine in their $40K car? Boxer twins recall the poster child of cheap cars that most people want to forget: the Citroen 2CV.
Andy Harman Well, the vast majority of people have no idea that there's any difference between a 2-cylinder boxer and a V12, so the answer there is: basically everyone. This is all inevitable. Engines will get smaller, more powerful and more efficient. Every car (except for EVs) will be a hybrid eventually... in fact, we'll no longer think of them as hybrids, it'll just be another facet of all modern cars in the same way that fuel injection or automatic transmissions were once exotic options but now practically universal. Turbos go hand-in-hand with that because electric power allows you to overcome the turbocharger's greatest weakness. Just because these things are still cutting edge and expensive today doesn't mean they will be tomorrow.
Gale, great video. You are right: turbos are the best! Could you please include the classical turbocompounding, where the turbo is doing two things at once. The turbo uses the exhaust gases to compress the incoming air and adds power to the engine directly by hooking it to the crankshaft. Aircraft engines have done this for a long time, like the Wright Cyclone R-3350 and the Napier Nomad. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-compound_engine
Read a bunch of the comments on this video and it seems most people dont know who Gale Banks is... which is sad to me. Its like being into drag racing and not knowing who Don Garlets is.
+Underpantsniper Don *Garlits....make no mistake. we are in a very obscure and specialised world, so it's unsuprising that people who know about Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin may have never heard about Don Garlits, or Jim Lytle.
Hmm... You see, im into cars, and Motorsport, but i dont know lots of people in it.... I do however know that i like anything that has to do with cars, and that for me that is the important bit.... Passion and knowledge are different things, and so are being into something and knowing a lot about something...
Hidaaah Well i suggest you learn a bit about Big Daddy Don Garlits and the swamp rat. Its a really cool story about Innovation in the early days of drag racing. Also learn about Gordon Murray and his influence and designs. Its all really great stuff.
It's awesome to watch a video where the person doing the explaining is so passionate about the subject. +1 /Drive
+619viewloader theres no greater authority on the subject than Gale Banks either..!
samehere +1 /Drive
+619viewloader cool stearman, is it yours?
+rob brown No sir, just one I was flying at the time.
Damn true! its fun time to be a car guy :)
You can tell the passion this man has for what he does. That twinkle in his eyes, the smile when he talks about this stuff.
I could listen to Mr Banks all day
+OGBrut Yeah, he is a legend in the turbo field. Car and Driver had Gale Banks build them a twin turbo Firebird that went 200 mph back in the day.
+WikdSeafood 268
+OGBrut this is gospel for car guys haha...I love how excited he got at the end, it made me feel like a kid again.
+WikdSeafood man that's the 1987 car in the video..
+OGBrut Too bad my grandpa only talked about money and women. I fell asleep each and every time.
'it's a fun time to be a car guy' best thing he could of said to end the video
+Richard Donaldson Made me weep! Wonderful man!
+Richard Donaldson I don't know about that diesel part now though.
😢
+Richard Donaldson what a time to be alive man..
Richard Donaldson fuck yea
I'm really enjoying this ENGINEERED series that y'all have been doing. It keeps me interested and thinking. Keep up the good work, hope to see more!!
You can see that Gale Banks wishes that the car companies would have embraced his small displacement engines and turbochargers back in the '80's...they are now though...
There were quite a few of them getting around europe and Japan, now rare as hens teeth and worth a mint or clapped out trash bags sitting a under a tree in someone's backyard.
They started to back in the 80s, but bearing tech wasn't quite good enough to handle the tens of thousands of RPMs turbos are regularly spinning at, so they ended up with a bad reputation for failing relatively frequently.
Great point Adam. I had a buddy that had one of the early model trans-ams (82 I think) and every time you turned around he had burned it up and it was at the dealership being repaired.
Saab really was the first one to get serious about small turbo engines in the mid 80's, by 88 they were running water cooled center section Mitsubishi turbos on the 900's. Getting 190 net hp from a 2.0L, while now doesn't sound like much, back then it was as much as the V8's were putting out.
