ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

                One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch Hemi engine

makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows at NASCAR's Daytona 500.

Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of

nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the

same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.

A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely 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

beforeignition.Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lockup 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 fromatmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each sparkplug, which is typically the output

of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.

 Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass..

After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is 'dieseling' from

compression and the glow of the 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 enough force

sufficient to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split

the block in half !!

Top fuel dragsters reach over 300 MPH +... before you have completed reading

this sentence.

In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must

accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before

reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 G's.

Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 9000 revolutions under load.

The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is

working for free, & NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1000 per

second.

0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of the run).

0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run).

6 g-forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land).

6 negative g-forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 300 MPH.

An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates quicker than any other land vehicle on

earth . . . quicker than a jet fighter plane . . . quicker

than the space shuttle....or snapping your fingers !!

The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the

quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta). The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as

measured over the last 66' of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).

So, in summary...Let's now put this all into perspective:

Imagine this.....You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered

Corvette Z-06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready

to 'launch' down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a

flying start. You run the 'Vette hard, on 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 exact moment. The dragster departs & starts

after you.

You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an

incredibly brutally screaming whine that sears and pummels your

eardrums & within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches & 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 it not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the

planet when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!!

That.....is acceleration!