Top Fuel by the Numbers

Top Fuel by the Numbers
It takes 900 horses just to drive the supercharger on this
engine. Welcome to the world's most brutally powerful
motorsport.
By John Kiewicz
Photography by the author
Motor Trend, February 2005
7500 (5 595 000 W)
Approximate peak output, in horsepower, of a competitive 2005 Top Fuel engine. That's almost 1000 horsepower
per cylinder.
500 (8.2 L)
Engine capacity, in cubic inches. The block and heads are CNC-milled from solid billets of aluminum, and the oil pan
is titanium.
45.5
Maximum boost, in psi, produced by the supercharger at wide-open throttle. That's more than 3.0 bar, twice the
boost achieved by a Mitsubishi Evo VIII.
12,654
Rpm the supercharger spins at maximum engine speed. With the engine at 8500 rpm, just turning the supercharger
soaks up 900 horsepower.
73,9
Temperature in Celcius of the 14-71-type supercharger after just 4.5 seconds of maximum boost.
569
Number of times the engine's crankshaft turns during the entire quarter mile. Each intake valve opens 284 times.
16
Spark plugs per engine. The twin MSD magnetos produce 88 amps. You need just 12 more to power your MIG
welder.
291
Liters per minute the fuel system can pump at wide-open throttle. The engine will consume 86 liters of fuel during
warmup, burnout, staging, and the quarter-mile run.
1070
Cost, in Canadian dollars, of a 208 liters drum of nitromethane fuel (approx 5.15$/l). Current regulations allow a
maximum of 85 percent nitromethane in the fuel mix. The rest is alcohol.
69 800
About what you'll pay, in Canadian dollars, for a new, ready-to-run Top Fuel engine.
29
Minutes it takes to tear down and rebuild a Top Fuel engine between rounds. Each engine is rebuilt 184 times a
year (if the driver goes to the final round at every race).
28
Quarts of oil used during warm-up and quarter-mile run. The oil pan holds 70-weight oil mixed with special
thickener.
6
The maximum number of clutch discs in a Top Fuel car. The multistage clutch is timed to progressively lock up
during the run. Each $115 disc lasts a maximum of three runs.
Here's What It Drives...
2225
Minimum weight, in pounds, of a Top Fuel dragster. That's a power-to-weight ratio of 3.37 horsepower per pound,
about 20 times better than the new Z06 Corvette's.
300
Wheelbase, in inches, of a Top Fuel dragster. About 3000 inches of chrome-moly tubing is needed to build the
frame, which is left unpainted because of the need to constantly weld cracks.
1082
Greenbacks you'll need to buy a pair of new Goodyear R36x17.5 rear slicks. If you're lucky, they'll last you a bit
over a mile--four runs.
58
Bead Lock bolts used to retain each rear tire to the wheel. Tire pressures are set between 6.5 and 7.5 psi.
...And Here's What It Does
0.84
Seconds it takes for a Top Fueler to accelerate to 100 mph (160,9 km/h) from standstill. At launch, drivers are
subjected to up to 4.75 g--more than a space-shuttle astronaut.
536.04
Top speed, in km/h, of the 2004 NHRA Top Fuel Championship-winning U.S. Army dragster. When he pops the
parachute at the end of his run, driver Tony Schumacher experiences peak deceleration of 6 g.
53 397
Downforce, in Newtons, generated by the rear wing at 523 km/h. The
downward thrust made by the exhaust gases escaping the headers alone
generates 3560 Newtons (3,629 tons of downforce)
85
Distance, in inches, you'll need to be above the header pipes to avoid getting
toasted by the nitro flames exiting those pipes.
8.5
Number of inches the rolling diameter of the rear tires grows during a 523 km/h run, reaching a maximum of 44.5
inches.
It's Short but Sweet
4.441
World-record elapsed time, in seconds, it took Tony Schumacher's Army dragster to cover a quarter mile.
18
Seconds of racing completed if Tony makes the final. If he makes the final in every race, his total racing time for
the season will be less than seven minutes.
Source: http://motortrend.com/features/consumer/112_0502_numbers/index.html