Top Fuel Dragster interesting facts

[nudemetalz]

This was sent to me by a mate in Oz......

Some of these facts are just unreal !!!!!!!!!!!


* One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower
than the first 4 rows of Nascars at the Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons
(51
litres)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 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to 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 ( 3900 degrees C ).

* Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the
stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric
water
vapour 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 1/2
way,
the engine is "dieseling" from compression plus the glow of 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 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 at
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 RPM's from light to light!
This
one confused Stan, but stop & ponder the fact that the engine is only
used
for apx 4 to 5 seconds.

* Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions
under
load.

* The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.

* The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew
worked
for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated
$1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record
is
4.441 seconds for the quarter mile 10/05/03, Tony Shumacher). The top
speed
record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run
(09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).

Putting all of this into perspective:
You are riding the average $250,000 Honda MotoGP bike.
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 RC211V hard up through the gears and blast across the
starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph (293 ft/sec).
The
tree'sgoes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches
and
starts after you. You keep your wrist cranked 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 1320 foot long
race course.
That, folks, is acceleration................

[Blackbird]

Great post, very much appreciated by an ex-drag racer, if only on bikes:rockon:

If you use the search facility on Youtube for dragster crashes, there's a great compendium video of crashes and explosions. There's a Funny Car accident where the engine completely destroys itself in a fraction of a second and blows the body completely off the chassis. No wonder they call them "hand grenade motors" - 2000+ horsepower has to dissipate somewhere :shutup:

[HDTboy]

Reepoost .

[nudemetalz]

ooppps...sorry didn't know it was.

[oldguy]

Good read cheers, them topfuel cars make some serious HP, think around 7500HP.
700HP of that is needed just to turn the supercharger.
My dad use to drive trains up in Western Oz, at the time the loco's were something like 3500hp, but there were 5 loco's giving 17500hp pulling approx, 244 wagons of iron oar, roughly 2k long, would like to have known what the tonnage they were pulling.
The loco's have been up graded since he was driving, they are up about 4000hp now, not sure if they still use 5 loco's.

Sorry wondered of topic

[Donor]

Reepoost .

Ain't a repost unless you provide linky evidence...

[HDTboy]

Ain't a repost unless you provide linky evidence...

How's that? (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=14090&highlight=top+fuel)

Or that? (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=9318&highlight=top+fuel)

[SARGE]

i raced Super Stock back in the States in a worked 5 litre Mustang for a few years .. they had the TF cars at most of the meets .. those things were blindingly fast.. loved watching them ( still do)


incidentally.. on a flight from LA - Detroit in 2000.. i sat right next to John Force

yes .. he's like that in real life ...:rockon:

[Pancakes]

Thats fricken awesome! Talk about having to program your reactions! It'd be "beep, beep, GREEN" and bam! Wake up to see if you did ok.

[Donor]

How's that? (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=14090&highlight=top+fuel)

Or that? (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=9318&highlight=top+fuel)

Much better...

...as you were...

[Chrislost]

Reepoost .

Fuck you!
not everone has been here for ever and seen this before.
get a life

[Edbear]

not everone has been here for ever and seen this before.
get a life



But I really haven't been here forever... :sunny:and I do got a life, really, I do...honest...:yes:

[HDTboy]

While that may be true, everyone can use the search function like I do

[deanohit]

Good read cheers, them topfuel cars make some serious HP, think around 7500HP.
700HP of that is needed just to turn the supercharger.
My dad use to drive trains up in Western Oz, at the time the loco's were something like 3500hp, but there were 5 loco's giving 17500hp pulling approx, 244 wagons of iron oar, roughly 2k long, would like to have known what the tonnage they were pulling.
The loco's have been up graded since he was driving, they are up about 4000hp now, not sure if they still use 5 loco's.

Sorry wondered of topic

Jeez thats impressive. Drag cars are cool for horsepower and speed figures over a matter of seconds, but those trains in oz were probably going for days at the least. Great endurance.

Some awesome facts there Nudemetalz:Punk:

[NordieBoy]

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile 10/05/03, Tony Shumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).

Been doing the rounds since late 2003...

