Ian
11-29-2005, 05:46 PM
- The motor only turns between 600 to 700 RPM's during the quarter mile
- They burn a mixture of 85% nitromethane & 15% alcohol
- 7-8 gallons of fuel is consumed per run
- 0-100 mph in 0.75 seconds
- 0-300 mph in 3.00 seconds
- A top fuel dragster's 500 cu.in. Hemi makes more horsepower than the nine cars in the first three rows at the Indy 500
- Under full throttle, the motor consumes 1.5 gallons of nitromethane per second, the same as a fully loaded 747, but with 4x the energy volume.
- The supercharger takes more horsepower to drive than a stock production Hemi makes.
- With over 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the overdriven supercharger, the nitromethane is compressed into nearly solid form before ignition. The eight cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.
- Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to the spark plugs that fire each cylinder, the equivalent of an arc welder.
- At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture, the flame front of nitromethane measures a scorching 7,050*F.
- Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the exhaust stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, disassociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gasses.
- Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during each pass. About halfway through the 1/4-mile run, the engine is dieseling from the extreme compression, plus the glow of exhause valves at 1400*F. the engine can only be shut down by cutting off fuel flow.
- If spark momentarily fails early in a run, the unburned nitromethane that builds up in the affected cylinder(s) can explode, blowing the heads to pieces and splitting the block in half.
- Top fuelers twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20* in the big end of the track), that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.
- To exceed 325 mph in 4.5 seconds, the driver must accelerate at an average of more than 4G's. In reaching 200 mph well before half track, the forces are closer to 8G's.
- Drivers shut down before the finish line, or even dual parachutes wont stop the car.
- If the car and equipment are paid off and the crew worked for free, each run still costs more than $1,000 per second
- NHRA top fuel dragsters exceed 300 mph before you have read this sentence.
- They burn a mixture of 85% nitromethane & 15% alcohol
- 7-8 gallons of fuel is consumed per run
- 0-100 mph in 0.75 seconds
- 0-300 mph in 3.00 seconds
- A top fuel dragster's 500 cu.in. Hemi makes more horsepower than the nine cars in the first three rows at the Indy 500
- Under full throttle, the motor consumes 1.5 gallons of nitromethane per second, the same as a fully loaded 747, but with 4x the energy volume.
- The supercharger takes more horsepower to drive than a stock production Hemi makes.
- With over 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the overdriven supercharger, the nitromethane is compressed into nearly solid form before ignition. The eight cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.
- Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to the spark plugs that fire each cylinder, the equivalent of an arc welder.
- At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture, the flame front of nitromethane measures a scorching 7,050*F.
- Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the exhaust stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, disassociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gasses.
- Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during each pass. About halfway through the 1/4-mile run, the engine is dieseling from the extreme compression, plus the glow of exhause valves at 1400*F. the engine can only be shut down by cutting off fuel flow.
- If spark momentarily fails early in a run, the unburned nitromethane that builds up in the affected cylinder(s) can explode, blowing the heads to pieces and splitting the block in half.
- Top fuelers twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20* in the big end of the track), that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.
- To exceed 325 mph in 4.5 seconds, the driver must accelerate at an average of more than 4G's. In reaching 200 mph well before half track, the forces are closer to 8G's.
- Drivers shut down before the finish line, or even dual parachutes wont stop the car.
- If the car and equipment are paid off and the crew worked for free, each run still costs more than $1,000 per second
- NHRA top fuel dragsters exceed 300 mph before you have read this sentence.