Sam Krahn 
Across 15 videos at this point, Banks Power has been trying to “kill” their 6.6 liter turbo diesel V8 L5P Duramax engine, which is the latest Duramax iteration found in the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD and 2020 GMC Sierra HD. In other words, they are adding as much power as they can with the standard engine block until the motor can’t take it anymore. While they aren’t successful in killing it (yet), they’ve just passed a considerable milestone: 1,000 hp. Yes, they achieved that power with almost only external bolt ons, as only a Banks Power cam was changed on the inside.
To get that level of output, Banks Power has thrown many key upgrades on the L5P Duramax. There’s a Precision 8085 turbo, new intakes, a Banks five-inch exhaust, and SNS fuel pump and injectors. The most recent upgrade was the Banks Power competition cam. With all of those parts installed, it was on to the dyno.
Gale Banks has long been a stickler about using the science behind diesel engines, something he understands more than anyone else. Because of this, his number one sticking point is that diesels should never produce black smoke, especially when going for big power. Sure enough, the dyno room is completely clear, which is more than what can be said for another YouTube channel pursuing big diesel power in a Camaro.
Banks says the key to getting this level of power is in their Comp cam, which allows them to increase the cam duration. Simply put, to get more power with the bolt on mods with stock pistons and valves, they need more valve timing. Banks shows his truly genius engineering brain in action when explaining how everything works, so check out the video below to learn more. He goes into the specifics of the cam, valve, turbo and intake setup used to hit 1,000 hp, and what external factors like air and temperature are needed. Hint: amount of air and its temperature is hugely important for diesel power. Finally, he discusses how the tune and setup is different from the previous 912 hp dyno test, and how the results are thus affected.
This level of power is crazy to see from a mostly stock engine internally, something Banks praises the Duramax engineers for.
