Stay with this - even if you aren't a 'car nut', this is stunning.
* One
Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge
(actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP)
than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second;
a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but 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 lockup at full throttle.
* At the stoichio metric 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. Which is typically the
output of a small electric arc welder in each cylinder.
*
Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way
thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow
of the 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 enough force to blow
the 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, a dragster must accelerate
an average of over 4 G's. At launch the 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 for, the pit crew is working for free,
& NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
8 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin '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....or snapping your fingers !!
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta).
(I think the time is now closer to 4 seconds, M.)
The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Let's now put this all into perspective:
Imagine
this...........You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo
powered Corvette Z-06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is
staged & ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile s trip as you pass.
You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on 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 exact moment. The dragster departs & starts after you. You
keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an
incredibly brutally screaming whine that seares and pummels your
eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly 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.....and it not only caught, but
nearly blasted you off the planet when he passed you within a mere 1320
foot long race !!!!
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