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Fast Grandpas & Why You Need a Boost Gauge

Fast Grandpas & Why You Need a Boost Gauge

Andrew Wilson |

For many owner operators the love of performance runs deep in their soul and many times extends into their siblings. Mark Dinslage is one such person, he is 58 years old, owns a 2016 579 Pete powered by an ISX Cummins tuned by the engineering department at Pittsburgh Power. He runs the Max Mileage Fuel Borne Catalyst to keep the engine and emissions system clean of carbon and soot. Mark has 2 granddaughters, Kaiya (14), and Kendyll (11), and they love to go to the drag strip with their grandfather.  In fact they hold up a white sheet which they wrote on “My Grandpa is faster than yours.”  You see Mark has a 2016 Corvette, Sunrise Orange Metallic, supercharged with an A&A Vortec producing 8.7 pounds of boost resulting in 700 horsepower. Currently he races the ⅛ mile track at 7 seconds and 103 mph. This summer he is going to the ¼ mile track with the granddaughters and expects to turn 10.9 seconds at 135 mph. This Corvette has an 8 speed automatic transmission and during a recent speedrun Mark ran the car up to 177 mph and said it was very stable.  He was in 6th gear and had 2 more gears to go and this summer he will pilot the Corvette over 200 mph.  Kendyll, the younger of the two grandchildren did not want to ride in the Vette with grandpa, she said it was not a normal car. He asked her why she felt that way and she said, “I see how you drive it at the race track!” By the way, Mark runs the Max Mileage Fuel Borne Catalyst in the Corvette also. The catalyst is very powerful in gasoline and if you are racing where the fuel is standardized, you just may get caught, so check your gasoline.


Turbo Boost and fuel mileage; I have written about this many times since 1989 when I started writing articles for the diesel engine industry.  Whether you call me on the phone, or call into the Kevin Rutherford Pittsburgh Power Hour on Tuesdays, (channel 146 Sirius/XM Radio) I am going to ask you how many pounds of turbo boost does your engine produce on the level, wind not blowing, to pull the load at your given speed. The boost gauge is a good indicator of engine load and engine load directly affects fuel efficiency. For example, if you're pulling a heavy load up a hill, the engine is at high load and using more fuel regardless of RPM. Additionally, boost has gone up concurrently with engine load. Having a boost gauge allows you to see when you are unnecessarily putting load on the engine. By keeping a light foot you will see boost drop and mileage increase while maintaining similar speed. The lower you can keep the boost, the better mileage you will see. At just $92.97 a boost gauge is a very cost effective way to train your driving habits to obtain better mileage.      

Pittsburgh Power has joined with DPF Alternatives, a national chain of DPF cleaning service centers, to provide customers with a lifetime warranty on their DPF. Yes that’s right, a lifetime and unlimited mileage warranty on your DPF. You will never have to worry about your DPF again. You can find the specific requirements for the program at dpfalternatives.com, but basically you will need your DPF restored with their proprietary ultrasonic cleaning and then maintain the after-treatment components with Max Mileage FBC. Even if you’re not interested in the warranty, DPF Alternatives provides some top notch service for all your emissions system related needs. Their high tech equipment is designed to wash out the soot and ash from the system without any harm to the catalyst element. That honeycomb structure in your DPF and DOC can become brittle overtime so you don’t want to risk taking it to an inexperienced shop. Visit their website for more information and to find one of their 40 nationwide locations.   



Written by;

Bruce Mallinson

Andrew Wilson

Pittsburgh Power Inc.

3600 S. Noah Dr.  Saxonburg, Pa. 16056

724-360-4080

PittsburghPower.com