From an automotive perspective..<o></o> * One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower<o></o> than the first 4 rows combined at the Daytona 500.<o> </o><o></o> * Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1½ gallons of nitromethane<o></o> per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25%<o></o> less energy being produced.<o> </o><o></o> * A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the<o></o> dragster supercharger.<o> </o><o></o> * With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the<o></o> fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle. <o></o><o></o> * At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame<o></o> front temperature measures 7050 degrees F .<o></o><o></o> * Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the<o></o> stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water<o></o> vapor by the searing exhaust gases.<o> </o><o></o> * Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an<o></o> arc welder in each cylinder.<o> </o><o></o> * Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way,<o></o> the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at<o></o> 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.<o></o> <o></o> * If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in<o></o> the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow<o></o> cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.<o></o> <o></o> * In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an<o></o> average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the<o></o> launch acceleration approaches 8G's .<o> </o><o></o> * At the end of the ¼ mile, the down force exerted on the rear wing exceeds 5 tons.<o> </o><o></o> * Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading<o></o> this sentence.<o> </o><o></o> * Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!<o> </o><o></o> * Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under<o></o> load.<o> </o><o></o> * The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.<o> </o><o></o> * The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked<o></o> for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated US<o></o> $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is<o></o> 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top<o></o> speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the<o></o> run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).<o> </o><o></o> Putting all of this into perspective:<o></o><o></o> You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered<o></o> Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and<o></o> ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the<o></o> advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears<o></o> and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200<o></o> mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster<o></o> launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear<o></o> an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the<o></o> dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter<o></o> mile away from where you just passed him.<o> </o><o></o> Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph<o></o> and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you<o></o> within a mere 1320 foot long race course.<o> </o><o></o> That, folks, is acceleration.<o></o><o> </o>
The Jalopy Journal
