Top Fuel Dragster Facts

Rehaan · 17th March 2004, 16:42

"

A lesson in acceleration:
------------------------------------

First, some useful info:

* 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 1½ 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 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 nitromethane the flame
front temperature 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.

* 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 from light to light!

* Including the burnout the engine must only survive 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).

"

-Unknown Source.

Shan2nu · 17th March 2004, 17:27

At 533kmph that car would have completed the 1/4 mile in around 4.2 secs. That's really awesome.

BTW, do you think using launch control on one of these might help?

Regards...
Shan2nu

rgowani · 17th March 2004, 20:24

Umm Shantanu Its 533 Km/h Dude not m/h. I think they already have Lauch Control dont they?

Rehaan · 18th March 2004, 05:43

Also correct me if i am wrong, but dragsters dont have clutches!
It would just be waste of time as well as clutches just wouldnt be able to hande that kinda immediate power!

cya

Psycho · 19th January 2005, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Also correct me if i am wrong, but dragsters dont have clutches!
It would just be waste of time as well as clutches just wouldnt be able to hande that kinda immediate power!

cya

Was going through the old posts when I came across this and thought that I would correct you on the last statement

Pro Fuel Dragsters use a progressive clutch that is controlled by an air-timer management system. This locks up the clutch beyond a certain RPM. This is required to let the engine idle...

shravan316 · 19th January 2005, 19:08

Mindboggling facts!! really cool stuff guys!

joel · 20th January 2005, 01:18

oh man i just drank a glass of water!

Rehaan · 20th January 2005, 03:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psycho

Was going through the old posts when I came across this and thought that I would correct you on the last statement

Pro Fuel Dragsters use a progressive clutch that is controlled by an air-timer management system. This locks up the clutch beyond a certain RPM. This is required to let the engine idle...

Hey Psycho,

Thanks for that info....
I guess i would rephrase what i was saying to "dragsters dont use the clutch when shifting between gears as the clutch wouldnt be able to handle the power at higher RPMs"....correct?

R

Tom · 20th January 2005, 11:18

lock up clutches and air-shifters?

Psycho · 20th January 2005, 11:46

Top fuel dragsters & the funny cars usually only have a forward and reverse gear as the reverse gear is mandatory in most classes.

At the RPM's with the given torque these engines go to it is impossible to shift gears (Imagine trying to shift gears on a 6000 bhp engine on full power) hence they do not have gearboxes rather the clutch handles the complete load directly to the wheels.

Maybe the best way to define the power is locking your car's to the 4th gear and running a drag on that.(as it results in close to a 1:1 ratio to the wheel assuming that your differential is also a 1:1)

17th March 2004, 16:42	#1
Rehaan Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 24,023 Thanked: 34,033 Times	" A lesson in acceleration: ------------------------------------ First, some useful info: * 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 1½ 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 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 nitromethane the flame front temperature 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. * 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 from light to light! * Including the burnout the engine must only survive 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). " -Unknown Source.
	(1) Thanks

17th March 2004, 17:27	#2
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 125 Times View My Garage	At 533kmph that car would have completed the 1/4 mile in around 4.2 secs. That's really awesome. BTW, do you think using launch control on one of these might help? Regards... Shan2nu
	() Thanks

17th March 2004, 20:24	#3
rgowani BHPian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 246 Thanked: 6 Times	Umm Shantanu Its 533 Km/h Dude not m/h. I think they already have Lauch Control dont they?
	() Thanks

18th March 2004, 05:43	#4
Rehaan Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 24,023 Thanked: 34,033 Times	Also correct me if i am wrong, but dragsters dont have clutches! It would just be waste of time as well as clutches just wouldnt be able to hande that kinda immediate power! cya
	() Thanks

19th January 2005, 19:08	#6
shravan316 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,029 Thanked: 9 Times	Mindboggling facts!! really cool stuff guys!
	() Thanks

20th January 2005, 01:18	#7
joel Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 14 Thanked: 0 Times	oh man i just drank a glass of water!
	() Thanks

20th January 2005, 11:18	#9
Tom BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore, India. Posts: 401 Thanked: 0 Times	lock up clutches and air-shifters?
	() Thanks

20th January 2005, 11:46	#10
Psycho Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,043 Thanked: 110 Times View My Garage	Top fuel dragsters & the funny cars usually only have a forward and reverse gear as the reverse gear is mandatory in most classes. At the RPM's with the given torque these engines go to it is impossible to shift gears (Imagine trying to shift gears on a 6000 bhp engine on full power) hence they do not have gearboxes rather the clutch handles the complete load directly to the wheels. Maybe the best way to define the power is locking your car's to the 4th gear and running a drag on that.(as it results in close to a 1:1 ratio to the wheel assuming that your differential is also a 1:1)
	() Thanks

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