Top Fuel Dragster interesting facts

[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

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

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, 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 section, and also means it is similar to the 747's consumption (as listed on the "Howstuffworks" site here).

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?

[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 ...

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?

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.