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One dragster's 500-inch Hemi
makes more horsepower than the first 8 rows at Daytona.
Under full throttle, a dragster
engine consumes 1 1/2 gallons of nitro per second, the same rate of fuel
consumption as a fully loaded 747 but with 4 times the energy volume.
The flame front of nitro methane
measures 7050 degrees F.
Nitro methane burns yellow. The
spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen,
dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
To exceed 300mph in 4.5 seconds
dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. But in reaching 200 mph
well before 1/2 track, launch acceleration is closer to 8G's.
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