Top fuel facts
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Thought I'd share some fun facts I read about top fuel cars. I'm sure some of you have read this stuff, but as for the rest...
- One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at Daytona.
- Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.
- The supercharger takes more power to drive than a stock hemi makes.
- Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.
- Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
- At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane measures 7050 degrees F.
- Nitromethane 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.
- 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 off its fuel flow.
- If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the cylinder and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.
- Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees at the big end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.
- To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.
- If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.
- Dragsters can reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.
Did you know
…… that the nitromethane-powered engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars produce approximately 7,000 horsepower, about 37 times that of the average street car?
… that the gasoline-powered engines of NHRA Pro Stock cars produce about 1,200 horsepower, about eight times that of the average street car?
… that an NHRA Top Fuel dragster accelerates from 0 to 100 mph in less than 8 tenths of a second, almost 11 seconds quicker than it takes a production Porsche 911 Turbo to reach the same speed?
… that an NHRA Funny Car is slowed by a reverse force more than seven times that of gravity when both parachutes deploy simultaneously?
… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars consume between four and five gallons of fuel during a quarter-mile run, which is equivalent to between 16 and 20 gallons per mile?
… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars use between 10 and 12 gallons of fuel for a complete pass, including the burnout, backup to the starting line, and quarter-mile run?
… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars travel the length of more than four football fields in less than five seconds?
… that NHRA Top Fuel dragsters can exceed 280 mph in just 660 feet?
… that a fuel pump for an NHRA Top Fuel dragster and Funny Car delivers 65 gallons of fuel per minute, equivalent to eight bathroom showers running at the same time?
… that the fuel-line pressure for NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars is between 400 and 500 pounds, about 20 times greater than the pressure on passenger-car fuel pumps?
… that depending on size and angle, the large rear wing on an NHRA Top Fuel dragster develops between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of downforce? This is one of the only places, I might add, where a big gay wing belongs.
… that the 17-inch rear tires used on NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars wear out after four to six runs, or about two miles? Some brands of passenger-car tires are guaranteed for 80,000 miles.
… that it takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 7,000 horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels?
… that it's desirable for an NHRA Top Fuel dragster to race with its front wheels inches off the ground for about the first 200 feet of the run? This ensures proper weight transfer to the rear wheels, a crucial part of a good launch and quick run.
… that the nitromethane used to power the engines of NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars costs about $30 per gallon?Situation: you're in a typical 1000hp twin turbo viper. A couple of miles ahead of you a top fuel dragster does its burnout and stages at the starting line of a 1/4 drag strip. You start driving and cross the start line at 200mph then floor it. At the instant you cross the line the light goes green for the dragster. Not only is he going to whup you to the finish line 1/4 mile ahead, but he will be going so much faster than you, it will damn near blow you off the track.
Sources: NHRA Communications and Technical Departments, NHRA race teams, motorsports equipment manufacturers
> Mitch Hedberg wrote:
> I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to find out where they are going and hook up with them later.ASE certified parts specialist.
2004 Impala LS 3.8 -
capitlj;290519 wrote:
You start driving and cross the start line at 200mph then floor it. At the instant you cross the line the light goes green for the dragster. Not only is he going to whup you to the finish line 1/4 mile ahead, but he will be going so much faster than you, it will damn near blow you off the track.This is pretty debatable, top fuel dragsters typically run mid 4's not including drivers reaction time. At a steady 200 mph (no acceleration) you will cover 1/4 mile in 4.5 secs. It would have to be a perfect pass to beat it, and even that would not be by a lot (although it would blow by you just pass the line because of terminal speed)
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The average speed of a typical top fuel run is 190+. That's the average speed including a standing start, at the big end they are doing around 315. They are gonna catch you about 1000 feet down the track and be going nearly 100mph faster.
> Mitch Hedberg wrote:
> I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to find out where they are going and hook up with them later.ASE certified parts specialist.
2004 Impala LS 3.8 -
On second thought let's debate the hell out of it and then try to get it on mythbusters.
> Mitch Hedberg wrote:
> I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to find out where they are going and hook up with them later.ASE certified parts specialist.
2004 Impala LS 3.8 -
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capitlj;290555 wrote:
The average speed of a typical top fuel run is 190+. That's the average speed including a standing start, at the big end they are doing around 315. They are gonna catch you about 1000 feet down the track and be going nearly 100mph faster.You didn't do very good in math and phyiscs did you?? If a top fuel dragster averages 190mph, and the other car averages 200 mph over the course, the car will obviously win. Top speed, low speed, etc, don't matter at all, if the average speed is faster.