Tony Shumacher 4.428s 2006.
Tony Shumacher 336.15mph 2005.

[peasea]

* Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions
under
load.


I take issue with one.
The key to getting the power to the ground in a TF/D is the clutch. Without slippage you'll go up in smoke in a nanosecond. While simple math might say that to cover 'this' distance with 'that' gear ratio, 'that' tyre size etc etc you must take into account the slippage. Their calculation is too simplistic and ultimately bollocks.

I do, however, love TF/D's and am happy to trek over the Tazzy to view them. If you've never seen/heard/felt one in action you are missing one of man's greatest creations. Good post tho, funny it should be on KB, I could rant about these things all day long.

[peasea]

Great post, very much appreciated by an ex-drag racer, if only on bikes:rockon:

If you use the search facility on Youtube for dragster crashes, there's a great compendium video of crashes and explosions. There's a Funny Car accident where the engine completely destroys itself in a fraction of a second and blows the body completely off the chassis. No wonder they call them "hand grenade motors" - 2000+ horsepower has to dissipate somewhere :shutup:

Try 7,000hp, that's the latest guesstimate.

[Pixie]

This thread is 2500 times more interesting than 3000 humpback whales riding in 1500 double decker buses

[WRT]

* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons
(51
litres)of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel
at
the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.


Just done a bit of research as this fact seems a little too incredible - that would be 200 litres of fuel just for the run, let alone the burnout, etc. I suspect (from looking at this document (http://www.dieselinnovations.com/techfiles/A%20short%20list%20of%20Top%20Fuel%20dragster%20fa cts.pdf), which seems to be the original) that they mean to say 1 1/2 (as in, 1.5) gallons of fuel per second. That figure would be backed up by the NHRA site, in their fun facts (http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/funfacts.html) section, and also means it is similar to the 747's consumption (as listed on the "Howstuffworks" site here (http://travel.howstuffworks.com/question192.htm)).

Been cool looking up these figures though, interesting to find all this info out.

[Monsterbishi]

Your quite right actually, in a pass, they'll use about 12 gallons all up.

[puddy]

If I KEEP using the SEARCH function, do you think I'll become a born again virgin?

[speedpro]

I've crewed for Dave Green (doorslammer corvette), that was pretty impressive. A fuel car would be another world. I just love those big blown engines, so much cool technology and nice shiny bits.

[Bruiser]

While that may be true, everyone can use the search function like I do

What I enjoy is cruising these threads on cold, wet none-riding days checking out the funny, sad, cool shit that I'd never think to google/search.

I get tired of killjoys like you with nothing better to do than prove you're a smartass.

Who cares if its' a repost, I certainly don't.

[HDTboy]

Why weren't you riding today? I was.
Why don't you look a little further back in the archives if that's your thing? You'll find more and more interesting stuff.

Who says I'm a killjoy? Or that I'm trying to prove my intelligence? I get tired of people thinking they're original by posting shit which others have seen a few times before. It's like watching reruns of "Friends"

It only takes a little time, and there's no reason you can't dredge the old thread up with a reply along the lines of "Wow I just got sent this email too. That makes for some interesting reading" for example.

This reply has no malice in it, only suggestions

[marty]

some people like to enjoy cruising these threads on cold, wet none-riding days checking out the funny, sad, cool shit.

others like to spot reposts.

[Bumblebeeman1150]

Okay, so how do the engines maintain any kind of temperature control? They have no cooling system as such, generate humungeous heat, so what stops seizure, even in these ultra short runs. After starting and then staging, the engine is running for a minute or so. What stops the bores distorting to the point of piston seizure, as would happen in most blocks run without water?

Or am I missing something fundamental here? :confused:

[sAsLEX]

incidentally.. on a flight from LA - Detroit in 2000.. i sat right next to John Force

yes .. he's like that in real life ...:rockon:

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required a google but he seems an interesting chap

[SARGE]

required a google but he seems an interesting chap

i love watching him win because the victory lane interviews are at 300 mph ( its like someone put the recording on 1.5 speed..)

