I got this in an E-mail from my Dad today and thought I might share it with you all. You strip guys guys might find some of this interesting like I did. As to the absolute truth of it all, well it's up to you to repost any of your own findings and retort.


ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

One Top Fuel 500 cubic-inch Hemi dragster engine makes
more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows at
the Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 11.2
gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded
747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate
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 lock at full
throttle.

* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for
nitro methane the flame front temperature measures
7050 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.
This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a
pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from
compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400
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 sufficient force to blow
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, dragsters
must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to
reach 200 MPH well before half-track,
the launch 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 9500 RPM.

* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid
off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING
BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000
per second.

*0 to 100 MPH in 0.8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the
run)
*0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of
the run)
*6 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.

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).

Putting this all into perspective:

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter
twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the
road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to launch
down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the
advantage of a 200 mph flying start.
You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast
across the starting line & pass the dragster at
an honest 200 MPH. The 'tree' goes green for both of
you at that moment.
The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep
your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal
whine that sears your eardrums & within
3 seconds the dragster catches & 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 & not only caught, but nearly
blasted you off the road when he passed you within a
mere 1320 foot long (1/4 mile) race!

That is acceleration!

Note: I received this from a friend and have no idea
of it's origin.