cruzer99
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2002
- Messages
- 702
- Location
- Granite Falls, N.C. USA
- Corvette
- 99 Navy Blue Pearl Vert. NCRS Member
Just thought this was fun reading..........
"Acceleration" Defined...(per the Keith Black engine builder Web site)
One top fuel dragster 500 cubic Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first four rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane per sec; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
A stock Hemi V8 cannot produce enough power to drive the 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 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F.
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 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 before half track, the launch acceleratrion approaches 8G's.
A dragster will reach over 300 mph 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 readline is actually quite high at 9500 rpm. assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run cost an estimate $1,000 per second.
Putting all of this into perspective, picture this scenario: You are driving the average $140,000 Linenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down thew 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 esars your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quartewr mile away from where you just passed him.
....and that my friends, is ACCELERATION
"Acceleration" Defined...(per the Keith Black engine builder Web site)
One top fuel dragster 500 cubic Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first four rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane per sec; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
A stock Hemi V8 cannot produce enough power to drive the 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 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F.
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 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 before half track, the launch acceleratrion approaches 8G's.
A dragster will reach over 300 mph 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 readline is actually quite high at 9500 rpm. assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run cost an estimate $1,000 per second.
Putting all of this into perspective, picture this scenario: You are driving the average $140,000 Linenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down thew 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 esars your eardrums and within 3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quartewr mile away from where you just passed him.
....and that my friends, is ACCELERATION
