I was sent this. It came off of K&B Pistons web site. It really puts a whole new perspective on horsepower!
ACCELERATION
>
> 'DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION' (courtesy of KB Performance Pistons)
>
>
> One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes
> more
> horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the
> Daytona 500.
>
> It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+
> horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach
> the
> rear wheels.
>
> Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2
> 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power
> to
> drive the dragster's supercharger.
>
> With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and
> technology by which quantities of reactants and products
> in
> chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture
> of
> nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050
> deg 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. This is
> the
> output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
>
> Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass.
> After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression,
> plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg 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 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 revolutions from
> light to light! Including the burnout, the engine must
> only
> survive 900 revolutions under load .
>
>
>
> The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.
>
>
>
> Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew is
> working
> for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an
> estimate $1,000.00 per second.
>
>
>
> The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428
> seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher,
> at
> Pomona, CA). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as
> measured
> over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at
> Hebron, OH).
>
>
>
> Putting all of this into perspective: You
> are driving the
> average $140,000 Lingenfelter 'twin-turbo' powered
> Corvette
> Z06. 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
> 'Vette
> hard up through the gears and blast across the starting
> line
> and pass 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 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 1,320 foot long race course.
>
>
> ... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
ACCELERATION
>
> 'DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION' (courtesy of KB Performance Pistons)
>
>
> One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes
> more
> horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the
> Daytona 500.
>
> It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+
> horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach
> the
> rear wheels.
>
> Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2
> 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 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power
> to
> drive the dragster's supercharger.
>
> With 3,000 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 (stoichiometry: methodology and
> technology by which quantities of reactants and products
> in
> chemical reactions are determined) 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture
> of
> nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050
> deg 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. This is
> the
> output of an arc welder in each cylinder.
>
> Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass.
> After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression,
> plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1,400 deg 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 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 revolutions from
> light to light! Including the burnout, the engine must
> only
> survive 900 revolutions under load .
>
>
>
> The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.
>
>
>
> Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew is
> working
> for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an
> estimate $1,000.00 per second.
>
>
>
> The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428
> seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher,
> at
> Pomona, CA). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as
> measured
> over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at
> Hebron, OH).
>
>
>
> Putting all of this into perspective: You
> are driving the
> average $140,000 Lingenfelter 'twin-turbo' powered
> Corvette
> Z06. 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
> 'Vette
> hard up through the gears and blast across the starting
> line
> and pass 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 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 1,320 foot long race course.
>
>
> ... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION!
