Many of you know of or have met John Heinricy....he was, among many other things, the Chief Engineer of the Fcar...has worked on ZR-1 and Z06 Corvettes...............works in the GM Performance Division, and is also a very accomplished racer .........

I could listen to John talk for days on end......because I always learn a ton of stuff.........and he knows our Camaros and Firebirds inside out............not to mention that he's an all around great guy.

Recently, he gave a talk about the power of the engines in Drag Racing...and I thought you might find the following facts interesting (and in some cases, somewhat startling.........)


One top fuel dragster 500 cu in engine makes more power than the first 8 rows of the Daytona 500..............

Under full throttle, a top fuel dragster engine consumes nitro at 1.5 gallons per second, the same rate as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

With 3000 cfm of air being crammed in, the fuel mixture is compressed into a nearly solid state.......................

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug................

At 1.7 air/fuel mixture, the flame front is 7050 degrees..................

Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass....after half the track, the engine is running like a diesel being fired by the cylinder pressure and red hot exhaust valves...............................

If spark momentarily fails early in the run, the fuel builds up and explodes with a force that can blow the heads off the block..............

To exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate at an average of 4 g's but in reaching 250mph well before half track, the launch is around 8 g's....................

Dragsters reach 300 mph before you have read this sentence.


Just thought you'd like to know........................and ponder........................

 

I've seen these statistics some time ago. Very cool stuff to ponder though.

:cheers:

 

:yesnod: Pretty interesting stuff.

 

Hi Gaijin -

Great facts - solid fuel , kinda like in a rocket huh?

Seeing a big-time drag race was one of the more memorable experiences I have had - you just cannot conceive it unless you see it in person.

I was lucky enough to know a racer who got me down near the staging area -

You just do not expect what happens - the car jumps away and is 80 ft from you before your brain registers that the car has begun accelerating.

Lots of fun - but take ear plugs!

best regards -

mqqn

 

Speaking of solid fuel.......

And to add to my post above (something I just remembered). I served on an aircraft carrier as the Personnel Officer and got to be good friends with a couple of F-14 pilots that are also car guys.

Over dinner once, I asked my friend (senior F-14 pilot) and a big Bowtie guy how much if it were converted to car horsepower a twin-engine F-14 would put out at full military power (WOT).

His answer was an astonishing 40,000+ hp at the rear wheels. This is a fighter airplane with two seats and a wing that would tuck-in when the pilot goes to Mach speeds (about Mach 3, I believe).

On carrier take-off with catapult assist and at full military power, an average F-14 will go from 0 to 180+ mph under 2 seconds!

I have been to a number of top fueler drag races at Pomona but have never experienced the power of a high hp engine until the day I got to stand on the carrier deck (approximately 50 feet away from the wing tip) of a F-14 taking off. I had my full flight deck safety gear on including both an earplug and "Mickey Mouse" headsets. The sonic waves were just so intense that I could feel my teeth chatter from the vibration (of course, I had my mouth closed but grinning ear to ear).

Just awesome.

:flag


[Modified by Gaijin, 8:56 AM 4/12/2003]

 

Very interesting Larry. About 8 years ago I went to Topeka to see a NHRA National event for the first time in years. The fuel cars are beyond description. After watching for a whole day, my brother and I were in his car in the parking lot about 1/4 mile and behind a hill from the starting line when two fuelers took off. The concussion was so severe that I looked at him in shock! I thought the car behind us had run into us!! :eek:

 

:eek: That is really interesting.