It is no secret that when you are in the presence of a Top Fuel dragster, you are going to need earplugs! Experts estimate that Top Fuel cars can reach over 250 decibels! That is an enormous level reading that can cause physical damage to your eardrums.
Even though these cars do require you to wear earplugs, they are some of the most remarkable pieces of engineering in the automotive world. In this article we will share with you how these demon cars work and the Guinness World Record-holding time for one of these astonishing cars!
Cars that can reach over 150 decibels make some of the most entertaining drag races in the world! Read on to find out more about Top Fuel Dragsters and the power behind them.
What makes a car a Top Fuel Dragster?
The first thing is first, where does this name come from? Top Fuel refers to the fuel that is used by the dragsters. If you had to use normal fuel in these cars, you would not generate enough power that is needed to propel the car as fast as it needs to go. The fuel that is used in these cars is Nitromethane.
This fuel is like gasoline but it comes with its own oxygen. In other words, Nitromethane burns easily than gasoline. This ability has a lot to do with the structure of the fuel. Due to the fact that Nitromethane produces less energy by weight than gasoline does, the cylinders in your engine can burn more fuel. This process means that there is more power propelled for each stroke of the piston.
If you take a look at a standard gasoline engine, the engine needs nearly 15 pounds of air to burn 1 pound of regular gas. Now if you had to place Nitromethane into the engine, you only need 1.7 pounds of air to burn 1 pound of Nitromethane.
Now that the science is out of the way, to make a very long scientific process short, Top Fuel Dragsters use different fuel to ensure that they can get up to three times more power out of the engine than normal cars.
Fun fact: Nitromethane burns slower than gasoline which means that Top Fuel Dragsters push burning fuel into the exhaust pipe and that is why you see flames coming out of the back of the dragster.
It has been said on nhra.com:
“Among the fastest-accelerating machines in the world, 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters are often referred to as the “kings of the sport,” and with good reason. They are capable of covering the dragstrip in less than 3.7 seconds at more than 330 mph. Powered by a supercharged and fuel-injected 500-cubic-inch adaptation of the famed Chrysler Hemi engine, Top Fuel dragsters can burn up to 15 gallons of nitromethane fuel during a single run. ”
How much does it cost to run one of these cars?
As you can imagine, these dragsters are not cheap cars by any stretch of the matter. Under full throttle, a Top Fuel Dragster can consume 11.2 gallons of Nitromethane per second! To put this into perspective, a fully loaded Boeing 474 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.
Now, if we had to assume that the car itself is paid off for as well as the parts of the car were paid off, each run costs an estimated $ 1 000.00 per second to run the car just in fuel. These dragsters often crash because of the power that is produced, it is a very difficult car to control. That means that one race can cost you a couple of thousand dollars just for one race from light to light on the track!
Fastest Speed in an NHRA Drag Racing Top Fuel Race
According to the Guinness World Records, Brittany Force is the person who holds the fastest speed achieved in a National Hot Rod Association race in the Top Fuel class. The car reached a top speed of 338.17 MPH. It was done at the Dodge NHRA Nationals back in November 2019.
Force record came during her qualifying run. She crossed the line in 3.659 seconds flat!
YouTube video of a Top Fuel Dragster in action
If you have not had the opportunity to watch one of these Top Fuel Dragsters rip up the drag strip, take a look at the YouTube link below to see just how fast and awesome these dragsters really are!