In every form of racing from F1 down has outlawed turbocharging, because like Gale explained even in it's infancy in the 70's they were generating 1,000-2,000hp EASY. People are amazed at some of these outlaw street cars that makes 1,000-2,000 Hp 40 years later. Race cars would be putting down 3-4-5 thousand HP if not more if they were allowed to innovate. IRL outlawed turbos because they claimed it increased cost. They tried several times to outlaw Porsche Turbos in road racing because they would dominate. Porsche was an early adopter and figured out how to make the cars reliable for 24 hours of pounding down the Muslane at 210-220 MPH. BMW and Porsche/TAG were making 1,000+hp on less than 1.5L V6 engines in F1. They couldn't find a fuel that allowed them to make that kind of power, so they basically ran liquid rocket fuel in the things, look it up; the stuff was so caustic they had to wear all sorts of safety equipment just to re-fuel the cars before qualifying. Naturally they would reduce the boost down to a more managable 700-800hp for the race.
+Anthony Thomas
A lot of these designs were outlawed due to the inability of the human component. Group B rally is a great example of this, pretty much no restrictions on what they could do to the car and as a result these cars were putting out as much power as the F1 cars of the day, only they were on tight crappy roads, both sealed and unsealed.
A group B rally car was able to complete a lap of a similar sized circuit just 4 seconds slower than a F1 car...only difference being that the group B vehicle did it on gravel and dirt.
A lot of people died.
I don't think race cars in these categories would ever try to put 3-5 thousand HP down simply because no one would be able to drive it. We could maybe push it a little further with an exceptional driver and new tech, perhaps streamline what has already been accomplished, but as for more power? Its simply unnecessary for those sorts of applications.
Ill leave you with an extract from wikipedia in regards to the rules around Group B rallying-
'When these rules were decided it was felt that these displacement restrictions would be enough to control
power, but in the early and mid-80s engineers learnt how to extract almost unlimited amounts of power from turbo engines (the same thing was happening in F1)'
+MagsN4 Yeah I remember these from my youth, I was fortunate to live between 2 of the then Lombard RAC rally stages and remember seeing them in action. Cars which at there height could near 1000 bhp, weighing not much more than a Harley hurtling down snow covered dirt tracks at speeds most couldn't control on a dry asphalt track
sorry to tell you this guys but you should check the specs of group b rally cars before buying into the hype. 500-600hp and 1000 kg. crazy on rally stages but way slower than f1 cars on race tracks.
+murpy eddie not according to interviews with the drivers. just going off that.
+Anthony Thomas Turbos are gaining ground in racing as well these days. F1, INDYCAR, LMP1 and some GT3 cars, are using turbos these days.
But to limit power the engines are fuel limited instead. F1 are able to produce around 650hp+ from a 1.6L engine that's limited to 100l/h, and together with electric engines, and turbos using generators in place of wastegates, the total power F1 can produce is around 800+hp.
Turbos are back in racing as well, but these days it's for efficiency, and the power is still immense!
This was an awesome episode. Gale Banks is a legend in the engine building world. Most of his work is in marine applications, but he's obviously made a huge impact on the automotive world as well. Very enjoyable to listen to him explain turbo technology.
Lots of respect for Gale , he's been around since the beginning of using turbos & has vast technical knowledge both in in theory & in the field . He has made big leaps in the applications of turbocharging , charge cooling & engine management , Thanks Gale
Really liking the /Engineered series. As I'm an aspiring engineer, these videos keep me interested in what I'd like to do in the future. That last quote was amazing though, "It's a fun time to be a car guy."
I am absolutely loving this series. As an automotive engineering student I love hearing these pros talk about stuff I already learned in school. Makes me feel smart!
When he start's talking about the future of Turbocharging, he mentions thinking about small 1.5L highly-boosted engines - just like my Abarth! It's amazing how much power you get from that thing, and the fuel economy is great too. And so much potential.
