The design of dragsters evolved from the front-engined rail (named for the exposed frame rails) of the earliest days of drag racing, into the "slingshot" (with the driver between or behind the rear tires, or "slicks") of the early to middle 1960s, to the "modern" type common in the 1970s.
dragsters
Depending on the class they run in, dragsters can be injected or supercharged (or turbocharged), with a variety of possible engines. The engines are most often derived from automobiles'; some early examples used surplus aircraft engines. Today, they may also be electric.
The front engine dragster came about due to engines initially being located in the car's frame in front of the driver. The driver sits angled backward, over the top of the differential in a cockpit situated between the two rear tires, a design originating with Mickey Thompson's Panorama City Special in 1954, as a way of improving traction.[1] This position led to many drivers being maimed when catastrophic clutch failures occurred.[2] Due to limited traction, some dragsters with four rear drive wheels were attempted[3] as well as designs with twin engines.
The drawbacks of front-engine designs (including fatalities) led to several attempts at rear-engined cars. Among them were pioneering rear-engined dragsters (and funny cars, including Doug Thorley's and Dave Bowman's[5]) were Steve Swaja's AA/Gas Wedge I from 1963, Roger Lindwall's 1966 Top Fuel Re-Entry and Kent Fuller's fueller Sidewinder III, both in 1969.[6][7]
The NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League offers kids ages 5-17 a chance to race half-scale dragsters in a controlled environment at many of NHRA's 130 member tracks throughout the United States and in Canada long before they can obtain a state driver's license. Membership in the Jr. Drag Racing League is required for competition.
The cars that Jr. Drag Racing League competitors race are called Jr. Dragsters and are half-scale versions of Top Fuel dragsters. Using a five-horsepower, single-cylinder engine, a Jr. Dragster can go as fast as 85 mph and as quick as 7.90 seconds in an eighth-mile, though younger age groups are restricted to slower times/speeds.
Now you can order LSRAV/Metric dragsters in individual kits, 10 packs, and 50 packs. You can also choose to have styrofoam and boxes in most bulk packs so you can now get exactly what comes with the individual kits.
In the world of NHRA drag racing where speed is everything, Top Fuel dragsters are the most audacious and ambitious of all dragsters. Their special features and unique designs are there to maximize performance and acceleration in every way possible, and they would be even faster, but for the NHRA regulations.
Updated November 2022: Top Fuel dragsters are among the quickest accelerating machines in the world. With up to 11,000 hp at their disposal, these dragsters rightfully earn their title "kings of the sport". Besides covering a dragstrip in under 3.7 seconds, here are other insane facts you never knew about Top Fuel dragsters.
Top Fuel dragsters are nothing compared to any regular automobile or drag racing cars. For size, they are 25 feet long and weigh 2,330 pounds. They have front and rear wings and massive rear tires designed for maximum grip. The tires on a Top Fuel dragster can also expand to about 44 inches in diameter at maximum speed, versus their normal 36-inch diameter. However, the real star in a Top Fuel dragster is the engine.
Top Fuel dragsters are not called the King of sports for no reason. One of the most insane facts about dragsters is their neck-breaking speed. A Top Fuel dragster can reach 335 mph at top speed and make a thousand-foot run in just 3.62 seconds.
From a standstill position, Top Fuel dragsters can speed up to 100 mph in 0.8 seconds, beating the record of top alcohol dragsters and even the Porsche 911. This makes them the quickest accelerating cars on the planet. Because of this record-breaking speed, NHRA restricted Top Fuel Dragsters to only a distance of 1,000 feet and not the traditional 1,320 feet.
The ability of Top Fuel dragsters to produce more gravitational force than gravity in a single turn is a startling characteristic. Top Fuel racers experience a gravitational force of about 5Gs, which is five times their body weight. This is because the open headers produce about 1,100 pounds of downforce at full throttle to achieve the speed feat.
No other automobile comes close to pulling such gravitational force, and that is where Top Fuel dragsters have something in common with space shuttles which only need 3Gs to launch. That means Top Fuels are 2Gs more than a space shuttle.
Top Fuel dragsters have a duo-protocol brake system to ensure better brake performance. The first brake protocol system comprises a lightweight carbon brake system. It improves stopping power and is better adapted to extreme temperatures during top-speed driving at full throttle.
Instead of gasoline, Top Fuel dragsters use nitromethane and methanol, thus their name; 'Top Fuel dragsters.' According to NHRA regulations, the dragsters should use a maximum of 90% Nitromethane and 10% methanol mixture, although they can use a lesser amount of nitromethane.
Nitromethane is extremely volatile and can ignite with or with no contact with atmospheric oxygen. This is the burning seen in Top Fuel dragsters when the nitromethane escapes from the exhaust pipes. If the engine falters for any reason or if there is any impact on it, there could be an explosion strong enough to smash the engine's block or head.
However, NHRA regulations limits the engine to only 500 cubic inches. Top Fuels can put out as much as 7,000 to 10,000 hp, and some even go as much as generating a whooping 11,000 hp at full throttle. Top alcohol dragsters come a distant second in terms of horsepower produced with 4,000 hp.
Watching Top Fuel dragsters race live is like standing beside a bomb explosion or a minor earthquake. The sound is loud enough to make an impression on the eardrums, but it doesn't end at that; you can also feel it. A Top Fuel's engine churns out about 150 decibels of sound at full throttle, making them the loudest cars in the NHRA.
Top fuel refers to the fastest sanctioned and legal type of drag racing currently in operation. The top fuel dragsters represent the most outrageous and mechanically impressive of all drag racers, let alone conventional road or race cars.
Typically these dragsters weigh circa 2,300 pounds and are up to 25 feet in length. Interestingly, the rear tires of a top fuel dragster can expand as much as roughly 30% when under heavy strain at maximum speed, from a typical diameter of 36 inches up to an incredible 44 inches at top speed. The tires will typically need to be replaced after no more than 8 runs.
Apart from the speed and sheer size of the dragsters, one other key difference is the regularity of maintenance. The engines of the top fuel dragsters need to be completely rebuilt from the ground up after every run. This is because not only will the engine experience extreme pressure, temperature and wear at the incredible speeds that these machines are capable of, but also the components will have been designed for their short-term capabilities rather than their longer term ability to survive the wear and tear usually associated with engine parts.
In a machine capable of reaching 335 mph, the braking system is of maximum importance. Conventional disk or drum brakes would not be sufficiently strong enough to safely bring the dragster to a holt in a timely and controlled manner. Instead, top fuel dragsters have a two-step braking system involving a carbon brake system specially designed to withstand the high temperatures as well as a parachute that acts as the second brake system. The parachute utilizes extreme wind resistance to slow down the racer in a shorter stretch of track.
The name for top fuel dragsters derives from the fuel that is used to power these epic racing machines. Rather than using conventional gasoline, the top fuel used is a mix of nitromethane and methanol, with a minimum of 10% methanol used in the mixture. This special mixture is preferred to conventional gasoline as the required amount of air for the engine to function is significantly lower for a nitromethane engine compared to a gasoline engine, which helps to maximize the top speed. However, nitromethane is extremely flammable and volatile. With this in mind, the drivers wear full body fire suits and face masks. 2ff7e9595c
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