Diesel Tuning Tips From High Performance Academy

With a power range up to 3500 horsepower and the possibility of 200 PSI of boost, this Cummins based diesel engine is producing more power than anyone can yet get to the ground efficiently. Drew Pumphrey of D&J Precision Machine gave some insight into what goes into tuning a high performance diesel engine using this 410 cubic inch Cummins based billet application. Drew and the team around him have produced 3214 hp and 3351 lb/ft of torque with plenty left in the tank since this interview. Drew gives some tips on safe EGT temps for drag racing and towing rigs, along with an explanation on what starts to fail first when you start to push temperatures too far. The use of 1000HP+ of nitrous to get the most out of the GTX5533R Gen II 98mm turbo used in this application, and why you see tractor pullers using compound setups instead of nitrous is covered to.

Also discussed is how some racing setups prefer to keep things cool with more fuel, similar to a gasoline application, with AFRs around 12:1 to 14:1 however this carries more risk and as a by-product produces more smoke. For drag racing examples it is easier to use airflow to help reduce temperatures and keep things on the learner around 19:1 to 20:1 which gives a better safety margin and more control along with the ability to run nitrous setups from the likes of Nitrous Express.