*** FUNNY *** Standing next to a 10,000 + Horsepower Nitro burning Top Fuel Hemi engine
Standing next to a 10,000 + horsepower Top Fuel Hemi engine. Everyone has to atleast once in thier lifetime!
Ahhh... The sights, smells and sounds of a Nitro Methane burning monster Top Fuel Hemi engine. An exprience one doesn't soon forget. An experience that can't properly be captured on a video. A sensation that'll leave you in awe and always coming back for more!
*Old Info 2006* Drag racing is one of the most popular forms of motor sport in this country. Hopped-up Hemis and blown big blocks shred tires and thunder down the 1320 in no time flat. But even the quickest modified street cars pale in comparison to the awesome power of Top Fuel Dragsters & Funny Cars. In fact, the forces at work inside these cars are almost unimaginable. Here are some specifics that really put top fuel power and acceleration into perspective.
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 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 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 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 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. 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!
Why They Make Nitromethane
Vagabond AA/FD From The March Meet 2007..Thank You to everyone whose watched and commented on this video...500,000 plays!!
The Valley Speed FED: fired for the first time
Tim Conder fires the Valley Speed Front Engine Dragster (FED) for the very first time at the shop in Sonoma, CA with help from Pete Jensen, Chris Bochoko, Rex Hutchison and friends. AUTOCULTURE was there to record the event ten years in the making!
Mark Sheehan nitro funny car licensing explosion 12.03.2008
Mark Sheehan and his team were out trying to get the final stages of their nitro funny car licensing completed today at the Perth Motorplex.
On the first pass for the day, the car smoked the tyres almost instantly, then some fine adjustments were made to try and cater for the hot conditions for the second pass.
The car looked to be on a great run this time around getting to the 60' with a .972 short time, followed by a lift before the 330' in 2.59, but when Sheehan had a pedal and got back onto it, then KABOOM!
The Mustang body totally blew off the chassis and into the air and lifted the back end of car at least a metre off the ground before a second bounce lifted it up and away again. Then with some great steering, Sheehan managed to tame his ride back to earth, and thankfully escaped the terrifying incident unharmed.
We wish Sheehan and his team all the best for their next nitro outing.
Starting up 392 Hemi, part 1
The front engine dragster Six Shooter became with 392 Hemi!
392 Hemi is being started for the first time after 10 months building. Homepage: six-shooterracing.com
"NitroCackle"
Bill Pitts fires the "Magicar" in the "Grove" at Famosa Raceway
DRAG RACING: 7 SECOND LOVE AFFAIR
What Drag Racing was all about in 1965.
Lions Drag Strip at the peak of drag racing's golden age is the backdrop for this award winning documentary about the Adams,Wayre & Stewart Top Fuel Team's trials and tribulations in 1965 and focuses on the life of Rick "the Iceman" Stewart (the current NHRA chief starter) as he attempts to grab the second half of the two part world's speed record. This is the one DVD that every drag racing fan MUST HAVE! GET IT TODAY at: www.ClassicFUEL.com
