Some Perspective on Acceleration

Lineslinger

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This overview is from a few years back.
None the less, still a bit mind boggling.



One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows 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.

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 this all into perspective:

Lets say the 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 by it. 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. Just as you pass the Top Fuel Dragster the ‘tree’ goes green for both of you.

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!
 
Some mind numbing numbers there.
It's truly amazing what these things can do.
The horsepower is a guess as there are no dynos strong enough to run them.
A friend of mine started racing Top Alcohol Funny, (second tier to Top Fuel) about 10 years ago.
Really cool hanging in the pits and having him explain the nuances and such to me and my buddies.
 
If the vette seat were soft and cushy the pucker vacuum alone would rip a hole through it bursting every rhoid in an instant leaving the driver bleeding out before he could stop.
 
If the vette seat were soft and cushy the pucker vacuum alone would rip a hole through it bursting every rhoid in an instant leaving the driver bleeding out before he could stop.

Wish I didn’t read this,,,,,,,
Ha ha very good

Graeme
 
* 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.
Top fuel dragsters are awesome and those figure fun, but Boeing state a 747 uses fuel at 1 gallon a second on take off and then 5 gallons to the mile in flight. Which begs the question, how accurate are the rest of the "facts"?:D
 
You can physically FEEL the acceleration from the stands...
 
I have had pit lane passes and stood at the side of a nitro car at launch, every part of your body vibrates, the thrill is indescribable and a lot of fun, so I do know the figures are massive, but as a pedant, it would be nice for them to be correct.
 
I remember attending the Gator nationals in Gainesville Florida back in the 70's. The event started with a flyover of four P51 Mustangs and ended with the top fuel finals, with everything from two cylinder motorcycles to Super Stock hemies in between. A good day for good sound.
 
If you have never been to an NHRA event, you should put it on the list.
And take your hearing protection.
 
Been a long time since I went to the drag races.... I was thoroughly impressed each and every time. Then I'm easy because those kawa trips scared the bejeezus outta me first time I ever rode them too, but they weren't wild and wooly like my first Norton. Norton snorted, farted, growled, shooked, vibrated, made all kinds of threatening noises and gestures just like those noisy dragsters..... not as fast though.
 
Been a long time since I went to the drag races.... I was thoroughly impressed each and every time. Then I'm easy because those kawa trips scared the bejeezus outta me first time I ever rode them too, but they weren't wild and wooly like my first Norton. Norton snorted, farted, growled, shooked, vibrated, made all kinds of threatening noises and gestures just like those noisy dragsters..... not as fast though.
Blimey, it must have been so old that it had probably blew the baffles out and was breathing like a dragon!
 
Been a long time since I went to the drag races.... I was thoroughly impressed each and every time. Then I'm easy because those kawa trips scared the bejeezus outta me first time I ever rode them too, but they weren't wild and wooly like my first Norton. Norton snorted, farted, growled, shooked, vibrated, made all kinds of threatening noises and gestures just like those noisy dragsters..... not as fast though.

Cant’t agree with not wild and wooly thing .... first time on a Big kawi 2 stoke I was blown away by the instant craziness happening when I twisted right grip , plus didn’t seem to want to go where I pointed it and wasn’t great at slowing down either .... was a short ride for me after first awesome taste of throttle ....
 
We cut baffles out until I was around 30 because it interfered with the 4-stroke serenade... Still sends shivers down my spine to hear a Norton holler with gutted mufflers. I still run the gutted shorty mufflers I put on 'Baby' 40 years ago. Pretty quiet until I allow her to breathe heavily.... I love them and 850 does too.
 
'

* 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.'

My friend told me that nitromethane is safe because if you light it, it burns quietly. Most nitro compounds have a critical height. If you stack them up vertically and light them - at first they burn quietly, but the whole time the flame front is accelerating. It does that until it reaches the critical height and then the explosion occurs. If you poured nitro into a pipe and stood it vertical and lit the end, you would see the difference. With nitro, it is not stoichiometry you should be looking at, but more towards it's oxidising nature. Nitrogen compounds release oxygen when they react. That is the reason nitro is mainly used with methanol. If it is mixed with hydrocarbons, it can spontaneously cause ignition.

In explosives factories, most fatalities occur at the burning ground where disposal of waste occurs. If the guys stack the nitro compounds too high, they burn quietly at first, then explode.
 
Personally, I don't like drag racing because it does not prove much. There is more to creating a fast vehicle than straight horsepower. Every road has got a bend in it somewhere. That being said, the Jesser Triumph 730 which was raced by Ken Blake in Australia in the 1970s ran a mix of nitro, toluene and methanol. It won a lot of races. It also once spread itself all over the ground and crashed four of our top riders.
 
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