I like this gentleman. His voice is full of years of experience. He seems kind and generous and hypes me up more for my first build, which I'm currently in the middle of.
really loved this video. I have had 4cylinders, 6 cylinders 8 cylinders and now have a turbo 4 cylinder. there is just nothing like having a turbo. it makes the car amazing. the faster I go the more power I make. I love the drama a turbo makes when boost kicks in and throws you in the back of your seat. the sound is incredible, the ease of making power is incredible. with direct injection and turbocharging I can not wait to see where petrol engines are going to be in the next 10years
Thank u for sharing this. I've been modifying, turbocharging and playing with boost for years and it taught me a lot. Its always interesting to sit and listen to someone when they're so passionate about something. And what better than subject than what I've become an addict to!
So humble, so authentic, so brilliant! This series is awesome, it shows us real car guys with their passion, heart and soul!
Will that fit in my honda?
+Jeff Sine (GR1M RACER) i149.photobucket.com/albums/s68/8flatface8/noyoda2_zps01690d44.jpg
+Jeff Sine (GR1M RACER) yup!
+Jeff Sine (GR1M RACER) ask yoda he will know hahahh
+Jeff Sine (GR1M RACER) Honda have just released a compound turbo CRV. its a 1.6 diesel
+Theodore Marakas It was a joke. It is from mighty car mods
I can feel Gale's passion coming through the video, AWESOME!
It's nice to hear a man of great automotive standing praise the use of small engines and to even say "replacement for displacement"
One of the best series you guys have. Im a mechanical engineering student and watching these gives me a reason to want to go to class. Thanks for making these videos and not charging us to watch them
He looks so happy and passionate at the end :) I could listen to him all day long.
I love listening to the /Drive /Engineered as a car guy its great to have information given from pasoniate and intelligent people in the business.
If your a learner or just need to rehash its great.
I was smiling the whole time watching this. Then once he said "Its a fun time to be a car guy"... Made my night.
I love to Listen to anything Gale Banks has to say. He is "MR Turbo" as far as I'm concerned. Genuine and passionate about design and inovation.
Love seeing an older guy like Gale so passionate still about the thing he's been doing for so long. I also learned about electric motor-driven turbochargers; I had never heard of this before watching this video.
They were myth busted. They just don't have the speed to give any appreciable boost.
I don't know why this doesn't have more views or likes. This is awesome and this guy really loves his 'job'. I would spend a whole day just listening to his 'back in my day' stories.
LOVE THIS VIDEO! I've owned a supercharged car and a turbo car. Both fun, but the feeling of a turbo and the sound will always be my favorite!
Gale Banks is the man. I've had respect for this guy for many many years. His company's innovations are not only novel, they're applicable in the real world. Seriously, THE man.
Well spoken MR. BANKS, I have respected you since the 80’s when I was a child and read about the awesome things you were doing back then. Keep up the good work my friend. You will always be loved and respected by the entire Gearhead community 👍
Formula 1 turbo engines are amazing in how they utilise motor generator units to eliminate turbo lag, and even pretty much eliminate the waste gate to put every last bit of energy back into the crankshaft.
That's the future of turbo.
I can't wait for those electric assist turbos!!!
+Joe Dijeaux He has a turbocharger that has an electric assist? Or does he he have a useless electric "supercharger?"
As I understand it, the thing is electric but runs off a battery charged via the alternator. It's kind of like KERS in that you get about 10 seconds of boost for maybe 2 minutes of charge.
Nothing gets you off better than a snail in the morning! POWERRRRRRRR
What a legend, so much knowledge could listen to him all day thanks Mr Banks.
I was moved by the way he presented the info .. felt like a father teaching me the ropes
Excellent! This guy seems like such an interesting person
I could listen to this man all day long, you can really tell he love's what he does!
don't stop engineered series, its the best one so far ! Great speech
Gale Banks: Is a fun time to be a car guy
I'm going to remember that one...😊
it's always a fun time to be a car guy, if you're a car guy
So much has been made clear to me watching this video.
