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July 26, 2006
I feel the need, the need for speed
There's a new reality series on A&E, Driving Force, that follows the trials and tribulations of thirteen-time drag-racing champion John Force, and his three attractive, drag-racing daughters, too.
The show is a pleasant surprise; Force seems like a real mensch, someone who remembers what it was like growing up poor in a trailer park, wanting his children to appreciate all that they have, and why it's important to want to succeed -- and win.
Something else that struck me was how often he tells his kids, his older brother, and his wife, "I love you."
I grew up in a Jewish family of first- and second-generation Americans, all descended from Eastern-European immigrants. My Russian ancestors were big huggers and kissers, and my father and grandfather were typical, always hugging and kissing and telling us that they loved us.
My impression of mainstream, Christian, blue-collar Americans is that of men who love their families, but hew to a more "manly" and reticent way of showing that affection. Before you accuse me of lawyerly blathering on about that of which I know nothing, I have to remind you that my life took a decidedly blue-collar turn when I dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the military, whereupon I lived in close quarters with shipmates who were mostly working-class guys from the South and Mid-West.
I was shocked when their parents would come visit, and they'd greet their dads' with a handshake. It's not a class thing either; when I was in college at a small liberal-arts university near Manhattan, I saw wealthy parents delivering their kids from toney sections of Connecticut and Long Island, leaving the freshman for their first semester away from home with an offhand, "Take care, son," followed by a handshake and a nod.
Yikes.
Anyhow, John Force is more like my dad than I'd expected, and if you'd told me that my father had anything in common with a professional racer, I'd have called you whack-a-doodle crazy.
Now, the other thing about the show that caught my interest was the unbelievably fast cars.
Thanks to The Braden files, I found this info, detailing just how powerful they really are.
One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.
Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to 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 lock at full throttle.
At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F ( 3900 degrees C ).
Nitromethane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapour by the searing exhaust gases.
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. 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 sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.
In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.
Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.
Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 RPM's from light to light! but stop & ponder the fact that the engine is only used for apx 4 to 5 seconds.
Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
The red-line is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.
The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile 10/05/03, (Tony Shumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).
Putting all of this into perspective: You are riding the average $25,000 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.
Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course.
That, folks, is acceleration.
Via Donald Sensing.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 26, 2006 12:41 AM
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