Ever wonder why a Top Fuel dragster gets a rebuilt engine after each run?
Stay with this - even if you aren't a 'car nut', this is stunning.
* 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 even 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 a small 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 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 the 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
__________________
If it ain't buckin, chirpin & makin all kinds of bad noises, then I ain't happy
Accelerating is optional...........stopping is mandatory. Your car WILL stop one way or another.
* 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 even drive the dragster's supercharger. * The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the 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
The summer I worked for McCulloch and Whipple --- they set the National Record with a 7.19 - 211 MPH --- That's AA/FC for those that don't know. We were euphoric! It was epic!
I think Chevy sells showroom stock cars that can do that now.... HAHAHAHAHAHA
The summer I worked for McCulloch and Whipple --- they set the National Record with a 7.19 - 211 MPH --- That's AA/FC for those that don't know. We were euphoric! It was epic!
I think Chevy sells showroom stock cars that can do that now.... HAHAHAHAHAHA
Thats a summer you'll never forget. What a great experience!
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Ever wonder why a Top Fuel dragster gets a rebuilt engine after each run?
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