That's Acceleration !!!

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cribbj

"Supra" Moderator
Staff member
This is an oldie but a goodie. I don't know how true it all is, but the statistics are fascinating, and I know that the launch of a Top Fuel dragster is one of the most awe inspiring events I've ever witnessed. It's definitely comparable to, and possibly even surpasses an F14 at full power being catapulted off a carrier.

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Read this slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just under 4 seconds! The last paragraph puts it all into perspective!

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… and that includes any aircraft launched by a catapult from an aircraft carrier.

Nothing can compare!


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 (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 hp is more realistic - there are no dynomometers capable of measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane 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 nitromethane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F. (Oxy-acetylene on "cut" is 6,300)

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 one 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 4 g's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 g'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 estimated $1,000 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 'twinturbo' 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 instant.

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!
 

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John,

44 AMPS is a baby welder it couldn't weld your toes together but still serious ampage for a spark plug.

Those figures allways had me going NAH! But when you think about it an engineat 9,500rpm only does 700 revolutions in the 1/4 mile (9,500/60x4.4) so the engine will actually have to survive around 1500rpm at full power including the burnout, and probalbly 3,000rpm to include staging.

And we wonder why drag cars desintegrate when it all goes bad!

Serves the guy right for driving a Lingenfelter. Should have purchased a faster car.
 
Rod, you're just jealous 'cause your LS powered Lil Yellow Wagon won't wheelie......

Bet it would if you'd have put your UZ in there with an 871 and a big bug catcher :)

I've forgotten, have you tracked your Lil Wagon yet?
 
Not yet.

Haven't even wheel aligned it!

It should be through engineering in about a month then registered.

Once registered I'll run it down the track and see what it does.
 
John,

Your question prompted me to use a drag race calculator on my car.

It should run 11.72 sceonds and 115.4 MPH.

From memory that's about 1 second quicker than those red cars with half as many cylinders again.
 
Truly awesome eh John. A mix of high end engineering, automotive witchcraft and dumb luck......mind boggling really.

Rod, GT8 ran 11.7@122 on nankang street tyres......that would be a fun race ;)
 
Rod, I hate to say it, but you're sounding like you've gone over to the dark side where those prehistoric pushrodders dwell..... :)

It's not how fast you make it, it's how you make it fast :D
 
John we have one engine in the familly that's a pushrod engine. That's enough.

We have an interseting mix.

1 quad cam V8
1 twin cam V8
1 pushrod V8
1 twin cam V6
1 twin cam NA 4
1 twin cam supercharged 4

Years ago I had a straight 6, a V6 and a Boxer 6 all at the same time. I couldn't think of any other configuration of a 6 cylinder that you could have.

Just for fun here's the Supercharged 4.

DSCN1349.jpg

It's the only right hand drive car the Factory built. Fun toy 300hp and under 1,000kg.
 
That's what I'm talking about!!!!

Glad to see you're still not a pushrod convert in spite of all the other attractions of the LSx's.
 
Nothing can compare!

A rocket car is a land rocket vehicle powered by a rocket engine. A rocket dragster is a rocket car used for competing in drag racing, and this type holds the unofficial world record for the 1/4 mile.

Kitty O'Neil in 1977 recorded the quickest quarter mile elapsed time of 3.22 seconds at 396 mph using hydrogen peroxide powered engines and made a quarter mile run with a top speed of 412 mph (rumor has it she actually did 450mph but the equipment maxed out at 412mph)

The NHRA contends that Top Fuel dragsters hold the fastest quarter mile times in the 4.4x seconds and 330 mph (530 km/h) range as of 2005. But NHRA rules state that any run that sets a record on a drag strip must be backed up within one percent during the same meet

FIA rules on land speed records require any run to set a record must be based on the average of two runs, each way, within one hour. Because the quarter mile elapsed time was not set in such conditions, it cannot be declared an absolute record.

In drag racing, hydrogen peroxide "rocket cars" were relegated to exhibition only, and have not been allowed in the United States since the 1980s, although they continue to be run in other parts of the world.

current records done before the 1000ft change Top Fuel : ET= 4.428_____ MPH = 336.15 if current power levels were doing 1320ft it would do a 1/4 mile at an estimated 4.4 seconds

here is the second fastest 1/4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lnEjOuQGBc&feature=related

here is a 3.81 run

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIfb4vIZOQ
 
Whilst I'm not sure if this is 100% accurate I believe Australia now has the fastest drag cars in the world as we still run 1,320' and not 1,000' as the USA does.
 


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