Very Fast

[Eade Hopkinson]

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 two in '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 race!

That is acceleration! Boy that would put a grin on your face.

Can I put one of these in my Early 911

[RSupdate]

Great Post Eade.....

Puts a lot of things into perspective....

I've been an NHRA fan for years and have attended many a drag.....I can proudly say I even own my own gas mask for hangin' out in the pits when the guyz start up the nitro burning.....fun to see everyone scatter!!

....also of note is that there is no radiator on Top fuel Dragsters of Funny cars.

[Mr9146]

I have a piston, wristpin and conrod from a blown-up Top Fueler (one of the ones that DIDN'T exit the block in a hurry). They're twice the size and roughly half the weight of a stock 2.4-liter Porsche connecting rod and piston.

[countfleet]

Eade,

Reminds me of Ken Purdy's ode to a Mercedes Grand Prix car in "Kings of the Road." One of the all-time great reads for PLU.

All best,

John

[TEC69E]

I attended the Winter Nationals at Pomona a few years ago. Here's another perspective, standing in the Grand stands at half-track when the top fuel and funny cars would make a pass the volume of their engines was so loud . . . I would temporarily loose my vision . . . everything would go fuzzy for just that moment. What a rush! But then I realized if the driver was to loose control and some how jump the barriers or if the motor let go in a big way and parts flew into the spectator area . . . the casualties would be huge. So I've learned to enjoy NHRA events from my living room and just reminice about the time I was there.

[Cornpanzer]

But then I realized if the driver was to loose control and some how jump the barriers or if the motor let go in a big way and parts flew into the spectator area . . . the casualties would be huge. So I've learned to enjoy NHRA events from my living room and just reminice about the time I was there.

Statistically, you are probably more likely to die when the elderly woman across the street drives her Edsel through your living room wall and pins you against your big screen while watching drag racing!

[72targa]

Very cool post. I've always been amazed that all of that power could be transmitted through two large rubber tires!

[mjmoran]

Very interesting...that vette would need more than 4.5 sec to do the 1/4...wow

[Mr9146]

Back in my younger days (read: when I was 16) my friends and I would go to LA County Raceway for Grudge Match Friday Nights. It was essentially and open track so you could stand virtually anywhere until you were told to move. One night there was a Top Fuel team testing their 1/8th mile times and somehow I was standing behind the burnout box when the driver lit 'em up. You want to talk about pain? That was probably the dumbest place I could have been standing, but it was also probably the COOLEST place I could have been standing. I've never felt my guts vibrate like that before.

[Paul Schooley]

I got a buddy up here that builds those motors. 50-70 grand will get you a top performer in the horsepower league Eade's talking about. It always has been and always will come down to this simple statement:

"Speed is money....how fast do you want to go?"