The Insane Acceleration of Top Fuel Dragsters Visualized 

Other cars : miles per gallon Top fuel dragster : gallons per seconds

Fun fact: these engines are so powerful that they get literally destroyed after every race. They rebuild the engine after every race because some parts of it actually melt together about half way through the quarter mile.

As an owner and crew chief for a Canadian Top Fuel dragster, good job on getting a lot of your facts correct. Your time for the dragster was a little slow though. Its not 4.5 seconds to the quarter mile. Its 3.8 to the 1000F mark. Due to our vehicles accelerating faster and reaching higher top speeds they pulled back on the distance we have to race. We aim for our 60F times to be .8 seconds. And at the 1/8th mile we are already hitting 290 to 299 MPH. We go through roughly 20 gallons of fuel from start to finish. And we hit 180 decibels at launch and these things create enough Force to register 3.8 on the Richter scale at the starting line.

Civic Owners: *"Wait until my VTEC kicks in."*

Another fun fact: The exhaust tips point upwards to create downforce on the dragster. Specifically, 800 pounds (362 kg) of downforce. The wing by itself generates 12,000 pounds (5443 kg) of downforce.

Fun fact: the dragster crew needs to rebuild the engine after every run.

6:46 as a car enthusiast my soul was squeezed a bit after hearing this……. TT ZO6 Man U gotta be kidding me.

Fun fact: The Top Fuel crew will adjust their tune up based on how much the engine destroyed itself during a pass. The cylinder pressure is so great that it will actually crush the wrist pins and aluminum connecting rods by several thousands of an inch. Based on their measurements post run, they will adjust boost, fueling, timing, and clutch actuation to optimize a run. There engines literally operate on the brink of destruction.

If y’all get a chance to go see one of these monsters in person, I highly recommend it (with hearing protection). The full body sensation you get feeling one of these when they pass you is out of this world. It’s not just loud..it literally shakes everything around you

A Kings and Generals, Kurzgesagt, and Real Life Lore video in 90 minutes? Wow!

I represented a well known company that manufactured stock wheels as well as racing wheels. Every time I worked a Top Fuel event my eyes looked like dinner plates. I was completely floored the first time, and completely floored the 40th time. I guess you never get used to it. I never did. I loved it, every Top Fuel event seemed like my first. My limited vocabulary makes it impossible to describe. William Shakespeare would not be able to describe it.

I found 2 inaccuracies 1. They consume about 1 gallon per second at full throttle, not 11. If that were the case, in order to hold enough fuel for a run, the fuel tank would be bigger than the whole car. Also, assuming the engine could even handle that colossal amount of heat and pressure, the exhaust flames would shoot about 50 feet high 2. The fastest TFD pass ever clocked at 341 mph (much less than 390). The only cars that have ever gone faster than that are rocket/thrust powered cars, which have nothing to do with TFDs (aside from them both being types of dragsters), and are comparatively extremely rare; you'd be EXTREMELY lucky to get to watch one make a pass at your next NHRA event.

1:31 _In this animation, I've created a lineup of the most powerful production cars_ **sees a Toyota** xD

"The most powerful production cars" Still didn't leave corolla thats real life lore

The 200mph head start still gets me, these are the most insane things ever made.

These things are so much fun to watch in person. These in specific you could literally feel in your organs how loud it was when it went compared to every other car. The Harley’s were cool to and I obviously loved the Demon and Copo

Finally, a sponsor ad that doesn't ruin the flow of the video and is actually somewhat relevant to the topic of the video

Fun fact, the low pressure of the tyres is also to let them act as a gradually higher gear when they expand. The Sidewall can almost double in size flat out.

There is nothing on this earth more AWSOME than a top fuel dragster or funny car!!!

I really enjoyed this new perspective on dragsters. I watched many videos on this subject and can say you put a new twist on it.

RLL : *makes a video on a motorsport Motorsport fans : We have been summoned

‘And some goofy stuff thrown in like a Toyota Corolla, well off course you know me’ Oh boy I’m dead 😂🤣

It's cute listening to you try to explain top fuel cars. I lost it when you said tire wrinkle comes from slowly putting the power down "gradually" 😂😂

Fun fact from Courtney forces crew chief “the dragster is going 100 mph by the time the back tires reach the spot the front tires started” fricking insane

For anyone in the US who wants to see these guys in action, they’ll be racing at the 4 Wide Nationals at Charlotte this Sunday.

