COMMON-RAIL INJECTOR TECH: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF DIESEL PERFORMANCE

When high-pressure common-rail debuted on the LB7 Duramax back in 2001, it changed the way we look at diesels.

- MIKE MCGLOTHLIN

Ultra-high injection pressure, solenoid-style, multiple-event injectors, and full electronic control over the system brought the most refined diesel performance we’d ever seen to the table—along with quieter, cleaner engine operation. When Cummins hopped on the common-rail bandwagon in 2003, the result was the quietest, cleanest-burning, and most powerful 5.9L it had ever produced. But once the aftermarket got ahold of electronically-controlled high-pressure common-rail, its true untapped potential was realized. Through ECM tuning alone, another 200-250 hp could be added to a truck’s bottom line, thanks in large part to the factory injectors and high-pressure fuel pump being capable of supporting it. Then it was time to find out what a modified common-rail injector could do, which consequently opened up a whole new world.