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How a Top Fuel Dragster Works


Das Borgen

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if you like that bit of info I suggest go see them in person at the track, you'll be hooked forever, the power & sound is unreal

 

I've been to see funny cars back when a close friend worked for John Holt...the smell of Nitrometh is so awesome:megusta::megusta::megusta:

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Keep in mind nitro runs at about 4:1 air fuel, where gasoline is more like 12.5:1 or so. That's partly why there is so much fuel in this video.

the engine is at the border of hydraulic lock AKA a ticking timebomb at full throttle with that much liquid being pumped in. It's an awesome but extremely scary thought

 

"The spark plugs hav disintegrated and the engine is now dieseling"

DAMN

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"The spark plugs hav disintegrated and the engine is now dieseling"

DAMN

 

Last year Melonie Troxill had her car REFIRE after she made the turn to head off the track. The car shot out of control across the shutdown area, though a sign and into a sportsman racers trailor.

 

Nobody was hurt but very scary to see.

 

These ares are so impressive to see run in person and even more is to see the teardown between rounds.

 

73 mins to go from just ran engine, to bare block, back to full engine and up to make a pass :fuckyeah:

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It's not mentioned in that video...but the craziest fact I have ever heard about a TF car is that the crankshaft is under such torsional load on the "big end" of the track, after the clutch has gone 1:1 that it will "twist" several degrees. The engine builders know this and grind the camshaft lobes with this in mind so the cam timing is "right" when the car is on the big end and can use the extra power.
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fun facts

 

There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car. and that includes any aircraft launched by a catapult from an aircraft carrier. *Nothing* can compare

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One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.

 

It takes just 15/100ths (0.15) of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower (some believe 8,000 HP is more realistic - there are no dynamometers capable of

measuring) of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

 

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger.

 

With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are determined)

1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F. (Oxy-acetylene on "cut" is 6,300)

 

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 one pass. After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves

at 1,400 deg 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 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.

 

The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.

 

Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.

 

The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona, CA ). The

top speed record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at Hebron OH ).

 

Putting all of this into perspective:

 

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter 'twin-turbo' powered Corvette Z06. 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 'Vette hard up through the gears

and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that instant.

 

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down 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 1,320 foot long race course.

 

highlighted most relevant bit

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