Definition of acceleration

[DOG ON]

Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just
under 4 seconds! There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in
the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel
Dragster or Funny Car!

DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION

One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the
first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.

It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower of an NHRA Top
Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 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 drive the dragster's
supercharger.

With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which
quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1
air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050
deg 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 halfway, the
engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400
deg 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.

In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an 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 9,500 rpm.

Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once
NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.

The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for the
quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona, CA ). The top speed record
is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony
Schumacher, at Hebron, OH).

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 pass 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 200 mph and
not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a
mere 1,320 foot long race course.

...... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
>

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[ChromolyKid]

Very cool post. Really puts things into perspective. Rep for you!

Don't they also average like .042 mpg or something similar? Amazing stuff.

[KBWAKESK8]

lol but if the vet was doing 203.5 mph it would win...

1320 feet at 4.428 sec= 298.1 ft/sec=203.25 mph

putting all that in to perspective that is some serious acceleration

[pappawheely]

The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for the
quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona, CA ). The top speed record
is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony
Schumacher, at Hebron, OH).

Gus, That info is old. The current records still belong to Schumacher et 3.771 and speed 324.98. I'm not sure how the shorter track plays into this. I was there in '06 when Schumacher had to win the race and set an et record to take the championship that year, which he did!

[FABRICATOR]

Amazing stuff alright. That one pops up on rdc every now and then. http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/sho...ll=1#post47518

[lauren]

thats cool i have a friend whos dad used to race funny car...