Santa pod! WOW!

[boredbloke]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

first time at santa pod and i was very impressed

theres a drag show on all this weekend, and there were some real beasts there!

Check out the pics... (would have got alot more beter ones but my camera stopped saving pics cos the battery was too low!!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0004.jpg

This bad boy run a shit hot time! (the one closest to the shot)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0007.jpg

even though it run a bad start heres it's time.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0008.jpg

for those of you with naff eyes that was 4.979 @290.81 (in the damp too)

I reckon if the condictions had been perfect and this had had a better start it could have easily got in the low 4's

did any one else go??

[Philsutton]

fastest ive seen one do was a 6 second, an he backed off halfway down. Some of those big ones shake the ground fo about a mile radius. Amazing to watch though. Not been on a proper day where its only them that run.

[boredbloke]

Well the european champs are some time this summer i'll definately be there!!

It's a must if you've not seen the top fuelers! just for the experience of it!

ony thing that comes close is hearing a aeroplane boost whem ur very close!

saw one guy nearly roll, he ,managed to gain control right at the last minute, I thought he was a gona for sure! ...must have shit his pants though! lmao!

[Riggy]

fuck me thats fast :lol:

[Phil_G]

guy i know has run a 4.84 1/4 mile in the past :o

Phil

[Nick]

none of you ever seen the shockwave truck ?

36,000hp strapped to the back of a wagon, does 0-268mph in something like 5 seconds.

[ANDYRACER]

They are mad machines. Would be scary to drive 1.

[5_door owner]

They are mad machines. Would be scary to drive 1.

you dont drive it, you put your foot down and close ure eye's lol :lol:

[ANDYRACER]

pmsl true :lol:

[scott.parker]

Spot the chave trying to steall the rover :lol: :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/bwareofblade/2005_0328Image0001.jpg

[ANDYRACER]

^^^ pmsl :lol:

[boredbloke]

lol! he'd get away quick if he manged to start it! that pulled 8.84 down the strip!

The guys in some of them top fuelers actualy hold their tongue between their teeth to stop it flying down the back of their throat! :o

Thas some serious g force

[m.d.]

think this seems quite fitting for this post. had it saved on my pc for ages

top fuel acceleration. not sure if anyone has actualy put these claims to the tests but it does make for an interesting read.....

Acceleration: Put Into Perspective

* 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 dragster engine consumes 11.2 gallons of nitromethane 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 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 nitromethane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* 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.

* 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 ? 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 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 9500rpm.


* The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, & for once, NOTHING
BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated US$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 Schumacher). 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 driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter "twin-turbo" powered Corvette Z06. 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 up through the gears & blast across the starting line & past the dragster at an honest 200 mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

The dragster launches & starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums & within 3 seconds the dragster 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 & 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!

[Riggy]

^^^^^wow very interesting shit :o

[smithy87]

* 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.

:o :o :o :o :o

Thats incredible! They literally RIP AIR APART!

Being a chemist I can appreciate everything m.d. said, they are absolutely incredible!

[m.d.]

i cant take the credit for any of that by the way. i got it off a forum a long time ago. just thaught id share it woth you. :D

[Adam Moran]

Very intresting reading :D

I've been to quite a few days at the pod with the top fuelers, i find it hard to describe to people when your stood at the end of the 1/4 mile and you watch (and feel) the cars coming towards you, its a truly awsome feeling. If you havent been before go to the FIA finals in September, you will love it!

They used to take people out in 2 seater super gas cars, costs about ?150 for 1 run but they do somthing like 230mph in 6 secs. Going to look into that again as i think ?150 is well worth it :lol:

[dan_mk1]

Does anyone else get proper pissed off with the dragsters running on RWYB days!? Theyre all the same after youve seen the first one run....

[Rach]

Does anyone else get proper p**s off with the dragsters running on RWYB days!? Theyre all the same after youve seen the first one run....

i got annoyed at USC a couple of years back coz the damn drag car couldn't even complete one run and kept swerving off - so he had to have loads of attempts

still didnt complete one though :roll:

[Jim]

Does anyone else get proper p**s off with the dragsters running on RWYB days!? Theyre all the same after youve seen the first one run....

It is annoying, but these guys need to practice just like the rest of us, and these cars bring in a lot of money to Santa Pod.

Jim

[Philsutton]

whats it matter you never run anyway dan :lol:

[Jim]

whats it matter you never run anyway dan :lol:

I take it you were suppose to say Jim, not Dan? :roll: I have run, just not after the latest rebuild.

Jim

[Philsutton]

no i ment dan, just i dont see his clio going down much

[boredbloke]

tbh honest dan it was more annoying watch RWYB style vw beetles on what was spos to be a proper top track day.

although they as still pullin impressive times they were dead boring after the first 24 .......

thwere is nothing to desrcibe standing t#at the start post either and feeling the rumble in your chest and they take off (literally) down the track...awesome!

I'll be there for the next one!