If a top fuel dragster can do the full run(reaction time and E.T.) in under 4.5 secs, then it could possibly win. But simple math says that if the car goes 200mph (again, no acceleration) the whole way, it will take 4.5 secs, so they have to beat that.
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inspector01;290567 wrote:
You didn't do very good in math and phyiscs did you?? If a top fuel dragster averages 190mph, and the other car averages 200 mph over the course, the car will obviously win. Top speed, low speed, etc, don't matter at all, if the average speed is faster.If a top fuel dragster can do the full run(reaction time and E.T.) in under 4.5 secs, then it could possibly win. But simple math says that if the car goes 200mph (again, no acceleration) the whole way, it will take 4.5 secs, so they have to beat that.
What if the car is accelerating?
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KA-T_240;290569 wrote:
What if the car is accelerating?Then the time would go down, you would need to knows its average speed, or rate of acceleration, etc to figure it out. That is why 4.5 secs is the minimum. Assuming it accelerated to say, 220 mph, it would bring down the ET to less than 4.3 seconds.
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Top fuel doesnt run quarter mile
here a psht, there psht, everywhere a psht psht
PVC SQUAD MEMBER #2- 95 CIVIC EX- DD 320whp on a mustang dyno
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inspector01;290567 wrote:
You didn't do very good in math and phyiscs did you?? If a top fuel dragster averages 190mph, and the other car averages 200 mph over the course, the car will obviously win. Top speed, low speed, etc, don't matter at all, if the average speed is faster.If a top fuel dragster can do the full run(reaction time and E.T.) in under 4.5 secs, then it could possibly win. But simple math says that if the car goes 200mph (again, no acceleration) the whole way, it will take 4.5 secs, so they have to beat that.
If the first car enters the "course" at 200mph and remains at that speed, its average is 200, the TDF car started at 0 at the beginning of the 1/4 pass at the exact time the first car tripped the beam then accelerated to 335mph in the 1/4 mile so its average would be substantially lower and 190 is probably close. The TFD car is capable of 4.437 so the TFD car would win if it runs a good pass.
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63vette;290574 wrote:
If the first car enters the "course" at 200mph and remains at that speed, its average is 200, the TDF car started at 0 at the beginning of the 1/4 pass at the exact time the first car tripped the beam then accelerated to 335mph in the 1/4 mile so its average would be substantially lower and 190 is probably close. The TFD car is capable of 4.437 so the TFD car would win if it runs a good pass.And that is basically what I said, the TFD would have to run faster than 4.5 secs total to have a shot at beating the other car, especially if the other car accelerated. Reaction time has to be included too, but yes, with a perfect run, it would have a chance, even that would not be a "whooping" tho.
And the TFDs average speed would have to be higher than the cars to win, no matter what its low or top speed. So 190 mph average speed could never win.
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I did catch that and thats why I posted again. The 190 mph average is something else that was on the NHRA website but that doesn't sound right since they cover 1000 feet, the length of their races since Kalitta's crash, in less than 4 seconds at around 315. In a full 1/4 mile drag they can hit almost 340. The current NHRA 1/4 mile record is 4.42. So yes a 200 mph flying start might be enough to beat a top fuel car. Even though they can be going over 280mph at the 660 foot mark. I still want to see it on mythbusters.
> Mitch Hedberg wrote:
> I'm sick of following my dreams, I'm just going to find out where they are going and hook up with them later.ASE certified parts specialist.
2004 Impala LS 3.8 -
gundar1;290841 wrote:
fact: Nitromethane messes your shit up!truth^
good god that stuff is harsh
here a psht, there psht, everywhere a psht psht
PVC SQUAD MEMBER #2- 95 CIVIC EX- DD 320whp on a mustang dyno
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inspector01;290567 wrote:
You didn't do very good in math and phyiscs did you?? If a top fuel dragster averages 190mph, and the other car averages 200 mph over the course, the car will obviously win. Top speed, low speed, etc, don't matter at all, if the average speed is faster.If a top fuel dragster can do the full run(reaction time and E.T.) in under 4.5 secs, then it could possibly win. But simple math says that if the car goes 200mph (again, no acceleration) the whole way, it will take 4.5 secs, so they have to beat that.
63vette;290574 wrote:
If the first car enters the "course" at 200mph and remains at that speed, its average is 200, the TDF car started at 0 at the beginning of the 1/4 pass at the exact time the first car tripped the beam then accelerated to 335mph in the 1/4 mile so its average would be substantially lower and 190 is probably close. The TFD car is capable of 4.437 so the TFD car would win if it runs a good pass.NO NO, dont bring math into this, it is totally irrelevant and doesn't apply to real life
sarcasm,.................. I love when people argue against simple math, it is rather funny
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