Definition of speed, some stats on a top fueller.

[jaydee]

Very interesting read, apologies if a repost, I did check and found nothing.

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!

[MexicanBatman]

Seen it before and it's really impressive but I don't agree with point 3, a 747 can't be compared but they put out far more than 6000hp if you could compare thrust to hp

[Boosh Brus]

Originally Posted by MexicanBatman

Seen it before and it's really impressive but I don't agree with point 3, a 747 can't be compared but they put out far more than 6000hp if you could compare thrust to hp

Not to mention a 747 can comfortably sit at 75% throttle for about 15 hours or so before running out of fuel or failing.

[ratter]

I think the speed record is now around 324 mph in 1000 feet

[LANKY 1]

Originally Posted by jaydee

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.

I find this amazing, but then 9,500 rpm for a second is 158 rev per second.
4.428 second pass is then 701 revs (not taking into account engine going from idle - full revs

[Road Games]

Originally Posted by LANKY 1

I find this amazing, but then 9,500 rpm for a second is 158 rev per second.
4.428 second pass is then 701 revs (not taking into account engine going from idle - full revs

Or clutch slip ..............

[Windsor342ci]

Amazing...

[TUF_302]

Wowee weewaa!

[yanknbank]

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

Speaking to Phil Lamattina recently and he was saying his engine puts out around 8,500 HP. At full noise the sound travels right through you.
An amazing piece of machinery.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by jaydee

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!

Red it before, but i love this fact. These cars are a real feat of engineering

[GasoLane]

You've been watching this video/slide show, haven't you
http://www.break.com/usercontent/200...r-Facts-473754

[03 GHIA]

Some amazing information in there that I never knew. Really shows the extent of engineering that goes into top fuellers.

[290GTP]

As has been stated above, read it all before but top fueller stats never cease to amaze me.

Awesome pieces of machinery.

[nb_351]

cant wait til their aw wsid next, ill be taking the two boys theyll love it, i remember going as a youngen and i loved it with my earmuffs on lol