AA Fuel Dragster Engine life

[tonto1]

Question.
What's your best guess of how many revolutions a fuel dragster engine turns per run, counting burn outs?

[river1]

Question.
What's your best guess of how many revolutions a fuel dragster engine turns per run, counting burn outs?

i recently received an email that had that as part of it

> Acceleration  Explained
>
>
> *  One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge
> (actually Keith Black, etc) 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 before ignition.
> 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 from atmospheric
> water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
>
>
> *  Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. 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 sufficient force to
> blow the  cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half!!
>
>
>
> *  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 900  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
> $1,000  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
>
>
> A  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)
>
>
> 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 & 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  seares 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,  my friends.....is  acceleration.  

later jim

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Fuel cars only run 1000 feet now....... I believe  that is still the rule.

so does the Corvette win now?

[tonto1]

Thanks Jim.
That was an interesting read.

[unklian]

Fuel cars only run 1000 feet now....... I believe  that is still the rule.

Yes, unfortunately. NHRA hasn't seen fit to slow the cars down.