Completely off topic for florist chat board, but think Boss and a couple others my find it interesting
A Lesson in Acceleration:
Ø One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.
Ø Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1
gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet
fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
Ø A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power
to drive the dragster's supercharger.
Ø 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.
Ø At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro
methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
Ø 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.
Ø Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the
output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
Ø 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.
Ø If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro
builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient
force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the
block in half.
Ø 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.
Ø Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
completed reading this sentence.
Ø Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from
light to light!
Ø Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900
revolutions under load.
Ø The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
Ø 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.
A Lesson in Acceleration:
Ø One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more
horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.
Ø Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1
gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet
fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
Ø A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power
to drive the dragster's supercharger.
Ø 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.
Ø At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro
methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
Ø 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.
Ø Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the
output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
Ø 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.
Ø If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro
builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient
force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the
block in half.
Ø 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.
Ø Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have
completed reading this sentence.
Ø Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from
light to light!
Ø Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900
revolutions under load.
Ø The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
Ø 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.
