nutseynut7

Acceleration info on drag racing....



Very, very interesting...stay with it until the end and I promise you that you will be impressed.



Ever wonder why a Top Fuel dragster gets a rebuilt engine after each run?



Stay with this - even if you aren't a 'car nut', this is stunning.







* One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.



* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.



* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.



* With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lockup at full throttle.



* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7,050 degrees F.



* Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.



* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. Which is typically the output of a small electric arc welder in each cylinder.



* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow of the exhaust valves at 1,400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.



* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with enough force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half !!



* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH +... before you have completed reading this sentence.



* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 G's.



* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!



* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.



* The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 RPM.



* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is working for free, and NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.

0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)

0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)

8 G-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)

6 negative G-forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 300 MPH







An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle....or snapping your fingers!!



The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta).



The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).



Let's now put this all into perspective:



Imagine this...........

· You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06.

· Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile strip as you pass.

· You have the advantage of a flying start.

· You run the 'Vette hard, on up through the gears and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH....

· The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that exact moment.

· The dragster departs and starts after you.

· You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutally screaming whine that pummels your eardrums and within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches and passes you.

· He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him.



Think about it, from a standing start the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH.....and it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the planet when he passed you within a mere 1,320 foot long race !!!!



That, my friends.....is acceleration.

Mr31FlavorsVette

Wow, now that you put it that way....It takes a special person to drive those beasts

allred

You had me at the first line!................................... and I got more impressed with each successive line!

Wow! Absolutely Wow!



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Vetteman Jack

This has been posted here many times, but still an interesting read.

JR-01

I read that a while back and it really is incredible. The life expectancy of a top fuel engine is 60 seconds and it's amazing that they can even last a few seconds.

Black0ut

If any of you haven't, I highly suggest going to watch (IHRA or NHRA). Then go walk through the pits and look at the engines. Amazing pieces of engineering. You have to experience it at least once.

Another fun fact is they don't really have transmissions. It's just a big *** clutch pack. No time to slam gears. Depending on how far up the stands you sit, you usually go home at the end of the day covered in bits of tire and clutch material.

The exhaust provides some down force for the car


Also... go see top fuel boats.

JR-01

It is a blast. The ground shakes and there is nothing louder than a top fuel dragster.

nutseynut7

https://plus.google.com/photos/10406...14583020924561

Chilliwack vettes

And nothing clears the sinuses like nitro methane!

Zr-1Mike00

WOW. Now that's incredible! Thanks for sharing the information Ted.

I always enjoy your pictures!!

WetteVette

Thanks for the info. That was truly amazing.

After I got out of the navy in the early '70s, I went to Fomoso Raceway (home of the March Meets) in Bakersfield, CA quite often. Got to see the big names race there. Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Don Prudomne, etc.

We would rent a motor home and park in the pits right next to the racers. It was so cool to watch them wrenching on their cars.

The speeds and times weren't what they are today, but it was exciting none the less. I would always try to view the races from various perspectives. We could get behind a fence and watch the cars accelerate away from us, or we could walk down to the finish line and watch them go by at top speed. Nothing like the smell of nitro methane in the morning!

skydiven4fun

I have always loved drag racing, just for a few of the comments you just mentioned.

mstromquist

If you go to one of these races you definetly want to get into the pits. Really cool.

Took this a few years ago here in AZ of John Force.

1BADAZ50TH

I used to get manufactures passes to Pamona and go all four days twice a year. I used to spend time in the pro-stock pits mostly. I can remember seeing a group of deaf people there watching each year - they loved it because you really can feel the ground shake. If you have not seen\heard\ felt top fuel dragsters run, you are missing out.

66dts-v

I recall when they were pushing the 300mph mark that the major concern was driver losing consciousnesses at launch due to the 8+ G takeoff. Scary thought.

A buddy of mine is crew chief (his wife is the driver) for an old school front engine drag team, I love to go to the races.