A friend sent this to me . Many of you will enjoy this I'm sure.. :!:
Top Fuel Trivia (we're talkin horsepower, folks)
>>
>>
>> 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 dragster engine consumes 1œ 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to
>> drive the dragster 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 *.
>>
>> 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 œ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus
>> the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees *. 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 redline is actually quite high at 9500rpm.
>>
>> 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 US $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 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 past the dragster at
>> an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at
>> that moment. 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 1320 foot
>> long race course.
>>
>> <<That, folks, is acceleration. >>
Top Fuel Trivia (we're talkin horsepower, folks)
>>
>>
>> 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 dragster engine consumes 1œ 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to
>> drive the dragster 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 *.
>>
>> 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 œ way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus
>> the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees *. 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 redline is actually quite high at 9500rpm.
>>
>> 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 US $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 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 past the dragster at
>> an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at
>> that moment. 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 1320 foot
>> long race course.
>>
>> <<That, folks, is acceleration. >>
