September 18, 2009
Gale Banks
Gale Banks and Adam Carolla talk Diesel and Big Diesel power. We get into some talk about algae and alternative sources of energy. Then Sandy (The Professor) and Adam take on another week of Investment Cars. Next onto Skype calls, NOS and Tombstones? You Figure it out. Then the CarCast crew head out for a quick trip to the Palos Verdes Car show to check out a special work of automotive art, the Maserati Tipo 61 ‘Birdcage’. And the wrap up with Doug Benson’s first car.
Link to Gale Banks Engineering
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Quick Links
Quick Link to Gail Banks Sidewinder S10
Quick Link to Doug Benson’s First Car
Quick Link to Maserati Tipo 61
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This was great one and it was interesting to hear about what’s been going on with diesels. How about a show on EV’s next? Talk about the Tesla Roadster, the E-Wolf e1, Chevy Volt, etc.
I’m going to attend the Coronado Speed Festival in San Diego on Saturday. This will be the first time I’ve gone. Should be a blast….look forward to watching Adam put the Datsun 610 through its paces!
It’s has been a pretty good event in the past. Saturday is qualifying and Sunday is the race. Going to try to get a couple of In-Car-Cam’s going as well. Hopefully we remember to turn them on!
Sandy
what a great episode!
I am not a car person but this was really compelling listening, even for the non car fan.
I like that Banks is older, but he’s defied age because he is so into something.
If you listen to Adam talk to Banks (who is his parents’ age), you hear how common interests (in this case, cars) destroy generation gaps.
Bank’s was excellent, I also enjoyed the rant on the “In Loving Memery of Chuey”, so true.
GET IT ON!
Great show Ace! Add me to the long list of asshole diesel Jetta owners that cant fucking stop talking about the milage we get. Economy aside, I like the fact that I can go 650 miles between fill ups. With a big enough piss-bottle I could beat ANY car in a cross country race.
Big whoop 🙂
I can get 650+ (Highway) miles in the Excursion… Well it has a large 44 Gallon Diesel Tank but still can roll with you. And no piss bottle needed on my old dog.
Hey Dave if that was you that I was honking at on the San Diego Freeway the other day sorry, and step on the gas.
All kidding aside HUGE Diesel Fan, was really cool to have Gale on the show. We will have him back and a trip out to his shop to check out the Jetta stuff he is working on.
Sandy
I found this via Dave Burge’s Iowahawk blog an really enjoyed it. I’m a huge fan of getting more work out of less expense and waste. The Gale Banks interview was great.
Fundamentally, though, both you and Mr. Banks are being naive, with respect to issues like biodiesel (which I love). It’s not about clean, or cheap, or easy, or energy independence; it’s about the EPA’s fetish with carbon.
Here’s a relevant example for what keeps the U.S. from manufacturing and selling better products. I am also a fan of natural gas.(NG) Back in the 1970s, it was easy and cheap to convert a gasoline motor over to NG, though you had to accept a horsepower loss. I would love to do the same to a beautiful old performance boat I have in my collection, because I don’t want or need it to do 50 mph; I want it to serve as a 30 mph boat. Today, I can’t do that. The reason is, the EPA has decided that only a mechanic issued a permit by them, can convert a gasoline motor to NG. That mechanic can only get a permit for a single specific motor, for a single model year, and it costs $10,000, and it’s only good for a single year. EPA rigs everything to discourage any innovation or modification that applies to a carbon fuel. As a marine biologist, I weep that we discourage innovations that would lead to cleaner boat propulsion, but we just plain do. Rules made by people that are what we call “meeting engineers,” or “meeting biologists.” Folks with no real-world experience.
It is sad when too much of the regulations impinge on the innovation. Being a California residence you see the many good intentions that people have become amplified and absurd, often the original idea is sound but goes so far over the top it become ridiculous or becomes equally as harmful in one way or the other.
Sandy
Note closely Mr. Banks’ statement: “…I kept running up against octane.”
This is a, the, definitive obstacle in liquid carbon fuels and will be the barrier until we start getting hydrogen motors. His point was, if I may infer, that he ran out of carbons, at 8; gasoline. Once you switch to diesels (going on memory here), you get 14 to 16 carbons per molecule, in the same tank. Chemistry/physics tells us that you get the same exact number of molecules in a gallon (liter, really), regardless of the liquid, so you bring vastly more energy to the motor for a given gallon, with diesel.
That wall becomes a speedbump when you switch from the weight of a liquid on board, to the weight of a gas. Natural Gas, primarily methane (farts), has only one carbon per molecule, so it’s crap, as a fuel. Except that it weighs far less than crap; it weighs fart. Liquids weigh a lot. Liquid water weighs more than ice (solid water), which is why ice floats in water; clouds, gasseous water, float about in the sky. It is criminal that innovation in the use of natural gas fuels is precluded by regulations. It’s also dumb.
The way the laws are written, only fleet conversions of vehicles can be made for the government, or for big corporations, because nobody can afford the permit to convert single year/motor vehicles, except big entities. Trust me; this is done intentionaly. Similarly, nothing Banks does can be done by other innovators; only government or large entites can afford to get the EPA pernits to experiment on a scale that can reach ordinary people.
Again, back to Banks, note that he mentioned he worked with GM people, years ago, and eventually one of those went to Ford, and now, finally, Ford is coming out with a modest implementation of his principles (Eco-Boost? Something like that). The shade tree innovator and the local mechanic are not allowed to play in the world that allows their product on the road.
This is not an unintended consequence of regulation. These are very specifically intended consequences from the people making the policies. I have had them tell me, explicitly, that we have to adjust our lives and lifestyles. They are well aware of the consequences of their policies.
The folks making and enforcing these regulations are explicitly aware of the consequences, but they buy in, as a group, to the notion that we must pursue clustered living arrangements, mass transit, and, where necessary, zero emission personal transport. Don’t fool yourself that regulations just sometimes get clunky. I promise you that I have had discussions with people deeply involved in this, as I have tried to encourage some sensible modifications to rules, over the years. The clunky is on purpose.
Carol Browner, your new “Energy Czar,” doesn’t create unfortunate outcomes. She is completely off the scale and plans her attacks. Someday, maybe, I’ll tell you the “Cookshack” story.
Best; gotta run.