Subject: TOP FUEL DRAGSTER
INTERESTING INFORMATION ON TOP FUEL DRAGSTERS-HOPE YOU ENJOY
* 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 1-1/2 gallons of
nitromethane 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 drivethe
dragster 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 ofhydraulic
lock at full throttle.
* At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry methodology and technology by
which quantities of reactants and products in
chemical reactions are determined) 1.71 air/fuel mixture
fornitromethane the flame front temperature 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.
* 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 ½
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 buildsup
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.
* In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must
acceleratean average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before
half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.
* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed
reading this sentence.
* 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 9500rpm.
* The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew
worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each
run costs an estimated $1,000.00 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 all of this 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 and 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 and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph.
The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster
launches and starts after you. You keep your foot
down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your
eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches
and 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
200mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you
off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race
course.
That folks, is acceleration.
<img src=newicons/anim_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>
Hajji, you can run, but why die tired?
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