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here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
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. It takes just 15/100ths (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 HP is more realistic - there are no dynomometers capable of measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels. > Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane 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. > 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 one 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. > > 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 4.428 seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona , CA ). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ). > 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 instant. > 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! |
Re: heres info about acceloration, from a friend of mine
Great!!!!!
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
I have read that definition a number of times and some points are still hard to believe. I also struggle with things smaller than an atom and distances measured in light years.
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Bad *** post.
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Awesome post. Puts things in perspective...
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Hey guys- while these "statistics" may sound cool, at least one of them is not even close to accurate... as per Boeing the range of thrust of the engines used on a 747-400 is from 56,750 to 58,000 pounds of thrust for each of the four engines. While there is no true correlation between the amount of thrust generated and horsepower, its pretty much accepted that even the lowest thrust engine combo on a 747 generates in excess of 80,000 horsepower... WAY more than a dragster.
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Yerds, I think you mixed two of the points... the comment on the 747 was in relation to fuel consumed at the same rate and producing 25% less energy.... true, we don't know exact details of what the comparison was against for the fuel consumption statement....:rolleyes: But the dragster is still an AWESOME thing to watch.....(with earplugs on!):D
It takes just 15/100ths (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 HP is more realistic - there are no dynomometers capable of measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels. > Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced. |
Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
A top fuel engine only makes about 2000 complete revolutions before being torn down again (including start up, burnout, staging and one run).
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Those stats are hard to believe...
..until you've seen these monsters run in person. Those cars are a force of nature... That track that tony Schumacher set the world's fastest 1/4 mile speed record (336.15 mph) at is National Trail Raceway, my home track. I won the sport compact class there 4 times last year. :) |
Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Freakin amazing
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Soooooooooo ....... how much money do I have to drop to Needswings to make my SRT hit those numbers?!?! ;)
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
And then along came flight. Pulling 10 Gs in a Pitts Special, inverted is still the best ride yet. Guys, chime in... Does ground feel better than flight? If so, this post has made up my mind on what I'm doing next!
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Ive got bad gyro's, did my first and last aileron roll in a t-6 and scrambled my eggs for sure. Flat and upright for me for now on. Got an aerobatic flight in a Stearman and did 4G's in a hammer head, scrambled eggs again. Cant win. Got vertigo in my challenger 440-6pac doing a really good take off in first, gotta just cool my jets with an occasional autocross here and there. Ground is 2D and works for me. Woody
:cool: |
Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
That dragster sounds like every car that gets behind me at a traffic light! Right on my bumper and getting closer!
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
ok if there was a book of car porn this would be in it
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Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Originally Posted by KimPossible
Soooooooooo ....... how much money do I have to drop to Needswings to make my SRT hit those numbers?!?! ;)
If anyone wants to FEEL these things in action, come to Indiana for the NHRA Nationals, nothing like it in motorsports... |
Re: here's info about acceleration, from a friend of mine
Originally Posted by waldig
Ive got bad gyro's, did my first and last aileron roll in a t-6 and scrambled my eggs for sure. Flat and upright for me for now on. Got an aerobatic flight in a Stearman and did 4G's in a hammer head, scrambled eggs again. Cant win. Got vertigo in my challenger 440-6pac doing a really good take off in first, gotta just cool my jets with an occasional autocross here and there. Ground is 2D and works for me. Woody
:cool: |
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