[HDTboy]

Okay, so how do the engines maintain any kind of temperature control? They have no cooling system as such, generate humungeous heat, so what stops seizure, even in these ultra short runs. After starting and then staging, the engine is running for a minute or so. What stops the bores distorting to the point of piston seizure, as would happen in most blocks run without water?

Or am I missing something fundamental here? :confused:

Methanol burns a lot cooler than petrol. So long as there's a fresh supply of cold oil I don't see the problem

[speedpro]

Okay, so how do the engines maintain any kind of temperature control? They have no cooling system as such, generate humungeous heat, so what stops seizure, even in these ultra short runs. After starting and then staging, the engine is running for a minute or so. What stops the bores distorting to the point of piston seizure, as would happen in most blocks run without water?

Couple of things - these engines aren't built using "most blocks". They are commonly built using billet blocks, there are no water jackets, just lots of aluminium for strength which also acts as a heat sink. It's a fine line between warm enough to do the run and so hot it loses power, hence the rules about staging delays. Engines take a lot longer to warm up than people think as well. Well OK, fly-weight motorcycle engines warm up pretty quick. They run dry sumps as well with BIG oil tanks so that might help as well.

[Blackbird]

Methanol burns a lot cooler than petrol. So long as there's a fresh supply of cold oil I don't see the problem

Correct about methanol but nitromethane liberates lots of oxygen and heat. I used to go through up to 4 sets of pistons a season due to melting rather than detonation:shutup:

[sAsLEX]

Couple of things - these engines aren't built using "most blocks". They are commonly built using billet blocks, there are no water jackets, just lots of aluminium for strength which also acts as a heat sink.

Like the one in here http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=52513&highlight=mechanical+porn?

[NordieBoy]

Okay, so how do the engines maintain any kind of temperature control? They have no cooling system as such, generate humungeous heat, so what stops seizure, even in these ultra short runs. After starting and then staging, the engine is running for a minute or so. What stops the bores distorting to the point of piston seizure, as would happen in most blocks run without water?

Or am I missing something fundamental here? :confused:

Closed circuit cooling without radiator?
Enough for a few minutes.
That's what's on this one...

[Fooman]

This was sent to me by a mate in Oz......

Some of these facts are just unreal !!!!!!!!!!!



This one is:




* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons
(51
litres)of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel
at
the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.


A fully loaded 747 at maximum thrust at cruising speed uses approximately 240 MW of power (270 kN thrust per engine at 250 m/s (913 km/h) times four engines = 240 MW)

This is 240 000 kW, or ~320 000 hp. The actual number will be less than this due to the engine not being at full thrust when cruising. But the power numbers are about right, as a comparison, a GE LM6000 aero-derivative turbine makes ~ 50 MW in a simple cycle application (these are the ones in use at Southdown power station in AKL) - and they're based on old 747 engines (GE CF-6)

320 000 hp is a lot more than the 5000 to 7000 hp a top fuel engine makes.

And it's burning nowt but glorified kerosene to do so, rather than nitro-methane.

Cheers,
FM

[speedpro]

Closed circuit cooling without radiator?
Enough for a few minutes.
That's what's on this one...

Some of the lower performance engines using iron blocks they just pour "concrete" , actually some sort of epoxy, into the water galleries. It helps with strength, stabilises the block and as a by-product probably helps with heat dissipation.

[oldguy]

Some of the lower performance engines using iron blocks they just pour "concrete" , actually some sort of epoxy, into the water galleries. It helps with strength, stabilises the block and as a by-product probably helps with heat dissipation.

I crewed for a mate, Grant Longley, (Wildbunch) 55 chev running 460BB with LittleField 10/71 supercharger the engine block, like you said had concrete in the water galleries, so no water cooling at all, use to tow the car back after every run, there was a release valve on the front of the blower which had to be pressed to release the air pressure inside the blower, which was covered in ice.

[Bumblebeeman1150]

Thanks for the explanations. I always wondered.

Cheers,

[speedpro]

there was a release valve on the front of the blower which had to be pressed to release the air pressure inside the blower, which was covered in ice.

It's just a bit of pressure in the bearing support housing.

New theory on that now - The pressure helps to keep the seals tight so the pressure doesn't get released. Who knows!