Acceleration
07-10-2006, 04:14 AM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location:
Posts: 563
Acceleration
I posted this in off topic also, but I thought I would share it with you guys that are like me and rarely venture out of the 5.0 forum.
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 hydrogen, 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 perspective, picture this scenario: 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 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 1,320 foot long race course.
... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
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 hydrogen, 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 perspective, picture this scenario: 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 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 1,320 foot long race course.
... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
AmericanMuscle4.6GT
2005-2014 Mustangs
7
11-10-2015 02:06 PM
Offendant
V6 (1994-2004) Mustangs
6
09-23-2015 07:21 PM
tj@steeda
Steeda Autosports
0
09-08-2015 11:50 AM
zanemoseley
2005-2014 Mustangs
6
09-06-2015 12:58 PM
