Date: 3/08/2026 11:50:20
From: Spiny Norman
ID: 2416682
Subject: re: Spiny's thread of occasional interest
The Rev Dodgson said:
Spiny Norman said:
A good video on Top Fuel drag cars.
The acceleration is stunning.
0 – 100 km/h in just over half a second.
0 – 200 km/h in just under two seconds.
0 – 500 km/h in about 3.5 seconds.So that’s about 5g acceleration for the first half sec.
How do they transmit the required force to the ground without slipping?
The huge rear tyres are only pressurised to about 7.5 psi and act like huge springs to absorb a lot of the energy as the car launches. As the car accelerates that spring effect fades. The chassis is also designed to bend so it looks a bit like a coat hanger and that too helps keep traction.
The track they run on it not like a normal road, it’s special ‘hot mix’ bitumen and it’s coated with a stick covering. When it’s hot, people have been know to have their shoes stick to it.
The cars also do a burn-out, which warms the tyres and that increases their coefficient of friction substantially.