Acceleration in perspective
Thread Starter
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,566
From: Marquette Mi
Acceleration in perspective
I have seen this a few times, just thought I would share it with any who havent seen it yet.
Definition of 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 for 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 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 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 estimated $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:
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!
Definition of 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 for 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 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 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 estimated $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:
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!
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 444
From:
RE: Acceleration in perspective
They had a one page article in Motor Trend last year with some of those facts and others. I can't remember the exact amount, but I do remember there was a tremendous amount of down force from the exhaust gasses leaving the stacks (on the order of hundreds of pounds each). I'll have to find that again. Those engines are unbelievable.
As a comparison. Assuming smooth continuous accelration from 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds, that is only 0.69 G's of acceleration. I believe the Bugatti Veyron, the fastest production car last time I checked, has a 0 to 60 time of 3.2 seconds-->0.86 G's of acceleration.
As a comparison. Assuming smooth continuous accelration from 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds, that is only 0.69 G's of acceleration. I believe the Bugatti Veyron, the fastest production car last time I checked, has a 0 to 60 time of 3.2 seconds-->0.86 G's of acceleration.
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 347
From:
RE: Acceleration in perspective
see what i mean you know way to much info wright a book call it "your name's book on cars" and just wright about every thing you know about cars and get it published and then send me a copy[sm=goodidea.gif]
Thread Starter
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,566
From: Marquette Mi
RE: Acceleration in perspective
yeah around 2000 lbs of downforce from the zoomies.. I have seen a few of these, and I copied pasted this one. I cant spew this much off the top of my head since otehr things are more important, this is just interesting/amazing.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,264
From: Eke, Belgium
RE: Acceleration in perspective
while the veyron may be the fastest production car it doesn't have the fastest product car 0-60mph the caterham CSR260 is 3.1 sec and the aerial atom is 2.91secs both are road legal and both cost a lot less the the veyron plus 0 -100-0mph in the Ariel Atom is 10.88 seconds an impressive bit of kit,
3rd Gear Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 622
From:
RE: Acceleration in perspective
WOW! Who says racing is not a sport? Really makes you appreciate what these drivers have to contend with and the zen like mindset it must take to fly these rockets, and live to tell about it.