I’ve been to an NHRA race before and that shit is so loud it literally shakes the ground you can hear it from a mile away

Nicely done video. The comparisons helps put into perspective just how powerful dragsters can be.

4:15, the fastest NGRA run ever was 3.659 at 338.17 mph. Nowhere even close to 390mph

Thruster SSC; a land vehicle that can go faster than the speed of sound: *My time is now.*

The speed of beating the people to being first to comment visualized.

1:40 man tried to sneak in the Toyota like we wouldn't notice lmao

Funnest fact: I live 25 miles from where they run the Gatornationals and can hear it. Also, even though I've attended dozens of times, I never really saw a race until I got contact lenses because my glasses would vibrate so hard.

A Kurzgesagt and a RRL video today? That‘s awesome!

I clicked on this video faster than any of the dragsters 🏁

I love how you break things down!

This was a cool video. I would LOVE to see more car content in the future!

Next video on Wendover Productions: The Insane Acceleration of Supersonic Jets

Ok sure but how does it compare to a Toyota Corolla? I doubt it can beat that

I have always watched top fuel and i plan on seeing it in person this just got me even more excited

Great video, really enjoyed that. Just subscribed, thanks, look forward to more great stuff.

Also about the engine... The magneto ignition is as powerful as a welder. By time a Top Fueler makes it halfway down track, the 2 spark plugs in each cylinder are completely toast. The air/fuel mixture from that point on is lit by the exhaust valve, which is about 2000F. While optimal AFR for nitro is roughly 2:1, these cars use a mixture of 1:1; with the additional fuel used to help cool the motor. The engine only has a static compression ratio of around 6:1, but so much fuel gets crammed into the cylinders that it effectively makes the CR around 15:1. When the engines do blow up, it’s frequently caused by the air/fuel in a cylinder not igniting, making the engine hydro lock (liquids don’t like to compress) from all the fuel; making all sorts of bad things happen: lift the heads off the block, break pistons, snap rods, blow holes in the block, try to launch the 14/71 supercharger off the motor. The NHRA stopped running Top Fuel the full 1/4 mile (1320 feet) years ago because most tracks don’t have enough space to slow them down. After a number of cars flew off the end of the track, they made rules changes. Now they only run 1000 feet in competition. Even with the shortened distance, they still do 0-300+ mph in well under 4 seconds.

I never understood the appeal of drag strips/top fuel racers, until I went to an event once. It’s something you should do at least once in your life. The acceleration is so insane that it triggers your fight or flight response (watching it on TV seriously doesn’t do it justice, presumably your brain thinks a fast predator is about to eat you), and you can feeeel the combustion of all that fuel in your chest. Can only imagine how it feels to drive one of those things!!

fun fact:if the other manual cars just grind the clutch smooth the dragster weld the clutch together and also at 2 seconds the sparkplugs are burnt and basically the engine runs like a diesel

The Toyota Corolla is still the winner in my heart.

4:30-5:10 “She weighs one hundred fifty kilograms and fires two hundred dollar, custom-tooled cartridges at ten thousand rounds per minute... It costs four hundred thousand dollars to fire this weapon...for twelve seconds."

The late journalist, writer and car enthusiast David E. Davis Jr. would be really proud to know that his "Unimaginable Acceleration" editorial at Automobile Magazine was so artfully translated to video. Congrats!

“The most powerful production cars ever created” proceeds to show a Toyota Corolla 😂

i like the flow into the ad at the end

Frontal lobes: "Damn, this is such a waste of resources..." Rest of brain: " haha Dragster go brrr"

When racing the Corolla against the Dragster...”Stop, stop its already dead!”

Another fun fact of top fuel dragsters. When the piston is at top dead center, the nitromethane is compressed so much it almost turns to a solid matter. And the resulting explosion is so powerful that the spark plugs melt before the run is even over. If you watch a dragster in super slow motion at the top end of the track you can see a few cylinders are usually not fully firing at that point

I really wanna see now a customized Toyota Corolla top fuel dragster with a 11,000 HP engine

1:32 *The most powerful production cars that have ever existed* - Toyota Corolla of course xD

Clever tie in well done.

