Top fuel facts..
Discussion
A very interesting read to a layman like myself...I`m sure there are those on this forum that can vouch for it`s authenticity....
Some interesting Top Fuel dragster facts:
* One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at Daytona
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.
* The supercharger takes more power to drive than a stock hemi makes.
* Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.
* Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane 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.
* 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 off its fuel flow.
* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.
* Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees in the big end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.
* To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.
* If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.
* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.
Amazing the details that come to light with such a highly squeezed engine...
Some interesting Top Fuel dragster facts:
* One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at Daytona
* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.
* The supercharger takes more power to drive than a stock hemi makes.
* Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.
* Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane 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.
* 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 off its fuel flow.
* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.
* Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees in the big end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.
* To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.
* If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.
* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.
Amazing the details that come to light with such a highly squeezed engine...
Edited by F.M on Friday 5th January 20:39
wonder what a larger engine would do, say a converted truck engine with all its strenth done to same spec as a fueler! Would it be posible? also how could that power be used to out do a presentday fueler, maybe it would be to heavy!
No wonder the things eat themself as they run the strip.
GO to www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=342058&f=23&h=0
No wonder the things eat themself as they run the strip.
GO to www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=342058&f=23&h=0
Edited by drags06 on Saturday 6th January 02:12
What I wanna know is how long we've got to wait for the rule makers to take the brakes off of nitro engine development, and maybe allow new fangled idea's like overhead cams and mapped engine mangment or shock horror "something other than a V8 design" into the sport. Then imagine the potential 
in short, it won't happen
the McGee brothers experimented with a quad overhead cam fuel motor back in the early 90s with potnetial but it abliterated parts worse than a normal nitro motor and drank even more fuel before it got outlawed
now in Austrailia there is a team running/developing with a Sainty twin overhead cam fuel motor, again alot of work is needed but tis got potential with everrythig being custom made its not cheap
also in the American sand drags theres a team running a blown nitro V6, which is basically a 500inch hemiwith the rear two cylinders cut off
also essentially the fuellers in America (and from 2007 in Europe) will have basic engine management with fuel and clutch controllers being electronic now rather than pneumatuc as before
the McGee brothers experimented with a quad overhead cam fuel motor back in the early 90s with potnetial but it abliterated parts worse than a normal nitro motor and drank even more fuel before it got outlawed
now in Austrailia there is a team running/developing with a Sainty twin overhead cam fuel motor, again alot of work is needed but tis got potential with everrythig being custom made its not cheap
also in the American sand drags theres a team running a blown nitro V6, which is basically a 500inch hemiwith the rear two cylinders cut off
also essentially the fuellers in America (and from 2007 in Europe) will have basic engine management with fuel and clutch controllers being electronic now rather than pneumatuc as before
Edited by MotorPsycho on Monday 8th January 15:07
[quote=MotorPsycho]in short, it won't happen
the McGee brothers experimented with a quad overhead cam fuel motor back in the early 90s with potnetial but it abliterated parts worse than a normal nitro motor and drank even more fuel before it got outlawed
Hi, no it won't happen I agree....they destroy as is, there's prob not another motor out there that can take a nuclear blast going off inside it like the "Hemi".....will they find one??...............
Was a shame about those McGee bros and there quad cammer, I remember being next to run after them at one meet, always expecting something great....as said, never quite happened did it.
the McGee brothers experimented with a quad overhead cam fuel motor back in the early 90s with potnetial but it abliterated parts worse than a normal nitro motor and drank even more fuel before it got outlawed
Hi, no it won't happen I agree....they destroy as is, there's prob not another motor out there that can take a nuclear blast going off inside it like the "Hemi".....will they find one??...............
Was a shame about those McGee bros and there quad cammer, I remember being next to run after them at one meet, always expecting something great....as said, never quite happened did it.
Edited by '69 Cuda on Friday 12th January 22:36
First : Welcome on Board, Mr Szabo, a racer never really gets "off the hook" ??
I guess the "sticking to 1930´s engine design" in TF has also to do with
pit time between rounds, wich is limited in quali & racing.
And putting in 4 camshafts, and cam drives, and adjusting the cam drive ,
is surely more time-consuming than to put pushrods in and bolt the heads on ?
I saw the McGee in action in Hockenheim once IIRC ,was fascinated then,
but I doubt a design like this will ever make it successfully.
Benni
O/T : has anyone ever seen the "Honda Acura" 4cyl. Funny Car with
Turbo/Methanol/Nitro/Nitrous
of Bob Norwood actually running on dyno or track ?
I guess the "sticking to 1930´s engine design" in TF has also to do with
pit time between rounds, wich is limited in quali & racing.
And putting in 4 camshafts, and cam drives, and adjusting the cam drive ,
is surely more time-consuming than to put pushrods in and bolt the heads on ?
I saw the McGee in action in Hockenheim once IIRC ,was fascinated then,
but I doubt a design like this will ever make it successfully.
Benni
O/T : has anyone ever seen the "Honda Acura" 4cyl. Funny Car with
Turbo/Methanol/Nitro/Nitrous of Bob Norwood actually running on dyno or track ?
edited for spelling
Edited by Benni on Friday 12th January 22:55
All the exciting motor development is happening in TF SuperTwin - the rules are a lot more open and people are a lot more apt to experiment. Once you go past the big vs blown decision, we have parallel twins and v-twins, plus any combination of firing angles. My personal favourite (from an engineering principle) is Per Bengtsen's Bentec bike - 2.7 litre parallel N/A twin with a 360deg crank. The really inniovative bit is the magneto setup - twin MSD44s with 4 live plugs and 12 wasted plugs just firing off into thin air - totally mad! If you are a CNC billet fan, then Jaska's KTM twin is the ultimate - a total work of art.
Do not overlook the exotic-fuelled 600bhp 2-stroke motor with a CVT transmission to keep it in the powerband...
Do not overlook the exotic-fuelled 600bhp 2-stroke motor with a CVT transmission to keep it in the powerband...
someone thinks its pointless!
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=339383&f=23&h=0
gess we all have a right to an opinion!
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=339383&f=23&h=0
gess we all have a right to an opinion!
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