They got the right guy to explain turbocharging when they got Gale Banks. He's been a hero of mine for 40 years. I'd like to sit down with him over dinner and bench race about turbos and the future of engines. I have the book by Hugh MacInnes that had a picture of the twin-turbo Chevy big-block that was featured in the video. Good stuff.
That my friends was MR TURBO himself , thank you Gale for all you have done for motor geeks worldwide. your Canadian pal.
Absolutely the BEST series on TH-cam now!
"It's a fun time to be a car guy." A beautifully presented documentary. Way to go guys.
great video! I could listen to this guy speak all day. Lots of passion when he speaks.
also its truely wonderful to see and hear someone with decades of car experience and tell there opinion when they have seen and done it all. i want to be like that one day.
that was the best explanation of turbocharging I hav ever heard. wish this guy was my granpa
/drive is so good. I really enjoy learning from people who are passionate about their particular area of interest and how it adds to the overall scheme of making power!
i'm loving this engineered series! fantastic way to teach people about mechanics. can't keep out of my head the delta s4 when he talk about supercharged+turbocharged :)
Highly recommend listening to him on the smoking tire and hooniverse podcast. He is an amazing story teller and goes over his entire history with them.
Teriffic video explanation, Mr. Banks. There's quite a history with Banks, which was the first hot roddin turbo I can recall.
That last part made me tear up lol
He's up there watching.
These technical videos are awesome! Please keep them coming
Great video, Gale Banks is very knowledgeable and has a great deal of turbo experience! Thank You.
first time i see this guy , man i love how he talks about turbo , such passion. i agree with him small engine and boost them, save space and fuel. make a small 1.5L - 2.5L engine build them good and strong and just boost them 300+hp is not an unsafe number if the engine are built right.
Saab did that more than 40 years ago.
And we have the engineers at Saab to thank for the amazing application of turbocharging in passenger vehicles. They truly pioneered the application (not the first to do it - I think that was GM) but the first to do it well and in such a fun, useable way across so many vehicles.
Yes, GM was first in the early 60's with turbochargers on the Corvair flat 6 and the 215 Olds V8. The Olds V8 even had water-methanol injection.
I like Tom Nelsons interview more but that's just personal preference, Gale is a cool guy and I love this series
So well organized thoughts in his head. Easy to understand
out of all the car videos I've seen here on youtube. this is the best video on TH-cam IMO. yes I am a car guy!
I like this guy. You can tell he really loves what he does.
There's no displacement for replacement. I love my turbo Cruze, 1.4L with a tune and 91 octane that little booger gets up and goes. Now my 2.7L Ecoboost kicks ass with just running 93 octane. My goal with my truck is to make in excess of 600whp/650ft-lbs of torque with upgraded compressor wheels, bigger intercooler and running E85. If my stock LC2 motor(3.8) push rod v6 in my GN with a CAM upgrade and a good set of ported heads with a Precision 6765 turbo can crank out 620rwhp and 683ft-lbs of torque on a junk 109 block then, then this stout as hell 2.7L which is made out of same material as a diesel block should be able to crank out 600whp and 650ft-lbs of torque and not have to worry about breaking a crank, main cap, rod or piston. The new EcoBoost blocks and hell even the Ecotec blocks are stout as hell and 3.5L twin turbo EcoBoost is the best in the class of the turbo charged Eco motors. I'll give GM some love here to, the LS motors are kick ass, slap a turbo on one of those bitches and they become a monster. But my favorite GM block, originally developed by Buick is the 3800 series 2/3. The blocks have deep skirts, beefy main bulk heads, beefy main caps 4 bolt main caps and one very tough nodular iron crank. GM never realized the full potential of these blocks. There are guys running in the 8's at 160 with the stock main caps and tty bolts and stock crank, with nicely ported stock heads. The only aftermarket parts are rods and pistons. I'm building one up right now to put in a Grand National or T and I'm going to run the hell out of it.
