Aparantly . . . . .

[325_driver 422]

I got told, that in the US theyve designed a land vehicle, if you could call it that

with these specifications, having these results

its 8200cc

does 0 - 100kmh in 0.5 seconds

top speed if 531 kmh

and 5970kW of power.

Obviously this is not a CAR ??

they said its called the US top Fuel racer

Any one else heard anything about this ?

i know there are drag cars that do excessively crazy speeds and need parachutes

but 0-100 in half a second, thats some where near 3g's of force ??

[antony 0]

Reliable old wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Fuel

[e30plz 1]

Yup "Funny Cars"

Theres atleast one in New Zealand, I've heard about it

5000hp

[antony 0]

Funny cars are the ones with the 'shells', sort of resembling a a real car. The traditional 'dragsters' are the fastest, but a few years ago a funny car took the record of fastest, not sure if its still got it.

[antony 0]

It's the luggage space that gets me on them weekends away.

[kerrynzl 3]

I got told, that in the US theyve designed a land vehicle, if you could call it that

with these specifications, having these results

its 8200cc

does 0 - 100kmh in 0.5 seconds

top speed if 531 kmh

and 5970kW of power.

Obviously this is not a CAR ??

they said its called the US top Fuel racer

Any one else heard anything about this ?

i know there are drag cars that do excessively crazy speeds and need parachutes

but 0-100 in half a second, thats some where near 3g's of force ??

Back in the late 70's an American called Gene Beaver bought a "Funny Car" to NZ called the LA Hooker ,

This could do 0-60mph [ 100kph ] in 2-1/2 times its own wheelbase. The ET was 6.60 secs for the 1/4 mile

So those figures are quite achievable now

[Gaz 1042]

The fastest ETA for 1/4 in a Funny Car is 4.695 and for Top Fuel its 4.480 (both from nhra.com)

[madracer 0]

Dragster Engines: Interesting Stats

Nothing to do with Mustangs, but engine enthusiasts will be interested in this set of figures for big power dragster engines.

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 nitro methane 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 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 vapour 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. Only cutting the fuel flow can shut down the engine.

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 only approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

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

The redline 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 US$1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (Oct 5th 2003, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (Sept 28 2003 Doug Kalitta).

Putting all of this into perspective:

You are riding the average US$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 your 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.

not sure of the original source but a interesting read

[pjay 8]

Crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Apex 693]

Now that’s some interesting reading.. Cheers.

[Sammy J 1]

Thanks for that it was a real eye opening read

[NZ POM 0]

I'll be watching NHRA on sky with a renewed respect from now on.

[kiwi535 538]

this is a must do.If you ever get the chance go to a proper drag meet,where the top funny cars,bikes and rails will be running.The bikes give the feeling and look of accelleration,cos they launch and then accellerate,the top cars though(if we can call them that) look like they are an arrow shot from a bow,the accelleration seems instantaneous...then there are the other sensations,the chest cavity vibrating noise,the smells,and in the evening the brilliant white flames from the exhausts.....do it.

[cainchapman 0]

Yes, I've got an expired piston from the Budweiser Rail from the late 80's. It ran 6.099 seconds and 221mph then. 500 cubic inch Top Fuel beast.

The smell and vibrations from the thing were phenomenal. They make F1 cars look like a Prius. Power in excess of 3500 horsepower.

The engines last 2 runs (if they reach it) and then get a complete rebuild. It makes the 40 hours between rebuilds on the Super tourer motors seem reasonable, doesn't it.

Kiwi535 is spot on. Go and see the real cars run. Even better at a twilight meet after a hot day. Flames and fast times.

[Grant 4]

Very interesting, nice post madracer.

Cheers

Grant

[Greg111 13]

After reading all that i wish Thunder park was still open (pretty much live on top of where it use to be).

[kiwi535 538]

+1 for being there in the evenings can only realy see the flames then...was in the hawkes bay when we went a few years in a row.