GALE BANKS ENGINEERING

Consider what happened to gasoline engines. Big, high-revving, powerful gasoline engines were the norm in the 50s through the early 70s. Then the gas crunch hit and lead was removed from gasoline to permit the use of catalytic converters for reduced emissions. Overnight, most performance gasoline engines disappeared and it has taken 30 years of research and development to get back to the horsepower levels of the Muscle Car era. Unfortunately, development of the gasoline engine may have reached a plateau. Through these last three decades it has taken computerized engine management, electronic fuel injection, and a host of mechanical improvements to get performance along with low emissions and fuel economy. These are all good advances, but the one limiting factor has been the fuel. There's only so far you can go with an air-throttled engine on 91-octane gasoline. In other words, it is the fuel, gasoline, that has become the limiting factor.