Acceleration.

[GAUGE]

Dont know if this has been posted but its pretty cool..

A Lesson in Acceleration:


Ø One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.


Ø 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 with 25% less energy being produced.


Ø A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power
to drive the dragster's supercharger.


Ø 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.


Ø At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro
methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.


Ø 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.


Ø Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the
output of an arc welder in each cylinder.


Ø 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.


Ø If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro
builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient
force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the
block in half.


Ø 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.


Ø Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
completed reading this sentence.


Ø Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from
light to light!


Ø Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900
revolutions under load.


Ø The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.


Ø The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the
crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs
an estimated $1,000.00 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:


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.

[03maxpower]

I read that before that is an amazing fact

[Rundown]

[rpm]

And all of that info is old too. Back when that was wrote up, they were only about 7000 HP. Now they are over 8000 HP. The record now for Top Fuel is 327 MPH at 3.73 seconds. This is in 1000ft.

If you ever get a chance to go see them in person, DO IT!!!!! I get to stand 10ft away from them and there is nothing that will compare to it.

[T_Dilley]

Quote: Originally Posted by rpm

If you ever get a chance to go see them in person, DO IT!!!!!

No doubt, I've been just about all over the US to NHRA/IHRA events.
My father is a die hard NHRA fan, I was just lucky enough to follow him around a bit.

There is nothing like it, You can feel it in your chest when they run. Make sure you hit the pits during the nitro start ups..You've gotta get at least 1 good dose of Nitro Methane in your lifetime.

[rpm]

See now I avoid the Brown Death.

When I shoot a 3 or 4 day event, I actually end up with issues with my throat and lungs. Breathing that stuff in non stop is hard on ya.

Still wouldn't trade my seat for anything.

[NovaKaw650]

Another trivia fact: The weight and inertia of the rotors in the SC will snap the drive belt like a piece of spagetti if you get on and off the throttle too quickly. The belt is normally strong enough to handle the 500-700hp it takes to turn the SC during a pass.

[GAUGE]

Quote: Originally Posted by rpm

And all of that info is old too. Back when that was wrote up, they were only about 7000 HP. Now they are over 8000 HP. The record now for Top Fuel is 327 MPH at 3.73 seconds. This is in 1000ft.

If you ever get a chance to go see them in person, DO IT!!!!! I get to stand 10ft away from them and there is nothing that will compare to it.

I went as a kid in the late 70's early 80's. The only NHRA track now is 6 or so hours away. When my son gets a little older, we'll make the trip.

[T_Dilley]

Quote: Originally Posted by NovaKaw650

Another trivia fact: The weight and inertia of the rotors in the SC will snap the drive belt like a piece of spagetti if you get on and off the throttle too quickly. The belt is normally strong enough to handle the 500-700hp it takes to turn the SC during a pass.

Hmmm..I don't know if I can believe that or not. They snap the throttle pretty quickly on and off during their test start in the pits. I'm sure its not WOT though. But if you're in the stands it will catch you off guard and scare the tar out of you.

[rpm]

Blower belts have come a long way over the years. They can take a few pedal fests before they let go.

The biggest problem with pedaling now days is usually involving the clutch timers either causing the motor to over rev or pulling the motor down at the wrong time. Both are not good and make for an unhappy motor.