A Lesson in Acceleration

[Coalman]

Thought you guys might be interested in this if you hadn't seen it already. A Lesson in Acceleration - first, some useful info: * One NHRA Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than all the cars in the first four rows at the Daytona 500. * Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1 gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate, but with 25% less energy being produced. * A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to 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). * In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's (most reach over 260 mph by half track). * 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 rpm redline is actually quite high at 9500 rpm. * The Bottom Line; assuming all the equipment is funded, the crew works for free, and if, for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00-per-second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). * The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta). Putting all of this into perspective for you bikers: You are riding the average $250,000 Honda MotoGP bike. 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 RC211V hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph (293 ft/sec). The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your wrist cranked 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 1320 foot long race course (just three city blocks in length). That, folks, is acceleration!

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[DFW01E55]

Good stuff, thanks.

[Can Drive 55]

Sign me up.

[Fast55]

Old, but great stuff.

[E552006]

I've never seen this but very cool
Gives you some perspective of what an internal combustion engine is capable of.

[newton22]

A top fuel dragster is to date probably still the loudest machine I've ever heard.

[vraa]

Moving to off topic.

God I love lists like this.

[gup998]

44 AMPS?!!!
not to ignore the rest of the list, but wow.

thanks.

[Nola]

Damn! I gotta go see a top fuel dragster! I've seen the jet dragsters at airshows and F1 races... how do those compare?

[RunInColorado]

Amazing!

[tuscanraider]

Thats because they are AMERICAN MADE, nobody knows horsrepower like Detroit....sorry Germany, Italy, Japan and all the second placers.

[tyro]

Originally Posted by newton22

A top fuel dragster is to date probably still the loudest machine I've ever heard.

Never heard a SEPTA bus in down town Philly late at night when it's quiet?

[newton22]

Originally Posted by tyro

Never heard a SEPTA bus in down town Philly late at night when it's quiet?

Haha. We don't have buses from the town I live in. Nice and quiet here.

I remember my first time at the drags. I heard a Top Fuel at WOT a good 3, 4 miles before I got to the track.

[Benz-O-Rama]

A top fuel dragster is to date probably still the loudest machine I've ever heard.


I second that.

I've been around drag strips my entire life. Thre is nothing, and I mean NOTHING that compares to being 20 yards from 2 Top Fuel cars at WOT in the 1/4 mile.....NOTHING!!!

Television does it no justice. If you've never experienced it, I highly recommend it.

[Rudyrono]

I actually won a contest at the race here in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and my son and I were driven up to the starting line on the other side of the cement barricade in an open "golf cart" type vehicle. They gave us head phones (basically useless at that distance) and we sat there for three launches, two top fuel dragsters and one funny car. Our eyes were burning from the fumes, that's how close we were. When the cars launched it was as if everything inside the body turned to liquid for a moment. The concussion was unbelievable. The funny thing is, Kid Rock was at the starting line with Jesse James because his car was running. Kid Rock had ear protection but Jesse didn't. When the cars launched he cupped his hand behind his ear as if he couldn't hear the noise. There's no question, the man is deaf! Anyway, it was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had.

[harrison1277]

shotgun!

[FLYNAVY]

Would love to get a ride in one, and compare it to a cat shot on the boat. Folks normally say a top fuel dragster ride is the only thing that it compares to, though by your description, I'd guess it might be even more awesome.

[bmstyle]

You know with all the detail you put into your post, it honestly shows you how insignificant humans are if you think about it. I mean with all this technology and power and sheer madness.......a ray of light will DEMOLISHHHH that technology.....and it would take that ray of light thousands or even millions of light years to reach the next celestial body..... so imagine us with out comparatively primitive technology........wow. I'm sorry I had to share that.