Top Fuel Dragster Facts

[Dan_Soprano]

How do the drivers survive 8 Gs? Or are they not driven by people? Sorry for my stupidity.

I've pulled 6.9 G's in an F/A-18c Hornet........it SUCKS!!! The trick is to contract the abdominal and leg muscles to keep the blood in the upper part of your body. if not, then its black out time!

 

[67HotRod]

You also have to turn the engines over several times as soon as they come to a stop. The exhaust valves will actaully melt and bend or even fall off if one stays open too long before cooling

What I think is fascinating is when they seat the clutch after rebuilding it between rounds. They get both hands on the brake and pull like he!! while somebody whacks the throttle. It goes from idle to around 9200 rpm and back to an idle in about .7 seconds. That's just one cylinder hitting hard enough to reach that rpm and then the throttle closes. It's hilarious watching the newbies standing right up behind them when they hit it. They make so much noise on that one or two cylinders that the people jump about 6 feet off the ground. Even when you know it's coming, it will still buckle your knees a little.

We build Top Alcohol motors for a guy, which is basically a tuned down fuel motor, and it runs like a wild man. On alcohol with no nitro and only 35 psi boost, it still makes around 1800 ponies from 495 c.i.

 

[GinoGT]

Those drivers don't experience G's like a fighter pilot does. A pilot has the G's pulling him downwards, which is what draws the blood away from their head. A top fuel dragster would be getting slammed backwards into the seat, so I don't think there's as much risk of blacking out.

 

[JonJon]

Those drivers don't experience G's like a fighter pilot does. A pilot has the G's pulling him downwards, which is what draws the blood away from their head. A top fuel dragster would be getting slammed backwards into the seat, so I don't think there's as much risk of blacking out.

Good point