Top Fuel dragster facts.
Discussion
Don't think this has been posted before, makes interesting reading 
* One TF dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower than 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.
* A stock hemi will not produce enough power to drive the dragster's
supercharger.
* 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 glowing 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 those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split 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 300 mph 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.
* Top Fuel Engines turn ONLY 540 revolutions from light to light!
* The redline is actually quite high at 9500rpm
* The current TF dragster elapsed time record is 4.465 seconds for the
quarter mile.
Putting all of this in perspective:
You are driving an average Lingenfelter powered "twin-turbo" Corvette.
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, but you still run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. At this moment, the dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot hard down, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you passed him.
From a standing start, this phenomenal machine has spotted you at 200mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 feet.
* One TF dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower than 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.
* A stock hemi will not produce enough power to drive the dragster's
supercharger.
* 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 glowing 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 those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split 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 300 mph 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.
* Top Fuel Engines turn ONLY 540 revolutions from light to light!
* The redline is actually quite high at 9500rpm
* The current TF dragster elapsed time record is 4.465 seconds for the
quarter mile.
Putting all of this in perspective:
You are driving an average Lingenfelter powered "twin-turbo" Corvette.
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, but you still run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. At this moment, the dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot hard down, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you passed him.
From a standing start, this phenomenal machine has spotted you at 200mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 feet.
And almost every V8 dragster engine block has either been modified or been through the hands at some stage of it's life of Keith Black.
www.keithblack.com/
www.keithblack.com/
Here's some more facts!
The nitromethane-powered engines of Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars produce approximately 8,000 horsepower and it takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 8,000 horsepower to reach the rear wheels! Thats what I call explosive!
They are slowed by a reverse force more than seven times that of gravity when both parachutes deploy simultaneously
A Top Fuel dragster can exceed 280 mph in just 660 feet
Depending on size and angle, the large rear wing on a Top Fuel dragster develops between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of downforce
It is desirable for a Top Fuel dragster to race with its front wheels inches off the ground for about the first 200 feet of the run? This ensures proper weight transfer to the rear wheels, a crucial part of a good launch and quick run
At the moment of launch, a Top Fuel dragster measures 2.5 on the richter scale
>> Edited by cammers on Wednesday 24th September 19:05
The nitromethane-powered engines of Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars produce approximately 8,000 horsepower and it takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 8,000 horsepower to reach the rear wheels! Thats what I call explosive!
They are slowed by a reverse force more than seven times that of gravity when both parachutes deploy simultaneously
A Top Fuel dragster can exceed 280 mph in just 660 feet
Depending on size and angle, the large rear wing on a Top Fuel dragster develops between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of downforce
It is desirable for a Top Fuel dragster to race with its front wheels inches off the ground for about the first 200 feet of the run? This ensures proper weight transfer to the rear wheels, a crucial part of a good launch and quick run
At the moment of launch, a Top Fuel dragster measures 2.5 on the richter scale
>> Edited by cammers on Wednesday 24th September 19:05
Courtesy of Eurodragster.com
Breakdown of Kim Reymonds top fuel qualifier at the Euro Finals :-
Reaction time - 0.555 sec
60ft time - 0.855 sec
330ft time - 2.183 sec
660ft (1/8 mile) - 3.143 sec @ 261.95mph
990ft - 3.927 sec
1320ft (1/4 mile) - 4.645 sec @ 317.56 mph
I actually find the 1/8 mile time more astounding than the full pass....0-260mph in 3 seconds!
Possibly even more astounding than that is the timing data from Roel Koedams TF bike 6.04 pass, which is the second quickest in the World, EVER. Only Larry McBride in the States has gone quicker at 5.88.
Reaction time - 0.862 sec
60ft time - 1.056 sec
330ft time - 2.671 sec
660ft (1/8 mile) - 3.963 sec @ 191.03mph
990ft - 5.049 sec
1320ft (1/4 mile) - 6.046 sec @ 235.89 mph
That's with just the one driven wheel, not to mention no roll cage and very little in the way of steering. Top Gear might think otherwise, but these guys (and gals) deserve a great deal of respect.
Breakdown of Kim Reymonds top fuel qualifier at the Euro Finals :-
Reaction time - 0.555 sec
60ft time - 0.855 sec
330ft time - 2.183 sec
660ft (1/8 mile) - 3.143 sec @ 261.95mph
990ft - 3.927 sec
1320ft (1/4 mile) - 4.645 sec @ 317.56 mph
I actually find the 1/8 mile time more astounding than the full pass....0-260mph in 3 seconds!
Possibly even more astounding than that is the timing data from Roel Koedams TF bike 6.04 pass, which is the second quickest in the World, EVER. Only Larry McBride in the States has gone quicker at 5.88.
Reaction time - 0.862 sec
60ft time - 1.056 sec
330ft time - 2.671 sec
660ft (1/8 mile) - 3.963 sec @ 191.03mph
990ft - 5.049 sec
1320ft (1/4 mile) - 6.046 sec @ 235.89 mph
That's with just the one driven wheel, not to mention no roll cage and very little in the way of steering. Top Gear might think otherwise, but these guys (and gals) deserve a great deal of respect.
UKFIVEO said:
* Top Fuel Engines turn ONLY 540 revolutions from light to light!
At first that seems totally wrong but a little basic maths shows it to be credible. What a fascinating way to look at things, it would certainly be interesting to fit a road car with a rev counter, as opposed to a tachometer, to see what sort of revolutions a normal road car engine accumilates before wearing out.
I don't understand this though, "At the moment of launch, a Top Fuel dragster measures 2.5 on the richter scale". I can only assume that the full sentence has been edited otherwise it makes no sense.
Equally impressive, but in a completely different way...Check this topic for a 25480 litre motor that produces:
Maximum power: 108,920 hp at 102 rpm
Maximum torque: 5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=57625&f=66&h=0
>> Edited by danhay on Thursday 25th September 12:20
Maximum power: 108,920 hp at 102 rpm
Maximum torque: 5,608,312 lb/ft at 102rpm
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=57625&f=66&h=0
>> Edited by danhay on Thursday 25th September 12:20
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