Mike Byer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2002
- Messages
- 2,784
An engineer friend sent me this, kind of like the story that caused a little trouble for Andy and Don a while back, you might have seen it, but this is a new version to me.
Top Fuel class of drag racing....from an engineering friend.
Some of the data is mind boggling.
One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than
the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 4 liters 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 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the
dragster's supercharger.
With 3000 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 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame
front temperature measures 7050 degrees 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 1/2 way, the
engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at
1400 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 at 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 while traveling a
quarter of a mile! Including the burnout the engine must only survive about
900 revolutions under load.
The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
The Bottom Line: 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 riding the average $250,000
Honda MotoGP bike. 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 RC211V hard up through the gears
and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200
mph (293 ft/sec). The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The
dragster launches and starts after you.You keep your wrist cranked 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
1320 foot long race course.
Top Fuel class of drag racing....from an engineering friend.
Some of the data is mind boggling.
One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than
the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 4 liters 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 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the
dragster's supercharger.
With 3000 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 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame
front temperature measures 7050 degrees 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 1/2 way, the
engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at
1400 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 at 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 while traveling a
quarter of a mile! Including the burnout the engine must only survive about
900 revolutions under load.
The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
The Bottom Line: 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 riding the average $250,000
Honda MotoGP bike. 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 RC211V hard up through the gears
and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200
mph (293 ft/sec). The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The
dragster launches and starts after you.You keep your wrist cranked 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
1320 foot long race course.
I'd Say More But I'm Afraid It'd Be Feeble 
