SoCal Jet Boats
Discussion => The No Wake Zone => Topic started by: Beaveretriever on May 05, 2009, 12:49:42 PM
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Have you ever wonder what acceleration is?
One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch Dodge Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows at NASCAR's Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747
consumes jet fuel at the same rate but 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 lockup at full throttle.
At the stoichio metric 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, which is typically the output of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.
Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow of the 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 enough
sufficient force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half !!
Dragsters reach over 300 MPH +... before you have completed reading this sentence.
In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 G's.
Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is working for free, & NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in 0.8 seconds (the first 60 feet of t he run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 300 MPH
An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on earth . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . quicker than the space shuttle....or snapping your fingers !!
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Let's now put this all into perspective:
Imagine this...........You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile s trip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH.. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that exact moment.
The dragster departs & starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutally screaming whine that seares and pummels your eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches & 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 it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off
the planet when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!!
That, my friends.....is acceleration!
The Beav
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Bravo ;D
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Bravo ;D
X2 That was a good read ;D
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One more tid bit of triva pertaning to this issue. A top fuel dragster will consume enough air in a single pass to fill the goodyear blimp.
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DAMN!!! >:D
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That is unbelievable. :o
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very cool info there. never even thought about what it takes or what the driver goes through with a Top Fuel dragster.
very nicely laid out and easy to read. thanks alot for that.
oh and yeah DAMMMMMNNNN.. lol
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That is great stuff! I forgot a fact I heard years ago that took me awhile to chew on about the blower taking 500 hp to even spin it at racing speed in a Top Fuel car!
Ray
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Giggity giggity :D
GT
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Here's a video of the fuel pump demo they have at the NHRA museum, this is for ONE of the EIGHT cylinders in a fuel motor, farking insane.
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Thats insane!
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11.2 gallons per second? 8 positive and 6 negative G's? 44 amps per plug? 1400 degree exhaust valves? 7,000 degree flamage? $1,000 per second to run? Holly crap-o-la!! :o :o
That was a VERY good read. Very interesting.
Honestly though... I think I'd rather drive the Lingenfelter Vette for the simple fact that I'd be able to comprehend it better. Pretty amazing stuff.
Bravo, Beav!
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My brother was on several top fuel teams for a few years, being pass around and what not. But he told me they never "Wanted" to run over 7000rpm... Because at the level the go Boom alot quicker than under that mark... don't know if that's up to par on today's standards thou
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Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second;
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Let's now put this all into perspective:
Imagine this...........You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z-06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to 'launch' down a quarter-mile s trip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH.. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that exact moment.
The dragster departs & starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutally screaming whine that seares and pummels your eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches & 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 it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off
the planet when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!!
That, my friends.....is acceleration!
The Beav
I loved this, and decided to do a little math...
I would like to check out the fuel volumn a little more but I'm to tired. I just don't think a Top Fuel dragster carries nearly 50 gallons of fuel for a single run. That seems a little high.
But the standing start Top Fuel vs the 200mph running start is a very cool idea.
Trying to make this simple (for me and everyone else) I dropped it down to 198mph, and I'll show you why...
60mph = 1 mile per minute = 88' per second
198mph = 3.3 miles per minute = 290.4' per second
1320' divided by 290.4' per second = 4.45 second quarter mile
Only the top 4 record setting ETs could beat the 198mph running start. But I would love to see it ;D
Thanks for the brain tease.
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I loved this, and decided to do a little math...
I would like to check out the fuel volumn a little more but I'm to tired. I just don't think a Top Fuel dragster carries nearly 50 gallons of fuel for a single run. That seems a little high.
But the standing start Top Fuel vs the 200mph running start is a very cool idea.
Trying to make this simple (for me and everyone else) I dropped it down to 198mph, and I'll show you why...
60mph = 1 mile per minute = 88' per second
198mph = 3.3 miles per minute = 290.4' per second
1320' divided by 290.4' per second = 4.45 second quarter mile
Only the top 4 record setting ETs could beat the 198mph running start. But I would love to see it ;D
Thanks for the brain tease.
Did not "do the math" but the statement was "will consume 11.2GPS at full throttle", a dragster is not "at full throttle" for the 5 seconds........Just sayin.
GT
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… 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?
http://www.nhra.net/streetlegal/funfacts.html
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This one sort of 'splains it too ;)
...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?
Apparently it could only deliver 1.08 gallons per second :sly:
GT
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This one sort of 'splains it too ;)
...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?
Apparently it could only deliver 1.08 gallons per second :sly:
GT
There is eight pumps! ;D
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I was with Don Prudholm? at Seattle for four days right before Dixon took the seat. While watching him mix the fuel I noticed the fuel lines, two two and a half inchers! Two complete fuel "systems" two Mags Etc Etc., new coil wires every pass. Got a set of pistons & rods, well 6, from the car at Denver. Got to go in a few computer rooms over the years to see the feedback, interesting to say the least.