Acceleration
+2
Drea
shippy
6 posters
Page 1 of 1
Acceleration
* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.
* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1
gallon of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes
jet fuel at the same rate 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 nitromethane
the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
* Nitromethane 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 the 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.
* 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 red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
* 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.
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.
That, folks, is acceleration!
horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.
* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1
gallon of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes
jet fuel at the same rate 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 nitromethane
the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
* Nitromethane 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 the 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.
* 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 red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
* 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.
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.
That, folks, is acceleration!
shippy- Number of posts : 110
Age : 39
Location : Tweed
Reputation : 0
Points : 89
Registration date : 2008-10-23
Re: Acceleration
That's crazy!
I've need seen those babies in action.
I've need seen those babies in action.
Drea- Number of posts : 221
Reputation : 0
Points : 68
Registration date : 2008-11-17
Re: Acceleration
Drea wrote:That's crazy!
I've need seen those babies in action.
Its AWESOME make the effort one day Drea
hewey- Number of posts : 412
Reputation : 26
Points : 442
Registration date : 2008-11-03
Re: Acceleration
every one should make the effort to see them live atleast once,
the free DVD that came with this months Streetmachien was good (my son watches it almost daily) but to experaince it you need to feel the ground shake at night with the flames out the zoomies its truly somthing special
the free DVD that came with this months Streetmachien was good (my son watches it almost daily) but to experaince it you need to feel the ground shake at night with the flames out the zoomies its truly somthing special
mudflap- Number of posts : 412
Age : 52
Location : In the shed
Reputation : 2
Points : 278
Registration date : 2008-10-25
Re: Acceleration
mudflap wrote:every one should make the effort to see them live atleast once,
the free DVD that came with this months Streetmachien was good (my son watches it almost daily) but to experaince it you need to feel the ground shake at night with the flames out the zoomies its truly somthing special
True, the shaking ground and the assault on your ear drums are well worth it. even better, go on a day when they have the jet cars. thats an experience you need to have too.
Cheers
Mick
Re: Acceleration
yeah i had to laugh last time i went to the drags at willowbank, i was arriving when the top fuellers were on and they set off a whole heap of car alarms in the car park, thats pretty damn loud
mysteriousdeucedave- Admin
- Number of posts : 66
Age : 35
Location : Carbrook - Qld
Reputation : 3
Points : 35
Registration date : 2008-10-24
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