im writing a paper for my environmental biology class on fossil fuels more specifically race fuels and how they effect the environment and im came across several interesting things bout nitromethane and top fuel cars i thought id share. this may be somewhat of a repost or u may know all of this but i hope u enjoy.

-top fuel car make about 8000 horsepower
-each cylinder makes about 750 horsepower by itself(the math doesnt add up on that one but thats the info i found)
-a 426 hemi doesnt have enough power to turn a top fuel supercharger
-in one pass a top fuel car will burn about 12 gallons of nitromethane. including the start up, burnout, backing up to the starting line after burnout and the WOT race.
-at WOT a top fuel engine burns 1.5 gallons a second
-1 gallon of nitromethane typically sells for 20-30$ so roughly 250-400$ for one race!
-after 3 passes the billet aluminum connecting rods are deformed and replaced
-after 5 passes the pistons are toast and replaced
-after 8 passes the $5,000 billet steel crankshaft is deformed and replaced.
-the compressed air fuel mixture is almost at a solid state right before ignition.
-the driver experiences 5 g forces upon accleration and 5 negative g forces after the shutes have been pulled.
-during competition, after each run, the engine is disassembled down to the bare block and inspected and reassembled and started in 5 minutes.

-lastly i wasnt too sure about this one but it may be true, a top fuel car has 16 spark plugs, 2 per cylinder.

these facts may be different for each team and or event so i would guess some of the numbers would fluctuate

HAPPY SATURDAY!

 

Feel sorry for the one eating that bill

 

they also have 2 ignition systems.... i read some where that they basically "diesel" their way down the track. few things ive read are..

-fastest accelerating vehicles on the planet
-Clutch discs melt together after every pass
-10,000lbs of down force on rear wing
-2000lbs of down force on front
- 0-100mph in .8 seconds
-register 2.5 on a ricter(spelling) scale
-can be heard ideling a mile away
-spark plugs completely burn out halfway through pass (thats where the dieseling effect comes into play supposedly)

i dont kno how much of this is true, just from what ive read online.... either way, definately amazing machines.

 

Makes more horsepower than the first four rows of the Daytona 500. (I love drag racing. )
3000 cfm of air being rammed in by the supercharger.
At the stoichiometric fuel ratio of 1.7:1 the flame front measures about 7000*.
Nitro burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, separated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing heat of exhaust gases.
Dual Magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug...the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
Assuming that all equipment is paid off, the crew works gratis and nothing breaks, each run costs an estimated $1000 per second (this was in '04).

And to put all of this into perspective (I love this part ):
You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo Corvette Z06. More than a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a measured quarter-mile as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the Vette 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, but you hear a brutal whine that sears your eardrums, and within three seconds, the dragster catches you and beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile from where you just passed him (at 200 mph). From a standing start, the dragster spotted you 200 mph and not only caught you but nearly blew you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 feet.

 

Not technical

And repost.

 

So...move it to the right section then.

 

Someone will I suppose......

 

Can we have her moved to the turd section?