Top fuel dragster driver#
Top fuel dragster full#

Imagine travelling along a freeway at 100kmh, then one second later hitting 260kmh!Īs the speed increases, so does the downforce and the drag on the car, while the tyres have also grown, effectively making the gearing taller. The last five NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel Dragster champs are: 1.

They are powered by a version of the 500-cu in Chrysler Hemi engines, and can cover the 1000 foot strip in 3.7 seconds. For about one second (1.5 seconds after beginning the run) the dragster is pouring on over 100mph (160kmh) for each second of time. Top Fuel dragsters are the fastest-accelerating race cars in the world, and reach up to 335 mph over a 1000 feet. But for us the most amazing thing to remember is the Top Fuel dragster is already moving at around 150mph (a touch over 240kmh) before it reaches peak acceleration.

Top fuel dragster full#

A Bugatti Veyron might hit 1.5G under full acceleration in low gear. 2 a second before the car will ‘roll out’ and start the track timing system).įor comparison, a space shuttle pulls about 3G as it launches into orbit. Acceleration can now increase without the risk of overpowering the track.Īfter that low point of acceleration at about 1.3 seconds into the run, a second later the Rapisarda Top Fuel dragster was pulling a peak of 5.42G at 2.3 seconds into the run, about where the car is passing the 330 foot beams (remembering that the data starts about. Top Fuel dragsters are powered by a 500 cubic inch (8L) V8, loosely designed from the Chrysler Hemi used from the 60s and 70s.

Top fuel dragster driver#

The dragster has increased in speed and downforce from the massive rear wing is now pushing the car down on to the track surface, allowing the tuner to further lock up the clutch and unleash more nitro horsepower. How a Top Fuel Dragster Works Car and Driver 754K subscribers Subscribe 5. After that the magic happens (you can click the image above to see the full res version).

What follows is kinda interesting! After about half a second the acceleration tapers off, down to just over 3G after about a second of acceleration. It doesn’t take long for the car to reach 4G, in fact it’s shortly after it leaves the staging beams – within a quarter of a second of the driver hitting the loud pedal. We got in touch with Rapisarda Autosport International’s Santo Rapisarda Jnr and asked if he would send through a g-force reading from one of his runs – he flicked us through their personal best 1000 foot pass from Pomona, a 3.76 at 322mph. Since then, the team set their sights on being the first to run a 500kph quarter-mile pass, and again - thanks to determination, the right people, and plenty of expertise - it’s another record they claimed on January 9, 2016.Top Fuel dragsters are well known as the fastest accelerating race cars on the planet, but where do they actually accelerate the hardest? The answer may surprise you. That record-breaking run took place on January 10, 2015, when the team clocked a mind-blowing ET of 4.985 seconds at 288.20mph - forever etching their names in New Zealand record books. The goal of running New Zealand’s first four-second pass was already tantalizingly close for the team, and they were determined to claim the title. With the right people on the team, and Anthony Marsh in the driver’s seat, the car impressed right from the get go, running a very low five-second pass at its first meet. Prior to its purchase, the car had covered the quarter-mile in 4.40 seconds, and featured the most up to date technology available, making it the perfect machine to help them achieve their goal.ĭespite already having plenty of experience with nitromethane in their naturally aspirated record-holding A/Fueller, the step up to Top Fuel was a massive learning curve, not to mention an expensive exercise.