Unimaginable Acceleration

[NSX2play]

There was a great editorial on the acceleration of a top fuel dragster in the March 2004 edition of Automobile. There were a number of interesting points made, but the one that impressed me the most was:

"You are drving the average $140,000 LIngenfelter twin turbo Corvette Z06. More than a mile up the road is a Top Fuel dragster. It is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile track as you pass. You have an advantage of a flying start.

"You accelerate hard and blast across the starting line (and the staged dragster) at 200 mph. The tree goes green for both of you. The dragster launches (assume it has zero reaction time) and starts after you.

"You keep your foot down, but you hear a brutal whine that sears your eardrums and, within three seconds, the dragster catches you and beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile from where you passed it."

While your head is spinning, I will recap:

"From a standing start, the dragster spotted you 200 mph and not only caught you but nearly blased you off the road when it passed you within a mere 1320 feet."

Now that is acceleration!

 

[AndyH]

someone else posted something similar here before but longer version.

 

[RP-Motorsports]

That is crazy! I have seen a 7 second car, but I do need to attend an event that has the "real" cars. I need to witness this insane 3 second blast in person.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

That same article has been in many publications.

 

[NSX2play]

That same article has been in many publications.

No, this was an editorial so it only appeared in Automobile magazine. Although the same sort of example may have appeared in many publications.

I just did the arithmetic. It takes 4.5 seconds at 200 mph to cover the quarter. I don't know what top fuelers now do the quarter in [obviously less than 4.5 seconds] but I can remember when breaking six seconds was a big deal. Ah, technology.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

No, this was an editorial so it only appeared in Automobile magazine. Although the same sort of example may have appeared in many publications

It was in an editorial but it was #'s and information that has been published by other mags already also. I have them in possesion to verify.
Either way, they are impressive stats!!

 

[dynatac]

I watch top fuel and funny car racing every now and then.
Personally I think drag racing for the most part can get old fast, but there's just something about a six thousand horsepower engine that you gotta respect.

Amazing when you consider a lot of these guys break 300mph when running a qtr mile in under 5 seconds.