Acceleration

[mirage243]

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 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 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 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.

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 youreardrums & 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!

[Warby Motorsport]

Yeah thats impressive

But this IS faster on the quarter, more g's etc, etc, and all in the 1980's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIfb4vIZOQ

I grew up around theses things during the 80's and 90's

[steamengine6]

That is acceleration! That is faster than my mule at quitting time.

[Riverratt]

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons of nitromethane per second


How big is the fuel tank if it consumes that much per run?

[WATERWINGS]

Yea, there are a few things in there I wasn't to sure about.

So, it makes you wonder about the other statements when you find one that you question.

[rock]

I posted that several years ago and I still like reading it. What the hell kind of car was that on utube?
Rock

[1BadAction]

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons of nitromethane per second

"In a typical run the engine can consume as much as 103 litres (22.75 gallons) of fuel during warmup, burnout, staging, and the quarter-mile run."

I think the tanks are 20 gallons, plus however many gallons the fuel lines hold, the actual 1/4 mile run they consume about 12 gallons.

[Sheer Insanity]

Intense!!! I'll drink to that.

[JTSTV]

Hate to break anybodys heart but a top fuel motor is 800 plus cubic ins.A pro stock motor is 706 cubs!!!!!!!!!!!

[1BadAction]

Theres more than a few "facts" that arent correct... CFM is wrong I gurantee...

[Mark Poole ModVP]

Imagine putting some taller gears in it and letting it go for a mile!!!

[Hydrophobic guy]

Hate to break anybodys heart but a top fuel motor is 800 plus cubic ins.

Say what?
In what country and what league?
From NHRA Top Fuel: "Powered by a supercharged and fuel-injected 500-cubic-inch engine."

[zatchmo]

Too bad the engine won't last for a mile...

There are actually quite a few things incorrect in that list, but it's still fun to read. For example the spark plug comment. It is true that they must cut fuel, but the spark plugs are not "consumed". I have a few of them from a race I went to a few years back.

[zatchmo]

Say what?
In what country and what league?
From NHRA Top Fuel: "Powered by a supercharged and fuel-injected 500-cubic-inch engine."

Correct. They are not nearly as big as everybody thinks they are. I used to think they were huge too. They're not, just REALLY REALLY big superchargers.

[GTO GEORGE]

Hate to break anybodys heart but a top fuel motor is 800 plus cubic ins.A pro stock motor is 706 cubs!!!!!!!!!!!

Wrong, top fuel motors are limited to 500 ci, as are pro stock motors,in NHRA competition. I think there is a larger motor allowed in Pro Stock, under IHRA rules.