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'Killing a Duramax' Gale Banks YouTube series methodically tunes a diesel to death

Learning or perfecting a skill by watching YouTube videos is known as attending YouTube University. GM Authority picked up on one of the video site's more fascinating courses, hosted by Gale Banks; in a fair world, he should be referred to as Professor Banks when it comes to diesel engines and truck tuning. A few months after GM introduced the updated L5P 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8 in the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD that ships with 454 horsepower and 910 pound-feet of torque, Banks decided he wanted to methodically tune the engine to death. The purpose of the resulting series, called "Killing a Duramax," is to push more power out of the engine in order to discover which parts break and when — or, as Banks puts it, force-feed the Duramax "until the crank hits the street and the heads hit the hood." With that knowledge, Banks can figure out all the weak points on his way to building what he calls a "Superturbo," that being a supercharged, twin-turbo race engine with more than 1,000 hp. What makes the series fascinating is Banks' knowledge, paired with the company's comprehensive iDash engine monitoring system that keeps tabs on a glut of parameters every step of the way. So for instance, you get Banks explaining the differences between inches of mercury and barometric pressure, how those are different from the water content of the air measured in grains, then showing those readouts on the iDash, then explaining in detail how they affect the air density in the Duramax system. The stock Borg-Warner variable turbo gets a lot of airtime — Banks accuses it of being "out to lunch" because he feels it's the weakest link on the engine. That turns into a turbo teardown and a deep explanation of performance pitfalls, such as when air pressure on the turbine begins to diverge from the boost pressure coming from the compressor. Banks says he can keep close tabs on where power's coming from, because the iDash monitors the horsepower contribution provided by the ambient air, the turbo, and the intercooler separately. The major changes so far are a stouter Precision 7675 turbo and TurboSmart wastegate (episode 5), a twin intake (episode 6), a custom liquid-cooled intercooler from a marine engine, a new GM oil cooler and synthetic oil (episode 10), and new injectors (episode 11).

GM might outsource vans to AM General

General Motors will possibly boost production of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon at the Wentzville Assembly Plant in Missouri by contracting out some commercial van manufacturing to AM General. Demand for the two midsize trucks continues to boom, and GM would like to take advantage of the strong market for them. The possible deal came to light in a letter to workers at the factory, according to Automotive News. "This potential partnership would free up production capacity and allow the organization to capitalize on our ability to build midsize trucks to further satisfy customer demand," a portion of the document allegedly said. AM General would reportedly only take over assembly of the cutaway versions of the Chevy Express and GMC Savana. Customers and critics have quickly embraced the latest Colorado and Canyon since their introduction. The Chevy just won back-to-back Motor Trend Truck of the Year awards. GM also had to add a third shift and extra workers in 2014 just to keep up with demand. The Wentzville plant even increased employment on the weekends earlier in 2015 to assemble an extra 2,000 of the trucks each month. While the two pickups boom, deliveries for the Chevy Express and GMC Savana are down 26.9 percent and 26.6 percent respectively through the first 10 months of the year. GM doesn't break out numbers for the cutaway versions, but they make up about a third of production, according to Automotive News. AM General built the Humvee for the US military and does some contract work with automakers. For example, the company's Indiana factory now produces the Mercedes-Benz R-Class for export to China. Here's hoping this potential deal will help both GM and AM General keep their factories humming. Related Video:

2023 GMC Hummer paint choices are out of this world

The 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 came in one color: Interstellar White. Despite production issues potentially pushing Edition 1 builds into the 2023 model year, the Edition 1 will stick to being bathed in that single brilliant shade. GM Authority says it got access to the color palette on the way for the standard series Hummer EVs due next year that shows seven new galactic-themed choices on the way. Interstellar White carries on, joined by Void Black as the only no-cost colors. The others are: Afterburner Tintcoat, said to be an orange hue; Deep Aurora Metallic, said to be some kind of bronze; Meteorite Metallic, said to be a gray; Moonshot Green Matte, which we've seen on early shots of the Hummer EV SUV; Supernova Metallic, said to be dark blue; Tide Metallic, said to be a different shade of blue. GMA didn't get intel on pricing for the cost-extra colors; right now, the most expensive palette option for GMCs is White Frost Tintcoat for $1,095. However, the outlet believes Moonshot Green Metallic will be "extremely limited" and charge a super premium price. If that ends up being the case, it suggests GM has a thing about getting big green for special greens. Cadillac made Dark Emerald Frost a late option on the 2022 CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings and charged $3,925 for the matte paint job. The brand ended production of Dark Emerald Frost in January, making the color doubly exclusive since it was offered for less than a year at the same time as customer demand far exceeded the number of Blackwings available. Anyone wanting Moonshot on their Hummer should get in line early.  The 2023 GMC Hummer EV will begin production later this year. Last month, GM raised prices for the coming model year by $6,250, and raised the destination fee to $1,995. For the moment, that makes the Hummer EV 2 start at $86,245, the EV 2X at $96,245, and the EV 3X at $106,245. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.