What's The Fastest Cummins-Powered Vehicle?

Some of the most powerful big rigs in existence, in addition to the semi-trucks with the highest torque outputs, get their strength from big-capacity Cummins turbo diesel engines. This has allowed Cummins to develop an enviable reputation when it comes to manufacturing diesel engines, and the mighty mills aren't just popular for commercial trucks either. Automakers — most notably Ram — have produced Cummins-powered pickups to rival the most capable full-size models on the market for decades. At one point, even Ford worked alongside Cummins to develop capable Super-Duty models, although the blue oval brand has since developed their own line of equivalent engines.

So, when in search for the fastest Cummins-powered vehicle, it would make sense to start with top-flight Ram models, or something similar. While these pickups are certainly impressive performers, they are nothing in comparison to what tuners have been able to achieve by turning wrenches on Cummins engines. The fastest Cummins-powered vehicle, then, isn't a pickup or big rig at all, it's not even road legal, as the title belongs to a one-off dragster built around an immensely special and highly customized all-aluminum Cummins 5.9L block.

The owner of this tire-shredding dragster is no stranger to high-performance diesel engines, having built a successful business and racing career around developing them since the 1970s. Having established himself as a fierce competitor on dirt, Scheid decided to take his expertise to the quarter-mile, and build a Cummins-powered monster the likes of which no one had seen before.

At the heart of Scheid's creation is an all-aluminum 5.9L Cummins block, which is a full 138 pounds lighter than a standard 6.7L unit. Inside, a 6.7L crankshaft, custom Scheid connecting rods, and Arias 12:1 compression pistons push the capacity up to 6.4 liters, and the horsepower up to 2,500. For reference, the most powerful Cummins-powered pickup truck kicks out 'just' 430 horses in its production guise. At full chat, Scheid's creation will complete the 1320-foot stint in just 6.31 seconds, with a closing speed of 226 mph, making it the first diesel-powered dragster to crack 200 mph and to dip below seven seconds on the quarter-mile. Later attempts have seen the dragster crack speeds north of 240 mph, but as this was not a sanctioned event, it doesn't qualify as a recognized record.

Scheid isn't the only diesel fanatic to have turned a wrench on a Cummins engine, though. An automotive engineer by the name of Gale Banks developed a record-shattering Dodge Dakota which was able to achieve a mightily impressive top speed of 222.139 mph on the Bonneville salt flats in 2002.

Much like the aforementioned dragster, Banks used a 5.9L Cummins block as the basis for his creation, and then modified it to the point it churned out 735 horsepower, alongside 1,300 lb-ft of torque. Those figures may look lackluster in comparison to Scheid's 2,500-hp dragster, but it's worth noting that this Dakota is still fully street legal, and even managed to return Gale a genuinely respectable 21.2 mpg. Furthermore, the slick Dakota even towed its own support trailer to the salt flats, proving it's still capable as a pickup truck, and not just a one-trick point-and-shoot pony, unlike the quarter-mile monster which claims a 4 mph top-end advantage.