Awesome NHRA Facts - Other Cars Forum

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Awesome NHRA Facts
Sunday, October 22, 2006 5:08 PM
This is some amazing stuff I found about the Top Fuel NHRA monsters.

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

2. Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

3. A stock 426 cu inch. Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster supercharger.

4. 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.

5. At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

6. 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.

7. Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

8. Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After ½ 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.

9. 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.

10. In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.

11. Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

12. Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

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

14. The redline is actually quite high at 9500rpm.

15. 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.

16. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher).

17. 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 driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06.
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 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph.
The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.
The dragster launches and starts after you.
You keep your foot down 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.


Dragracemyz24

Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Sunday, October 22, 2006 6:39 PM
Wow.








Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 2:59 PM
Is pretty amazing piece of machinery.



Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 3:04 PM
i've got one to add...

i read a few years ago in national dragster that if a top fuel dragster driver made all four qualifying passes of every race AND won every single round of competition he would have only spent a total of 4 minutes and some odd seconds actually in the car going down the track....

pretty good stuff.




GO PATS!!!
Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 8:18 PM
you know I've read these 100 times...and it still amazes me every time I read them....



Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 8:26 PM
where can i get one haha
interesting info indeed



The one, the only, ME.
Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 8:34 PM
Very interesting stuff to know.


*****************************************************
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* Student of the University of Oklahoma. Go Sooners!
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Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 23, 2006 8:44 PM
my engines teacher in college gave us that fact sheet on our first day of class. Pretty crazy stuff.



"Custom cars, custom problems."-me

Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 8:25 AM
DAMN!



Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 9:34 AM
Not only was it posted before, but most of the "facts" were debunked.





Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 12:53 PM
Teh Thread Merger wrote:Not only was it posted before, but most of the "facts" were debunked.





Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 6:22 PM
show me where then a holes. I dont think they are lying about 8 000 hp like a retarded j body owner would lie about his mods and gains.


Dragracemyz24
Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 6:34 PM
Actually to be 100% truthful about the output of the motors used, and I have the inside source to this, NO ONE HAS EVER DYNO'D THE ENGINES AND PROVEN THEM TO MAKE 8000 HORSEPOWER. This number comes from the fact that by the MATH it would require that much HP to make the car go that fast and quick in a quartermile.

This number is further debunked by the fact that the cars can run the same times in varying conditions and varying power levels, as tuned in by the crew chiefs.

Don't believe me? Ask next time you go to a NHRA race. They CANNOT PHYSICALLY DYNO THAT HIGH A HORSEPOWER. They won't lie about it.


Still amazing pieces of work, and I've gotten to know them first hand recently, and they only get cooler the more REAL INFO you know about them.



I used to race cars, now I race myself.
5K PB: 24:50
10K PB: 54:26
Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 6:40 PM
here's facts that are on the NHRA site:

http://www.nhra.com/streetlegal/funfacts.html



Desert Tuners

“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”


Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 7:17 PM
Quote:

… 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?

!?!








Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Sunday, October 29, 2006 6:35 PM
Nitro dragsters are awesome vehicles
Cutting edge F-22 Raptor is more awesome though. Go ahead and Flame me but
Aerospace vehicles and Jets are most awesome and no I am not a pilot.


"Are you sure your A/F ratio is correct? That hole in your Block custom?"
Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Monday, October 30, 2006 5:46 AM
Chupacabra wrote:
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.


and then has to pull over for a full rebuild while you win the Connonball Run.


-Chris

Re: Awesome NHRA Facts
Friday, January 10, 2020 2:46 PM
I beleive a Funny Car or a Digger uses 4 to 5 gallons of Top fuel for a single 3 seconds, something pass.
Cost about $100 per gallon. Meats on the back, maybe 3 passes.


"Are you sure your A/F ratio is correct? That hole in your Block custom?"
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