Acceleration, Put into Perspective
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Acceleration, Put into Perspective
I came across this the other day.. the last paragraph quite entertaining
(repost..? not sure) .. if not.. enjoy..
[COLOR=blue]Acceleration, Put Into Perspective
* 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 11.2 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 merely
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 lock at full
throttle.
* At the stoichiometric 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. This is the
Output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After
(repost..? not sure) .. if not.. enjoy..
[COLOR=blue]Acceleration, Put Into Perspective
* 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 11.2 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 merely
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 lock at full
throttle.
* At the stoichiometric 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. This is the
Output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After
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From: Farmingdale, NJ
~7000HP, ~500HP to turn the SC. I've seen a videos of clear cylinder engine so you could see how quickly fuel is pumped into these things. Fuel lines as big as your arm with god awful pressure behind them.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 5,689
Likes: 2
From: Farmingdale, NJ
I sent this to a friend and ex-drag racer. This is was he came back with...
Great thread. I love this stuff 
Some more intersesting facts:
Cars are routinely hitting 275mph by half track (660 ft) in around 3 seconds flat !
The driver experience +4 Gs at launch and -4 Gs when the chutes hit,all in less than 5 seconds
clutch is locked up via pnuematic throw out bearing approx 2.5 seconds into the run, it then is direct drive 1 to 1 to rear axle
Rear axle ratio is 2.90 to one
Cars are equipped with NHRA mandated magneto rev limiters to keep speeds down, Tony Shumacher's crew chief figured a way around these limiters last year and hit 339 mph on a marginal track, NHRA now hands out limiters before each race
There are 64 nozzles in the fuel injection system, yes thats 8 per cylinder!
Because of the volume of fuel is so extreme and the car is accellerating so hard, the cars are always jetted leaner in the back cylinders, because the g forces on the fuel that goes through the supercharger into the manifold is being pushed to the back of the plenum , They still have not found a way to inject all fuel directly into each cylinder as NHRA has a moratorium on new designs to keep speeds down
Because of nitromethane's extremely slow flame front across the top of the piston, typical top fuel ignition timing is set at 75 degrees before top dead center, Piston is still inches down in the bore when the plug fires
The second half track dieseling described below has produced some very wierd runs, a dragster once shook the tires so hard the magneto's sheared off from the vibration and fell off the side of the car (TV footage verified,) car continued down the track running and made a respectable elapsed time with no ignition system on the car for more than half of the run
Cars have a single rear axle approximatly 2.5 inches in diameter, good for about 20 runs
Front motor mounts are hose clamps
Cars are routinely hitting 275mph by half track (660 ft) in around 3 seconds flat !
The driver experience +4 Gs at launch and -4 Gs when the chutes hit,all in less than 5 seconds
clutch is locked up via pnuematic throw out bearing approx 2.5 seconds into the run, it then is direct drive 1 to 1 to rear axle
Rear axle ratio is 2.90 to one
Cars are equipped with NHRA mandated magneto rev limiters to keep speeds down, Tony Shumacher's crew chief figured a way around these limiters last year and hit 339 mph on a marginal track, NHRA now hands out limiters before each race
There are 64 nozzles in the fuel injection system, yes thats 8 per cylinder!
Because of the volume of fuel is so extreme and the car is accellerating so hard, the cars are always jetted leaner in the back cylinders, because the g forces on the fuel that goes through the supercharger into the manifold is being pushed to the back of the plenum , They still have not found a way to inject all fuel directly into each cylinder as NHRA has a moratorium on new designs to keep speeds down
Because of nitromethane's extremely slow flame front across the top of the piston, typical top fuel ignition timing is set at 75 degrees before top dead center, Piston is still inches down in the bore when the plug fires
The second half track dieseling described below has produced some very wierd runs, a dragster once shook the tires so hard the magneto's sheared off from the vibration and fell off the side of the car (TV footage verified,) car continued down the track running and made a respectable elapsed time with no ignition system on the car for more than half of the run
Cars have a single rear axle approximatly 2.5 inches in diameter, good for about 20 runs
Front motor mounts are hose clamps
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From: Boston
Originally Posted by tinkfist' date='Mar 26 2007, 09:55 AM
~7000HP, ~500HP to turn the SC. I've seen a videos of clear cylinder engine so you could see how quickly fuel is pumped into these things. Fuel lines as big as your arm with god awful pressure behind them.