Mr. Banks is my hero!
Every /DRIVE video is always so beautifully put together. The video is always timed perfectly with the music in the background, the shots are all so perfect, and the topics are always ones that pull you in :)
Awesome to learn from a hugely experienced guy! Loved it.
Yet another great video.
I could listen to this guy all day.
I could speak with this man all day and still have endless questions left over.
I'm really enjoying this /engineered series. Please keep it up!
The series is really great. Learning mech stuff doesn't even feel like regular tiring learning. Thanks /Drive for going in this direction. The editing is great as well, maybe if you lower the music juuust a tad.
AK MILLER WAS ONE OF THE BEST ALSO and i was honored to once speak with him about trubo chargers and the difference between draw thru and blow thur
Turbo yoda would approve
Mr. Banks is the kind of guy that if he said, "When I was your age," or, "I remember when," you immediately listen to him because you know you're in for a treat :)
What an extremely intelligent man. That was a delightful video.
I love hearing Gale on the TST podcast, so I was pretty excited to see this once I saw he was the host. Awesome video.
Mr Banks seem like a very nice guy and still very passionate in his excellent explanations !
Gale Banks is the man. Could listen to him talk for hours.
what he said at the end!! love that passion! just love it !
"it's a fun time to be a car guy" and that smile, that says it all.
I totally agree with you Mr banks. I love turbo's. I can't drive a car without them anymore. even my hyundai sonata is turbocharged.
Clarkson: POOOOWEEEEEEERRRR
SPEEEEEED
HAMMMER
+Ben Ortiz stop...
+Neil Kee WHAT A MACHINE!!!!
My friend yells POOOOWEEEER in gym class. Its hilarious
Drive is coming back on song loving these vids
200+mph in the 70's/80's must have been the scariest thing to ever drive. Turbo's for life!
Fantastic video ! thanks to Galo Banks and /Drive !
great segment /DRIVE! give us more like it!! well read, passionate car guy who REALLY knows his stuff!! thumbs up!
I hope i still love cars as much as he does when im his age. What a legend!!
I came here expecting useful information. What I got was useful information delivered in a very passionate way. This guy makes me smile. I get like this when I'm not screaming curse words at my 88 mm turbo setup on my e39 m5.
you said it wrong ! = variable it is not speed ! but low air flow gathered better and speed will see the opening up for full boost !
Great series! I was thinking of electric turbo/super charging back in the late 80s. Sure wish I'd had the skills to do something about it. It's good to see that someone may actually try the idea out.
This was amazing, thankyou so much for getting pioneers on and talking about whatever they want to on /ENGINEERED
Mom had a 1984 New Yorker fwd 2.2 turbo, it was a cool little car!
Turbo+Twin screw blower= amazing
As a Ford Guy I am Hoping that New Shelby GT500 for 2018/19 will be a Twin-Turbo Eco-Boost DFI 5.0L Coyote engine putting out over 800+ HP! Also this was a very educational Video about Turbo-Charging!...Thanks and God Bless!
We do have a few quite powerful turbo engines straight out of the factory in Europe right now. Heres a few of them
Vauxhall Corsa VXR with a 205bhp 1.6 turbo
Vauxhall Astra VXR with 280BHP 2.0 turbo
Peugeot RCZR with a 270BHP 1.6 turbo [also used in the 208GTI]
Ford Ecoboost [1.0 3 cylinder with either 100bhp or 125bhp up to a 2.3 4 cylinder with 345bhp]
Japan has a few as well [cant list them all, they know how to get big horsepower out of small engines.]
BMW i8 has a 3 cyl 1.5 engine making 231 hp.
What a great video. Thanks Mr. Banks for explaining forced injection so well.
This is why I admire Gale Banks!
