how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
01-31-2007, 12:41 AM
#22
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tri Cities, TN
Posts: 452
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
P...when a cyl fails to fire in a TF car, the heads and block are destroyed. That incompressible liquid has to go somewhere and it's usually out betweenthe head and block, taking a lot of aluminum with it, like a plasma cutter. That mist you see is part aluminum.
I remember standing on the line behind a TF dragster (1996...wasn't that long ago) and it was so loud I had to close my eyes, because if I didn't, I'd get vertigo from my brain being rattled...everything would start spinning, and I'd get dizzy for a split second. Even with my eyes closed, it happend a little. I could feel it rattling my guts.
I remember standing on the line behind a TF dragster (1996...wasn't that long ago) and it was so loud I had to close my eyes, because if I didn't, I'd get vertigo from my brain being rattled...everything would start spinning, and I'd get dizzy for a split second. Even with my eyes closed, it happend a little. I could feel it rattling my guts.
ORIGINAL: P Zero
I heard that the TF cars run so much fuel into the cylinders that theyre on the verge of hydrolock. I noticed that when they fry a cylinder it sprays a mist out of the header pipe.
And TF cars are loud but theyre still not nearly as loud as the jet cars. Several years ago I saw the Lava machine and some other car run at a dragstrip. Those things were SOOO loud, I had to plug my ears until they shut em off at teh end of the strip. And I beleive that both of those ran in the 3.xx's
-P.
I heard that the TF cars run so much fuel into the cylinders that theyre on the verge of hydrolock. I noticed that when they fry a cylinder it sprays a mist out of the header pipe.
And TF cars are loud but theyre still not nearly as loud as the jet cars. Several years ago I saw the Lava machine and some other car run at a dragstrip. Those things were SOOO loud, I had to plug my ears until they shut em off at teh end of the strip. And I beleive that both of those ran in the 3.xx's
-P.
01-31-2007, 12:47 AM
#23
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Michigan
Posts: 3,986
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
O no kiddin I always thought that it was just fuel. Now I know, bah bye engine.
And yeah those bastards are super loud. Thats what the jet cars were doing when I didnt have my fingers in my ears. Felt like my eyes were rattlin around in my head.
-P.
And yeah those bastards are super loud. Thats what the jet cars were doing when I didnt have my fingers in my ears. Felt like my eyes were rattlin around in my head.
-P.
01-31-2007, 01:17 AM
#24
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
ORIGINAL: steelcomp
You have no idea what technology is being used these days. Today's racers aren't stuckusing technology, thry're developing technology, and at a pretty alarming rate.
You have no idea what technology is being used these days. Today's racers aren't stuckusing technology, thry're developing technology, and at a pretty alarming rate.
ORIGINAL: Clif Brohn
But thats just the thing...people were saying that back when slingshots were the fastest cars around. Somebody will make something. I'm not saying its gonna be anytime soon, but one day a new compound or casting method is gonna be discovered, and bam......three second quarter miles. I dont think we'll ever see sub 3 second cars(how the hell is the driver gonna control a car going 700+ mph like ROTM mentioned?) but 3s are very possible. I'd say inevitable. We are stuck with the technology we have now, who knows what will be out in another decade. Its crazy thinking about it.
ORIGINAL: Ride Of The Month
there is a point at which it just isnt possible to go any faster...terminal velocity, and they are at the point right now where it is SUCH a fine balance between traction and no traction...i think that 4.42 is the current top fuel record? considering that is the BEST that they can do with the current power output and chassis design, i dont think that breaking the 4 second barrier is going to be possible without some sort of extreme engineering feat. i have no doubt that record top speeds, such as we see on the salt flats, will continue to increase, but from a stop, there is only so fast that a certain vehicle can get moving. and for a car to make a standing quarter mile pass in two seconds, you would be talking about a car moving at the speed of sound (761mph), and i dont think that is possible, just due to the coeficient of drag added by the ground surface.
oh, and go scelzi and capps
there is a point at which it just isnt possible to go any faster...terminal velocity, and they are at the point right now where it is SUCH a fine balance between traction and no traction...i think that 4.42 is the current top fuel record? considering that is the BEST that they can do with the current power output and chassis design, i dont think that breaking the 4 second barrier is going to be possible without some sort of extreme engineering feat. i have no doubt that record top speeds, such as we see on the salt flats, will continue to increase, but from a stop, there is only so fast that a certain vehicle can get moving. and for a car to make a standing quarter mile pass in two seconds, you would be talking about a car moving at the speed of sound (761mph), and i dont think that is possible, just due to the coeficient of drag added by the ground surface.
oh, and go scelzi and capps
01-31-2007, 02:04 AM
#25
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tri Cities, TN
Posts: 452
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
NO, no...I understood...I was just saying.
