True fasts about Top Fuel

[springer1]

If you've never been to an NHRA race, don't die without doing so ..... some true fasts about Top Fuel dragsters from
https://texags.com/forums/46/topics/2397648
....

* One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely 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 lockup at full throttle.

* At the stoichio metric 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. Which is typically the output of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from compression and the glow of the 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 enough sufficient force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half !!

* Dragsters reach over 300 MPH +... before you have completed reading this sentence.

* In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 G's.

* Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

* The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

[TheMaverick]

Acceleration is phenomenal - but man their handling sucks.

[homie]

I think I can take this guy

[springer1]

Sheeezzzz, no way would I do that on 2 wheels !!! Maple Grove PA is in 2 weeks, I hope to be there, last time was 5 or 6 years ago. Every time I go I swear the noise and mechanical mayhem is too punishing to go again, but the thrills are just unreal.

[homie]

Lying on top of one of those engines does seem silly to have a deadman teather. You would be going off for sure

[PCX150Rider]

Watched some of the NHRA stuff yesterday on Fox. Pushing 340 MPH in a thousand feet? A few seconds? Unbelievable.

[you you]

It was the rubber "rain" that got me the first time I saw a top-fueller

[springer1]

Lying on top of one of those engines does seem silly to have a deadman teather. You would be going off for sure

That's connected to an engine kill switch, right ?

[homie]

Lying on top of one of those engines does seem silly to have a deadman teather. You would be going off for sure

That's connected to an engine kill switch, right ?

Sorry old habit, I use to fuel at Tampa International and we referred to the tether as a deadman. Sure, like a jet ski the equipment stops when the connection is broken.

[PCX150Rider]

Sounds like a PCX. . .holy cow!

[gn2]

Two of these "facts" have jumped out at me...

One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

If full chat is 8,000 hp its a wee bit less than a WW2 B29 and there's no way its four supercharged piston engines are getting a 747 off the deck.
Also, nitro methane isn't Jet A1 so the amount of energy released for a given fuel flow rate is entirely irrelevant.

So it looks to me that these claims are just silly fluffy nonsense designed to impress the easily impressed.
Which I suppose is the essence of drag racing.

[TheMaverick]

Two of these "facts" have jumped out at me...

One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge (actually Keith Black, etc) Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

If full chat is 8,000 hp its a wee bit less than a WW2 B29 and there's no way its four supercharged piston engines are getting a 747 off the deck.
Also, nitro methane isn't Jet A1 so the amount of energy released for a given fuel flow rate is entirely irrelevant.

So it looks to me that these claims are just silly fluffy nonsense designed to impress the easily impressed.
Which I suppose is the essence of drag racing.

[TheMaverick]

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

Some of these things don't appear to stack up: