luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

This was sent to me by a friend.


Subject: Acceleration Explained



Acceleration explained............Read this......it is incredible............



* One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc)

Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second;

a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but 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 lockup at full throttle.

* At the stoichio metric 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. Which is typically the output of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling'

from compression and the glow of the 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 enough sufficient force to blow the 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, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's.

In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the 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 for, the pit crew is working for free,

& NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.

0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of t he 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....or snapping your fingers !!

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).

Let's now put this all into perspective:

Imagine this...........You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06.

Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile s trip as you pass.

You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on 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 exact moment.

The dragster departs & starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly

brutally screaming whine that seares and pummels your eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly 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.....and it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the planet

when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!!

That, my friends.....is acceleration.

Joe F.N. Loc: Oshawa, Ontario

This is indeed jaw dropping. It's hard to wrap one's mind around this. Thanks for passing this along.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for looking. Thats how I felt when I read it. I love drag racing and had no idea. I will see it in a whole new way.

venturer9 Loc: Newton, Il.

Luvmypets.... Thanks for the interesting info... I have always loved drag racing and even did it a little myself...Although most was on the street...HEY I was young then..
I had a 1966 Pontiac Tempest LeMans Sprint 230cc 207Hp 6 cylinder Overhead Cam engine with 3 speed manual trans.
1/4 mile 16.7 82mph
http://www.hotrod.com/muscle_car_review/mscp_1206_1966_pontiac_lemans_sprint/

Here are two contemporaries of that car for comparison....

1966 427 Corvette 12.8 112mph

1966 GT 350H Mustang 15.2 93mph

I could beat most v8 cars of the day and that included a 1966 Ford Fairlane GT 390 that belonged to a friend of mine... at about the quarter and 1/16th he would pass me up like I was standing still,,,,, but I beat him to the 1/4..LOL

I was in the habit of racing for $100.00 per run and made enough to buy another car.. BUT one funny experience was when I was dragging a guy with a hopped up 55 Chevrolet and I beat him 3 times in a row and he started cussing and ranting and finally bet me another $300.00 that I didn't have a 6cyl. Of course I took the bet, took all the $600.00 and said... DON'T YOU FEEL LIKE A FOOL...IF IT HADN"T BEEN A SIX, DO YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE BET YOU...LOL...

Thanks again...

Mike

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

thanks for looking!! My best friend's brother and my ex-husband taught me how to work on cars. I loved it. I had a 1966 Pontiac Lemans that had nothing done to it. But the 1967 Chevelle SuperSport....396 engine with a quarter race cam, 4 barrel carb, headers, dual exhaust 4 on the floor with a race shifter. I loved that car. I still drool over old cars espcially Detroit Iron. I have a 2006 Dodge pick up and 2 motorcycles. I won't touch them. All the electronics, computer garbage....give me a car with a basice engine and my tools and get out of the way.
My Dodge salesman thought I was nuts. My 2 main requirements....8 cylinder and standard transmission. But I got it.

Sigh, thanks for bringing back the memories and the adrenolin rush!!!!

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Just checked out that sight. I've never heard of the Sprint and never seen one. My Le Mans had an 8 cylinder, 326ci and 2 speed automatic transmission. Thanks for that article. You learn something new ever day.

BTW glad you beat that guy!!!

Photoman74 Loc: Conroe Tx

My 4 cyl gets avg 30.5 MPG - 0 to Legal limit as needed - goes to town as needed -- S-o-o-o ?

nikonnut Loc: Las Vegas

I have been involved with drag racing all of my life and did not know some of this. If you have ever stood at the lights when a fueler takes off the ground will vibrate. The noise is so loud that people in the top row of the stands will put their hands over their ears because it can be painfull.

Mstrpurity Loc: Plymouth devon UK

my 4 cylinder 1900cc diesel does between 58 to 74 mpg if i keep it at 40mph the legal limit on country roads in uk.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

I use to love going to drag races. I loved the rails!