ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE
* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine
makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at the Daytona 500.
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes
11.2 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 merely 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.
* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have
completed reading this sentence.
* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds,
dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH
well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8
G's.
* 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 9500 RPM.
* THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is
paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each
run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin ‘chutes at 300 MPH
An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker than the space shuttle.
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is
4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The
top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66'
of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Putting this all 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 & 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 & pass the
dragster at an honest 200 MPH. The 'tree' goes green for both of
you at that moment.
The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep
your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears
your eardrums & within 3 seconds the dragster catches & 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 & not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road
when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race!
That's acceleration !
Andy
More precisely, the headers on a T/F car produce up to a thousand pounds of down force, total. An imbalance in down force (on one side) is the reason the car will tend to turn toward that side.
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