You likely know the Banks name as a tuner and power adder for the heavy duty pickup trucks. Of course, Banks offers drive-train components and packages for a variety of vehicles. Banks has been in the turbocharging and modification business for decades.
Naturally, the company went ahead to raise the power of the 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel that is available in the Ram 1500 pickup trucks, as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
The stock 3.0L turbo-diesel motor produces 240 horsepower @ 3,600 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque @ 2,000 rpm. The company says that the Banks AutoMind ECU lifts the power level to 302 horsepower and the torque to over 500 lb-ft. The exact output specification is not provided.
The tuned power-plant is putting out over 100 horsepower per liter of displacement. That is a significant number. By comparison, the V8 turbo-diesel in the current HD trucks are between 61 and 65 horsepower per liter in factory tune.
This is an exciting time. Banks is also working on a power upgrade for the upcoming 5.0-liter Cummins V8 that is going into the 2016 Nissan Titan. How far can that they push that motor with an ECU update?
Watch the stock 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel take on the Ike Gauntlet extreme towing test. Wonder how the Banks tuned EcoDiesel would perform…