One top
fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the
Daytona 500.
It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+
horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the
rear wheels.
Under full throttle, a dragster
engine consumes 1-1/2 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
drive the dragster's supercharger.
With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and
technology by which quantities of reactants and products in
chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of
nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050
deg 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 halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression,
plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg 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.
In order to exceed 300 mph in 4. 5 seconds, dragsters must
accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach
200 mph (well before half-track), the launch acceleration
approaches 8G's.
Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
completed reading this sentence.
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.
Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for
free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an
estimate $1,000.00 per second.
The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428
seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at
Pomona , CA ). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as
measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony
Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).
Putting all of this 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 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 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 moment. The
dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot
down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that
sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster
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 not only caught, but nearly blasted
you off the road when he passed You within a mere 1,320 foot
long race course.
...... And that my friends, is ACCELERATION!*
*Now don't you feel better just knowing that little bit
of info? *
fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the
Daytona 500.
It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+
horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the
rear wheels.
Under full throttle, a dragster
engine consumes 1-1/2 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
drive the dragster's supercharger.
With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and
technology by which quantities of reactants and products in
chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of
nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050
deg 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 halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression,
plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg 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.
In order to exceed 300 mph in 4. 5 seconds, dragsters must
accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach
200 mph (well before half-track), the launch acceleration
approaches 8G's.
Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
completed reading this sentence.
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.
Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for
free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an
estimate $1,000.00 per second.
The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428
seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at
Pomona , CA ). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as
measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony
Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).
Putting all of this 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 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 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 moment. The
dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot
down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that
sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster
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 not only caught, but nearly blasted
you off the road when he passed You within a mere 1,320 foot
long race course.
...... And that my friends, is ACCELERATION!*
*Now don't you feel better just knowing that little bit
of info? *
Then take in a little nitro, makes for the perfect start to the race day
