Definition of Acceleration

[kanuck15]

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 for, 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!

[kanuck15]

I just found this from a while ago, Its still an amazing thing to read and really comprehend

[351fifty]

Wow that's crazy, never thought of it like that, government should really have someone else building their engines lol

[SuperCrutyPS]

"Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence."

The whole article gives you some perspective on it all, but that sentence makes me grin. I could see myself start to read that sentence at the track just as the dragster launches and a beep go off before I get done reading letting me know the sentence is true!

[FordGuy100]

Top Fuel Dragster Fuel Pump Demo single cylinder - YouTube

Top Fuel Dragster Fuel Pump Demo single cylinder - YouTube

[kanuck15]

haha thats awesome. I never really thought they used that much fuel per cylinder

[UNDERCOVER_73]

Dang... I never really thought about how awsome those things are!

ooh oohh! do one on Diesel Vs Gas!!

[kanuck15]

I enjoy reading this from time to time, really makes me realize the "seat of the pants" feeling I get from a snappy car or truck is really nothing compared to this

[HarvestingInternationally]

Wow I wanna take one for a spin

[csdwarf11]

A friend told me he read an article on how a guy had detached retinas in both of his eyes due to the acceleration and deceleration of running top fuel cars. These things accelerate so fast the body actually cant take it...that's nuts.

Assuming its true this kid normally is right on though, so I believe it.