Guys go check out my thread in the lounge .

cheers
michael

I personally saw a rail do a 4.85 at 502km/h. That is pretty awesome.

Here are some stats on top fuelers...


As you probably know, a top fueler engine gets re-built after every race. So how much do the parts really need to last?? Well, considering they rev to 9,500 RPM, if you include 1 second for a burn-out, and a say a 5 second run, that is a total of 6 seconds of full power. 6 seconds is 1 tenth of a minute, so the engine only has to survive 950 revolutions at full power! Amazing.
Nitro-methane actually burns yellow, so why the white flames from the exhaust? Hydrogen burns white, and the incredibly heat from the exhaust is actually breaking down the moisture in the surrounding air into hydrogen and oxygen, and the while flame is actually the hydrogen burning.
The stochiometric air/fuel ratio for Nitro-methane is about 1.7:1 !
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.
A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger.
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. Cutting the fuel flow is the only way to shut down the engine.


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.


Source: http://racingknowledge.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3831 with some edits by me. More amazing stats can be found there, but these are my favourites.

Cheers,
Hymee.

And just to show that Rotars can launch with the best of them...

http://www.grumpe.com.au/jamb-rx31.jpg

Cheers,
Hymee.

Originally posted by Hymee
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.



Sorry to drag this thread back from the depths, but can anyone please recommend any good websites where I could learn a bit more about current drag racing? It's decades since I took an interest so my knowledge is way out of date.

Those are amazing facts - and the example of the racing bike doing 200mph gives a really graphic picture of the awesome power of the dragsters - but are those figures correct?

At a steady 200mph the bike would cover a quarter mile in exactly 4.5 seconds, and sub 4.5 second passes aren't exactly commonplace even for top fuelers - or are they now??

Even at 4.47 the dragster is surely not going to pass the bike after only 3 seconds???

Either way, the stats are incredible for these machines, and I'd like to read up a bit more. Can anybody please recommend any favourite sites for stats, facts, times, records, pics, etc.??

Thanks. Chris

Nicely calculated Chris. The national record according to www.nhra.com is:

Top Fuel ET 4.441 10/04/03 Anthony Schumacher - Long Grove, IL
'03 McKinney R.E.D Reading, PA

And the Trap Speed record is 333.35MPH.

I didn't look elsewhere, I don't think anyone goes faster than that outside the US.

I'm sure you will find a lot of info there, as well as the link I mentioned earlier. Also try out ANDRA http://www.andra.com.au/

Cheers,
Hymee

Thanks very much for those excellent links Hymee. :)

I'd been Googling around and found a few sites with some info, but hadn't managed to hit that NHRA site, or the Aussie site. They are just what I was looking for.

I'd found reference to a couple of sub 4.5 runs, but not anything that listed the out and out records.

I was also amazed to discover quite a few references to a guy who was big news many years ago, when I last took an interest - a guy called 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits. He must be knocking on a bit now! Apparently he cracked his first sub 5 sec and 300mph + last year and was pretty chuffed about it.

Could I pester you for a couple more details please? Does the timer start when the tree goes green, or when the car actually starts to move, and breaks a beam? I was puzzled by a reference to a race in which a guy with a slower ET and end speed beat a guy with faster times apparently because he had trouble 'getting his car going' or somesuch ???

That bike example has got me intrigued about how the whole process actually does work - i.e. how long it takes to react to the "go" signal (and whether that affects only the race or also the ET), how far they can travel in the first second, and how the distance graph actually builds, etc.

Just amazing stuff. I must go and watch again.... :)

Chris,

There is a good article on the starts etc on the Willowbank site.

http://www.willowbank-raceway.com.au/getinv.htm

Basically, you can sit at the green light for as long as you like, and the clock doesn't start counting till you have "cut the light". But the problem is if the other guy "cuts a better light" than you, he will beat you to the line. Thus a slower ET can win if he gets off the line quicker. The time between the last orange light and the green light is 0.4 seconds. Your "reaction time" is the elapsed time between the orange light and when you cut the light. If you go under 0.4 reaction time, that means you have cut the beam before the green light comes on - therefore a foul.

I hope the Willowbank link I provided is equally as informative as the others!

Cheers,
Hymee.

Many thanks Hymee. :)

Great information, and much appreciated.

I don't think I'll try dragging the RX8, so maybe it's time to get out the tool kit and squeeze a V8 into my little ride on tractor lawn mower. There's bound to be a class somewhere for dragging mowers - I know that there's a bunch of loonies who race them....

L&L would like my mower - it's a ride-on Cox. :eek:

Must be tricky being a salesman.... "Would you like a test ride on our Cox madam?....." etc....

Just a little rotary education for those who want to know.

Quickest rotary powered drag car. = 6.89@197 (unofficial) 3rotor turbo powered - Jose Siquel

Quickest rotary powered drag car = 6.95@199 (official) = 3rotor, twin turbo - Abel Ibarra

Quickest rotary powered drag car in Oz = 7.1@191 (unofficial) = 3rotor, twin turbo - George Rehayhem

Quickest rotary powered drag car in Oz = 7.3@187 (official) = 3rotor, twin turbo - Joe Signorelli