Just read this from Scott Settlemire. Just another unbelievable way to understand the physics of what happens in a top fuel dragster. Hope you enjoy it.

Many of you know of or have met John Heinricy....he was, among many other things, the Chief Engineer of the Fcar...has worked on Corvette...............works in the GM Performance Division, and is also a very accomplished racer .........

I could listen to John talk for days on end......because I always learn a ton of stuff.........and he knows our Camaros and Firebirds inside out............not to mention that he's an all around great guy.

Recently, he gave a talk about the power of the engines in Drag Racing...and I thought you might find the following facts interesting (and in some cases, somewhat startling.........)

One top fuel dragster 500 cu in engine makes more power than the first 8 rows of the Daytona 500..............

Under full throttle, a top fuel dragster engine consumes nitro at 1.5 gallons per second, the same rate as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

With 3000 cfm of air being crammed in, the fuel mixture is compressed into a nearly solid state ......................

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug................

At 1.7 air/fuel mixture, the flame front is 7050 degrees..................

Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass....after half the track, the engine is running like a diesel being fired by the cylinder pressure and red hot exhaust valves...............................

If spark momentarily fails early in the run, the fuel builds up and explodes with a force that can blow the heads off the block..............

To exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate at an average of 4 g's but in reaching 250mph well before half track, the launch is around 8 g's....................

Dragsters reach 300 mph before you have read this sentence.

Just thought you'd like to know........................and ponder........................

Scott Settlemire
(aka Fbodfather
aka Red Planet)
Camaro/Corvette Brand Team
Chevrolet Motor Division

 

Here's a longer or more revised list.


* One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at Daytona

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

* The supercharger takes more power to drive then a stock hemi makes.

* Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form before
ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.

* Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitromethane 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.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After ½ 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 of its fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.

* Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees 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 300mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.

* If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.

* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence.

*A Top Fuel Dragster accelerates from 0-100 MPH in about 0.8 seconds.

*A Top Fuel Dragster/Funny Car has a reverse force of 5 g's when both parachutes deploy simultaneously.

*One a typical 1/4-mile pass, the Top Fuel cars consume 4-5 gallons+ of fuel for just the pass. The complete run (burnout, staging, and pass) uses 10-12 gallons of fuel. When the term "Gallons Per Mile" was first spoken, they had to be thinking of Top Fuel ...

*It takes the equivalent of 400HP to turn one of their 2 fuel pumps.

*Speaking again of fuel ... the fuel pump on a Top Fuel car delivers over 65 gallons of fuel per minute. Roughly equal to eight bathroom showers running at the same time.

*Measured fuel line pressures in a Top Fuel Dragster operate between 400-500 psi.

*Aerodynamics become life-threatening important so as to keep these cars under control. The averege wing on a Top Fuel car applies between 4,000 and 8,000 pounds of downforce (depending on angle and size).

*With all this horsepower and force, parts have to be extermely durable. Especially when takes a mere 15/100th of a secound for 5000+ horsepower to reach the rear wheels. Now THAT'S throttle response!

*Never complain about your street tires wearing out prematurely when the monster meats on a Top Fuel car are only good for roughly 2 miles, or 4-6 passes.

*The friction between the massive slicks and the track is so great that after their burnout you could stage the 2500lb dragster, lock its brakes, then hook it to a 10,000lb tow vehicle and you could not drag it down the track.

*Exhaust exit angle is also important in that there is so much exhaust velocity (easier to compare as THRUST) that a slight variation in the angle will change the direction of the car. Even to the point that is say the car hits the wall and smashes a bank of exits or turns them downward it can literally throw the car into a roll.



P

 

Here is something cool i learned that i can add to this:

One of the owners of the local tracks to me owns/drives an alcohol funny car. On good days it runs in the mid 5s.

Funniest thing about it is that his best past produced catastrophic engine result. At the end of the 1/4 when he pulled the chutes and the negative g forces started and the car started slowing down, it lugged the engine down sooo bad the crank came outta the main caps

 

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question192.htm

But these use two different types of fuel..kerosene versus nitromethane. I suppose that the "4 times the energy volume thing" is based on the power potential of the two fuels. But I think that's a little deceiving in that it infers more power..

I'm no expert, but there's plenty of credible information out there that will tell you the HP equivalent of a 747's engines...Nasa says it's around 59,000 HP

BTW, even the old WWII propeller fighter planes had 1000 hp+ engines.

 

I am sooooo sick of seeing one or both the cars loose the tires somewhere down the track. What good is it to see Kalita and Bernstein race when you know there is a 50% chance both won't be under power at the finish line?

I kinda liked the T/F-F/C handicapped races a few years ago!
Now... how about P/S- P/S Motcy??

With all the facts presented, we now know why Force talks like a bleepin' idiot... His mouth hasn't slowed down from the run yet!
Danm... I remember when Force was the new kid in drag racing and getting his azz kicked every race.

HInk (too freakin' old)

 

I'm guessing your not much of a Force fan.

 

I just might be getting old enough that I am sick of seeing the same people winning in all the Pro brackets. No... I really don't care for Force because he is the big money king. How does little money king beat Big Money King, very often? He either gets really lucky or he gets even luckier.

Besides... he could at least have that danmed Castrol firesuit cleaned. NO BIG DEAL! The trouble was... Force was spoutin off and talking like a lunetic long before he won many races, so in that respect... he hasn't changed a bit. He must have been the ORIGINAL 'test' person for Redbull, when their formula was off by a bunch!

 

LMFAO!!!

 

LOL!

True!

 

in the Funny Car field because it was already SO hard to qualify for FC, but NO, now team Force has 3 of the 16 car field (usually). I dont want to see him win another race and its looking pretty good so far this year.

 

What kind of coin do you think Force makes, per annum?

 

He was making over a mil several years ago. Don't know how much it's gone up since then.