Tom Faust

Some interesting Top Fuel dragster facts:

* One dragster's 500-inch Hemi makes more horsepower then the first 8 rows at Daytona

* Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.

* The supercharger takes more power to drive then a stock hemi makes. (factory rating is 426 hp "conservative")

* Even with nearly 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into nearly-solid form
before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock.

* Dual magnetos apply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* At stoichiometric (exact) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture (for nitro), the flame front of nitromethane measures 7050 degrees F. (steel is molten at around 2950)

* 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.

* 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 of
it's fuel flow.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in those cylinders and then explodes with a force that can blow
cylinder heads off the block in pieces or blow the block in half.

* Dragsters twist the crank (torsionally) so far (20 degrees in the big end of the track) that sometimes cam lobes are ground offset from
front to rear to re-phase the valve timing somewhere closer to synchronization with the pistons.

* To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph well before 1/2 track,
launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.

* If all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs $1000.00 per second.

* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have read this sentence

Tom Faust

<center><img src="http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Mar/20033162686043470506184.jpg"></center><p>I sold this car and now regret it. It dynoed out at over 500 hp (it weighed about 100 pounds more than a Quattro) I doubt I ever saw 1 "g", but I kept a surplus "G suit" in the back seat for fun.