Great info for sure. People shouldn't fear air to water intercooling. The electric assisted tubro's will herald a new level of performance for adding an almost torque fill like parameter to OEMS and tuners alike. I'm seriously looking forward to the possibilities.
I could listen to this man talk all day
Great video!! I agree with Mr. Banks 100% - very exciting time, lots of new technology, lots of great cars being built...
The ultimate workaround for turbo lag is electric power - not necessarily via electric turbocharging but through electric motors, which produce 100% torque at 0rpm. IMO we'll eventually get to a point where all cars are turbocharged hybrids and I'm anxiously awaiting the day when I'll be able to buy a car with a 500cc DOHC boxer twin, big intercooled variable geometry turbos hung on each side, direct injection, continuously variable valve timing/lift, and an electric motor sandwiched between the crank and dual clutch transmission!
Don't stop shaving in the meantime, because you'll trip over your beard before that happens.
Andy Harman To build that type of engine and have it work perfectly is 100% feasible today, in 2016. It's just a matter of time until the cost of building such a thing drops. BMW is able to get nearly 400HP out of a 1,500cc 3-cylinder with the aid of turbocharging and electrons in the i8. Engines are getting smaller, more efficient and more potent every year while batteries are getting cheaper and cheaper to manufacture.
I'm sick of hearing people talk about getting X amount of power out of a small engine. Any amount of specific power is possible from an engine with turbocharging. This was amply demonstrated in the first F1 turbo era when BMW was making 1300HP out of 91 cubic inches in their qualifying engines. The "don't trip over your beard" part of it comes from building all that technology into a powertrain, making it reliable, and selling it at a price that enough people can afford to make it a profitable exercise to the manufacturer. And how many people do you really think want to buy a boxer twin engine in their $40K car? Boxer twins recall the poster child of cheap cars that most people want to forget: the Citroen 2CV.
Andy Harman Well, the vast majority of people have no idea that there's any difference between a 2-cylinder boxer and a V12, so the answer there is: basically everyone. This is all inevitable. Engines will get smaller, more powerful and more efficient. Every car (except for EVs) will be a hybrid eventually... in fact, we'll no longer think of them as hybrids, it'll just be another facet of all modern cars in the same way that fuel injection or automatic transmissions were once exotic options but now practically universal. Turbos go hand-in-hand with that because electric power allows you to overcome the turbocharger's greatest weakness. Just because these things are still cutting edge and expensive today doesn't mean they will be tomorrow.
Gale, great video. You are right: turbos are the best! Could you please include the classical turbocompounding, where the turbo is doing two things at once. The turbo uses the exhaust gases to compress the incoming air and adds power to the engine directly by hooking it to the crankshaft. Aircraft engines have done this for a long time, like the Wright Cyclone R-3350 and the Napier Nomad. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-compound_engine
He is so passionate about turbos... makes me want to go and buy one right now.
Read a bunch of the comments on this video and it seems most people dont know who Gale Banks is... which is sad to me. Its like being into drag racing and not knowing who Don Garlets is.
+Underpantsniper Don *Garlits....make no mistake. we are in a very obscure and specialised world, so it's unsuprising that people who know about Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin may have never heard about Don Garlits, or Jim Lytle.
+Côme Thiburs..... Keith Duckworth....Formula 1 owes so much to him for the DFV. Truly an icon of motorsport.
still obscure. i mean, everybody knows Ayrton Senna, right? not the same for Mr Costin.
Hmm... You see, im into cars, and Motorsport, but i dont know lots of people in it.... I do however know that i like anything that has to do with cars, and that for me that is the important bit.... Passion and knowledge are different things, and so are being into something and knowing a lot about something...
Hidaaah Well i suggest you learn a bit about Big Daddy Don Garlits and the swamp rat. Its a really cool story about Innovation in the early days of drag racing. Also learn about Gordon Murray and his influence and designs. Its all really great stuff.
"Buzz em Boost em have fun with em" I like that!