Diesel of the Week is presented by
![]()
Founded in 1985, PPE (Pacific Performance Engineering) wanted to change what people could achieve with diesel performance through its engineering innovations. Working around the Duramax platform, PPE set out to significantly improve horsepower and torque at a time when there were no consumer performance options available for the new common-rail, electronic, diesel engines. With PPE’s help, the diesel revolution was underway.

PPE engineers continued to innovate, creating performance products to enhance and improve the Duramax diesel platform, systematically finding and improving the weak links, which would fail under the new horsepower and torque demands.

PPE engineers built on their successes by turning their sights on the Dodge and Ford diesel platforms too. Today, PPE offers hundreds of products engineered to improve a diesel engine’s performance from heavy-duty cast aluminum pans and covers, which help dissipate heat and increase fluid capacity, to 6mm, 5-ply silicone, 304 stainless steel Quick Release Clamps and Flanges, from the Dual Fueler to complete, custom-built Duramax engines configured to a customer’s specific needs.

One such Duramax engine was spotted by the Engine Builder team during the 2019 SEMA Show in Las Vegas – back when tradeshows were still a thing! We stopped by the PPE booth and got the details of a twin-turbo Stage 2 Duramax.
The engine features Stage 2 ported cylinder heads and Stage 2 internals because, as PPE says, “customers are always upgrading their older trucks. With these products you can dress up your motor, get more efficiency, go faster, make more power, and tow better.” And who doesn’t want all of that, right?

The Duramax features ARP main studs, head studs and fasteners, forged connecting rods, high-flow injectors, a cast high-flow PPE manifold and up-pipes, a PPE Dual Fueler CP3 kit, a PPE Extreme damper, a PPE turbo riser block with wastegate, a PPE high-capacity cast aluminum deep oil pan, and twin Garrett ball bearing water-cooled turbos that offer 100-plus psi of boost.

With PPE’s unique touch on this twin-turbo Stage 2 Duramax, this diesel engine can churn out 1,200-plus horsepower.
Diesel of the Week is sponsored by AMSOIL. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor Greg Jones at [email protected].