Accelleration

[Fivetoes]

I've had this saved for sometime and forget where I got it.


Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just under 4 seconds! The last paragraph puts it all into perspective !

There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car…..and that includes any aircraft launched by a catapult from an aircraft carrier. Nothing can compare


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 (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 HP is more realistic - there are no dynomometers capable of measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.
Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 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 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 nitromethane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F. (Oxy-acetylene on "cut" is 6,300)
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 one 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.

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 instant.

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.

[Netpackrat]

Specialized to the point of uselessness...

[Jericho941]

It takes just 15/100ths (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 HP is more realistic - there are no dynomometers capable of measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

That sounds suspect.

a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

What does the load have to do with it? Unless you mean "at cruising altitude" or something like that, but... by itself... bleah.

[MarkD]

I remember reading some time back that a dragster driver switched from one big chute to two smaller chutes (with lower surface area) because the big chute stopped him too fast and made his eyeballs hurt.

[TheIrishman]

Specialized to the point of uselessness...

No different than NASCAR. The advantage of any of those sports is they lead to development of better automotive components.

I remember reading some time back that a dragster driver switched from one big chute to two smaller chutes (with lower surface area) because the big chute stopped him too fast and made his eyeballs hurt.

HTRN will probably be able to give you more insight as he's into the big power drag cars, but it isn't unusual for TF drivers to develop eye problems from the G-forces induced on launch.

[Gunnuts]

From the horse's mouth.

[HTRN]

Tire technology too - anything that can live behind that kind of power has to be good.

The fuel classes have gotten so fast, that they no longer go to 1320 - since 2009 they've been only racing to 1000 feet. Last I heard, the average AA/FD engine was putting out around 8000hp.

[TheIrishman]

they no longer go to 1320 - since 2009 they've been only racing to 1000 feet.

They're still timed at 1/4 mile though, right? Just shutting down at 1000 to help with stopping distance, I assume?

[JRucker2004]

gotta love the engineering that goes into something like that.
An indy car idles at 10k rmp. IDLES.
Insane.

[HTRN]

they no longer go to 1320 - since 2009 they've been only racing to 1000 feet.

They're still timed at 1/4 mile though, right? Just shutting down at 1000 to help with stopping distance, I assume?

No. The timing lights are at a thousand feet.

An indy car idles at 10k rmp. IDLES.
Insane.

No. The old Max RPM(using league supplied rev limiters) was 10,300RPM for the Honda V8, making 650hp on Methanol. The new "open" class 2.2L twin Turbo V6s that will be used starting this year, I'm not sure about.