There are currenttechnolgies that have been developed that are just too far ahead of the curve. Most of what you see today has been around for a while, it just takes time to integrate.
Most of the advances will be in traction management. They still really can't use all the power they're making. At any given instant, anywhere on the track, they can blow the tires. Fuel system management has been the focus lately. Too much wing and clutch, and the motor can't take the fuel. With conventional mechanical injection that's a hard tune to make. The better the tune, the more they can actually "use" the power they make, but then, when they get the tune right, there go the tires again! It's a never ending battle of clutch and fuel timing.
There are currenttechnolgies that have been developed that are just too far ahead of the curve. Most of what you see today has been around for a while, it just takes time to integrate.
Most of the advances will be in traction management. They still really can't use all the power they're making. At any given instant, anywhere on the track, they can blow the tires. Fuel system management has been the focus lately. Too much wing and clutch, and the motor can't take the fuel. With conventional mechanical injection that's a hard tune to make. The better the tune, the more they can actually "use" the power they make, but then, when they get the tune right, there go the tires again! It's a never ending battle of clutch and fuel timing.
02-17-2007, 07:35 PM
#26
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Posts: 1,999
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
2 valves, one cam and a 40 year old engine design are enough proof to me that power is not the limiting factor in a top fuel dragster. The ability to make more power with today's technology is here.
They can barely harness the power they make now. If they did find another 500hp, I doubt it would go any faster.
The clutches don't fully engage until a bit after half track and it's the crew chief's job to determine exactly when that will be.
Oh and record will continue to be broken. It's the job of the regulating body to keep things under control. LOL.
They can barely harness the power they make now. If they did find another 500hp, I doubt it would go any faster.
The clutches don't fully engage until a bit after half track and it's the crew chief's job to determine exactly when that will be.
Oh and record will continue to be broken. It's the job of the regulating body to keep things under control. LOL.
02-27-2007, 10:50 AM
#27
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bayside, New York
Posts: 905
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
ORIGINAL: Ride Of The Month
the funny cars have to run 2V, one cam,with a maximum cid of 500...with a roots supercharger. i believe that the top fuel rules are the same.
the funny cars have to run 2V, one cam,with a maximum cid of 500...with a roots supercharger. i believe that the top fuel rules are the same.
02-27-2007, 02:01 PM
#28
Administrator
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: yep
Posts: 16,186
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
total or per cylinder?
16 total and 2 per cylinder.
thecombustion chamberis part of what makes a hemia hemi, and that is also why some people will say that the new "hemi" found in rams, chargers, magnum, etc, are not actually hemi heads...because the edges of the chamber are different than the original...
here is some info about them...
https://mustangforums.com/fb.asp?m=2640684
16 total and 2 per cylinder.
thecombustion chamberis part of what makes a hemia hemi, and that is also why some people will say that the new "hemi" found in rams, chargers, magnum, etc, are not actually hemi heads...because the edges of the chamber are different than the original...
here is some info about them...
https://mustangforums.com/fb.asp?m=2640684
02-27-2007, 03:17 PM
#29
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Bayside, New York
Posts: 905
RE: how the hell do top fuel dragsters build 5000+hp?
ORIGINAL: Ride Of The Month
total or per cylinder?
16 total and 2 per cylinder.
thecombustion chamberis part of what makes a hemia hemi, and that is also why some people will say that the new "hemi" found in rams, chargers, magnum, etc, are not actually hemi heads...because the edges of the chamber are different than the original...
here is some info about them...
https://mustangforums.com/fb.asp?m=2640684
total or per cylinder?
16 total and 2 per cylinder.
thecombustion chamberis part of what makes a hemia hemi, and that is also why some people will say that the new "hemi" found in rams, chargers, magnum, etc, are not actually hemi heads...because the edges of the chamber are different than the original...
here is some info about them...
https://mustangforums.com/fb.asp?m=2640684
As far as the new hemi being compared to the LS6? I don't know about that. Many friends of mine say the LS6 and the 4.2 4V are the best American production engines ever built.
