Greg Myers Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Self explanatory > > Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just under 4 seconds! > There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car! > > > DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION > > 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 friend, is ACCELERATION! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lombardo Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 That was a fun and informational read. It showed me that I really don't know very much about Top Fuel Drag racing. I really enjoyed it....thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 THAT is the reason I do not watch NASCAR. Viva La HEMI! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my name is nobody Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 we know a guy who had a few Top Fuel parts left from his racing days. like a 500+ cubic inch Keith Black Hemi, a Mooneyham 14-71 Supercharger and an Enderle Hat. He stuffed it into a '70 Dodge Challenger. On methanol, it gets about two gallons to the mile. only good for a couple of things really, 'John Force' style burnouts, and when you slap the throttle, the frame tweaks and the doors pop open........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlzrocks Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 lots of kool info there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Cool info, thanks very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparmagiclives Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 (edited) and when you slap the throttle, the frame tweaks and the doors pop open........... Thats worth the 2 gpm all day long.... Edited November 3, 2010 by moparmagiclives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeves Racing Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Neat stuff. Acording to the latest issue of National Dragster (the NHRA official magazine) Current stats show the top speed record @ 324.98 Tony Schumacher 3/24/10 Gainesville Current stats show the quicked e.t. @ 3.752 Cory McClennthan 6/11/10 Englishtown. Also keep in mind that all NHRA stats are now based on 1000 ft instead of the quater mile (1320 ft) since the 2008 death of Scott Kalitta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 I have to agree wholeheartedly with Dave...if you've never been near a Top Fuel dragster or even a Funnycar as it launches you are missing out on one hell of an experience. I will guarantee you that you will not be able to let these cars launch without putting your hands over your ears or wear some kind of hearing protection. It actually hurts really badly! And another thing that is cool is to be at the finish line when these rocketships come through the lights at over 300 mph with the engine and blower screaming to high heaven! It's a rush that words just cannot describe adequately. And then there's the ballet between rounds in the pits. I love to be in the pits and watch the teams completely rebuild the engine and clutch and have a brand new 8000 horse engine ready to go in 90 minutes! It's incredible how fast and well coordinated these teams are! Everyone has their job and knows it well. The teamwork is incredible. Just make sure you back yourself out of there when they fire it up on nitro...the fumes are wicked! Please do yourself a favor and go to a Nationals at some point in your automotive life and watch these cars from all 3 vantage points I've described. One catch though if you do...you may get hooked on nitro! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straightliner1 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Schumacher ran a pair of passes over 325 MPH at Vegas, last weekend. He also ran the fastest-ever quarter mile pass at 337.58 in Brainerd in 2005(?). I was thee, for that one. Gave me goosebumps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pharr7226 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Thanks for posting this very cool info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeves Racing Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I agree with Dave. I will add that comparing NASCAR to NHRA is like comparing the NBA to the NFL, They are two different sports all together. The only thing NBA and NFL have in common is they both use a ball, NHRA and NASCAR, a car. Some would say that NASCAR is boring because they drive in basically a circle, and NHRA is a straight line and over in seconds, and that road racing is the only type racing there is. Others think that "drifting" is racing. I enjoy all forms of car racing, the basic premise in all racing is to have the best performing car, have a driver who can get the most from the car and make the fewest mistakes. Man and machine, who’s the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I feel the same way about baseball and other sports. Much more fun to me actually playing baseball or football than watching it. And I don't subscribe to the aformentioned description of drag racing. I love all the drama leading up to the actual race as much as the race itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6bblbird Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 Sitting in the stands and watching fuel cars is absolutely awesome but standing between two of them as they launch is almost impossible to describe and I've done it a few times. Most scary is to be on the starting line when two jet cars leave! Scared the heck out of me. I literally thought that I was gonna die! I love pretty much everything about drag racing, from brackets to the pros, but I do agree that actually doing it is most fun. WF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted November 5, 2010 Share Posted November 5, 2010 (edited) Sitting in the stands and watching fuel cars is absolutely awesome but standing between two of them as they launch is almost impossible to describe and I've done it a few times. Most scary is to be on the starting line when two jet cars leave! Scared the heck out of me. I literally thought that I was gonna die! I love pretty much everything about drag racing, from brackets to the pros, but I do agree that actually doing it is most fun. WF I've been fortunate enough to be on the starting line many times in the early 70's. During those years, 1971, 1972 and 1973 I was one of the 3 announcers at Connecticut Dragway. Being the "rookie" of the 3, I never got to do the announcing while the Pros were racing...that was always done by the main guy. I was always relegated to the doorslammers catagories. But hey...I was 19 - 21 years old and I was the envy of all my friends because I I had a job at the drag strip and got to hobnob with all the pros! Many times I was sent to gather info for the announcing so I would talk to the Pros in the pits and bring back whatever little background tidbits I could for the main guy to use in his announcing. And it meant that while the fuel cars were running, sometimes I would go and stand in the little cabin we had on the starting line to provide a little shade for the starter. Something that always amazed me was how quickly the cars got smaller and smaller as they left the starting line. It was kind of like watching an old Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon. You know...where the Road Runner takes off like a shot and he gets smaller and smaller as he goes away to a pinpoint in a second. And from the stands it usually looks like those fuel cars were going pretty straight down the track. But in reality, they were all over the lane! Ahhh...memories! That track is long gone now. It's used by Consumer Reports magazine as a test track for the articles they publish on cars. What a waste! Edited November 5, 2010 by Terry Sumner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6bblbird Posted November 6, 2010 Share Posted November 6, 2010 I've been fortunate enough to be on the starting line many times in the early 70's. During those years, 1971, 1972 and 1973 I was one of the 3 announcers at Connecticut Dragway. Being the "rookie" of the 3, I never got to do the announcing while the Pros were racing...that was always done by the main guy. I was always relegated to the doorslammers catagories. But hey...I was 19 - 21 years old and I was the envy of all my friends because I I had a job at the drag strip and got to hobnob with all the pros! Many times I was sent to gather info for the announcing so I would talk to the Pros in the pits and bring back whatever little background tidbits I could for the main guy to use in his announcing. And it meant that while the fuel cars were running, sometimes I would go and stand in the little cabin we had on the starting line to provide a little shade for the starter. Something that always amazed me was how quickly the cars got smaller and smaller as they left the starting line. It was kind of like watching an old Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon. You know...where the Road Runner takes off like a shot and he gets smaller and smaller as he goes away to a pinpoint in a second. And from the stands it usually looks like those fuel cars were going pretty straight down the track. But in reality, they were all over the lane! Ahhh...memories! That track is long gone now. It's used by Consumer Reports magazine as a test track for the articles they publish on cars. What a waste! Being a track announcer does have its perks! Luckily, my track (E-Town) and my job are still there. WF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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