Chester Brzostowski Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 With Don chomping at the bit to get this race concluded Pete is working on engine problems which we all hope will be resolved by June. Ever wonder what its like to have one of these Top Fuel Dragster’s… - One Top Fuel Dragster's 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 5 rows at the Daytona 500. - A stock Dodge Hemi V-8 can not produce enough horsepower to drive a Top Fuel Dragster's supercharger. - With 3,000 cubic feet per minute 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. - Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, separated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing heat of the exhaust gases. (The atmospheric air is literally burning around the exhaust flame.) - Dual magnetos supply 44 amps of current to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc-welder in each cylinder. - Spark plug electrodes can easily be consumed during a single pass. After half-distance the engine is diesling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. The engine is only shut down by cutting off the fuel supply. - At the stoichiometric 1.7 to 1 air fuel mixture for nitromethane, the flame front temperature measures about 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit. - If a spark plug fails early in the run, unburned nitromethane can build up in the affected cylinder and explode with sufficient force to blow the cylinder head off in pieces or split the cylinder block in half. - A top Fuel Dragster reaches 300 mph before you have completed reading this sentence! - Assuming all equipment is paid for, the crew works for free, and nothing breaks, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second. NOTHING LIKE A FRIENDLY RACE…. Good luck guys... Chet... Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 I've seen that before. It'a amazing what it takes to make an estimated 8000+ Horse Power. As for the $1000 per second cost of a run, I think Pete is gonna surpass that if he doesn't get this sorted out soon. Good luck Pete. Merle Quote
blueskies Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 I've seen that before. It'a amazing what it takes to make an estimated 8000+ Horse Power.As for the $1000 per second cost of a run, I think Pete is gonna surpass that if he doesn't get this sorted out soon. Good luck Pete. Merle Merle- I tell you what... that crate GM 350 with a polished Weiand supercharger would have been cheaper... already. I'll get 'er figgered out, it's just a matter of time (and probably $$). Not sure if it can happen in the next four weeks or not, but I'm all over it. Pete Quote
John Burke Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 Pete, I sure hope you get it up running as I would hate to have to take your place in the race.... :p ...john Quote
blueskies Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 Pete, I sure hope you get it up running as I would hate to have to take your place in the race.... :p ...john Well John, somebody has 'ta kick Don's butt if I can't be there! Pete Quote
rearview Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 the full text of the definition of acceleration: "DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION" ... Fun Stuff !!!!!! One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500. Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger. With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F. Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning bydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor 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 halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg 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 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 revolutions from light to light! Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm. Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $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 Schumacher). 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 prespective: 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 pass the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The "tree" goes green for both of you at that moment. The draster 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 1,320 foot long race course. ... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION! Quote
blueskies Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 A couple years ago I took my Plymouth to a car show in a nearby town. They had several top fuel engines there. One was a dragster, one a funny car, and the third a Harley. They fired them up for the crowd in the street, blipped the throttle a few times, and shut them down. I've never experienced anything like it before.... The harley did a burnout, and then a full throttle start for a block. Wicked cool. Cool and crazy at the same time to be standing so close to so much power. Here's a couple of clips of the dragster taken on my digital camera. Note the trees, the kid in the #8 shirt, and the guy next to him in the wide striped shirt. The trees were about 50 yards away from the car in the background. clip one and two click on the images in the side bar to navigate the two clips. The noise at idle was deafening, and the first time they blipped the throttle, I came off the ground about 3", like the rest of the crowd... The second time, I knew what was coming, but I jumped anyway. I was impressed to say the least. Pete Quote
TodFitch Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 . . .Putting all of this into prespective: 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 pass the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The "tree" goes green for both of you at that moment. The draster 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. But if you were going 205 MPH rather than 200 you'd cross the finish line first. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 I've been to several NHRA national events. There's nothing that compares to hearing those engines cackle to life. It's fun to watch the spectators in the pits when they fire up. As soon as a team fires up the engine for break in, the crowd packs around that pit stall. But soon the fumes hit and their eyes begin burning and watering so bad that they can't see. Their nose burns and it's hard to breath, so they have to try to back out of the pack and find some fresh air. And with every crack of the throttle they just about jump out of their skin. Why do I know this? Because I used to be one of those people. Damn what that fun! Merle Quote
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