Great video!!

That was so smooth the sponsor clip brooo

Suggestion : please put SI units in the video too. Not all of us are from US

These guys videos look boring, but after I watch it I’m glad I still clicked

By sheer luck, one time when I was doing a "high school drags" night that my local track did to try to cut down street racing, I had a V6 mustang that ran mid 16 seconds and I got put beside a team that was testing their alcohol dragster (these are slower than top fuel but they run mid 7's). It felt like I wasn't even moving when the light went green and he finished his pass probably before I even hit 50-60mph lol

When you accelerating so fast that you accidentally reset the universe

It is an amazing feeling watching a top fuel race! As they go by the stand you can feel you entire body vibrate

Cleetus did a race between his 1500 hp corvette and a top fuel dragster. When the dragster passed him about half way down, the electronics shut off in Cleetus' car. And turned back on after the dragster shut down. Amazing power!

My mans hit em with the C I R O U G H X

OK you got me with that sponsorship 😂😂

It seems every man and his dog have done top fuelers this week, I like that. ( even the borrowed ZO6 bit ;) )

The best way to fully appreciate its power you need to see it in person

This video was just not long enough! It was so good, another please! I was hoping for greater detail on just how in the world the engine consumes such a quantity of fuel

You may have guessed from my profile picture, but I love that he talks about cars. It thought it was a video of Donut media at first

ok, having the corolla in the whole video to lead to the sponsorship message is AMAZING! loved how you did it and wish more people would integrate sponsorships into their videos to make it flow better

Wow i did not expect video about cars but I love it

Great video 👍

No top fuel dragster has gone 390 MPH. They commonly hit 330 MPH. Top speed record is 338.17 MPH, by Brittany Force in November 2019. Also Top fuel only races to 1000 feet, so the illustration isn't exactly accurate, but the outcome would still be the same. Also a Twin Turbo Z06 would be an aftermarket modification, so an odd choice of car to use for comparison there.

Great video! Do more on cars!😁

Thx the Toyota commercial!

My Dad told me a similar story in the late 60's when I was 5 or 6 years old, but using an E Type Jaguar & a Type C Auto Union racer from the mid 1930's. Great visual comparison to put things in perspective.

Fun fact: Canadian researchers have found that Einstein's brain was 15% wider than normal

RLL: Lineup of the most powerful production cars Meanwhile in Croatia... Rimac C-Two: howboudah?

I saw a similar video on TV years ago that compared a Chrysler K car to several types of races cars including F1. They let the K car have an unbelievable lead and it was easily taken out. Fun to watch.

its sooo good to be back!

Odd that Curious Droid did a Top Fuel Dragster video a few days ago. It's like when you go off-brand, youtubers seem to do it hand in hand.

They also don't have a transmission. They're direct drive with multiple clutches in order to regulate the torque so it doesn't break itself.

Great visualization. First time I saw one of these things live it looked like they were breaking the laws of physics

Top Fuel dragster race he just one of the purest forms of automobile racing. No frills, no finesse just raw power and at the end of the run win or lose you still have to rebuild your entire engine. It's All or Nothing.

I can say as someone who has watched RLL since 2016, he loves cars.

Old ads: Skillshare, blah blah blah. Now: cars

good video man

Love videos about cars!

not sure why but there is a massive amount of interesting car videos being released today. maybe all nebula creators or something but i don’t think so. whatever the case, it’s great. thanks creator people.

4:17 I have never seen a top fuel dragster go 390 mph LOL LOL!

For those who don't already know A top fuel dragster is literally the fastest accelerating wheel driven vehicle on the planet

You should have also tried to explain the bone vibrating sound of a top fuel car

For anyone reading this, if you haven’t already then you gotta see this in person. No video can do it justice

USA: uses Freedom units. Rest of the World: uses Metric system. RLL fans: with Toyota Corolla you can mesure anything! :D

Shout out to toyota corrolla. Gotta be my favorite supercar of all time.

Curious Droid made a video about this subject literally a week ago, but now it has been removed from his channel. Is this related?

Fun fact: Top fuel dragsters haven't ran 1/4 mile races in over a decade. Also at 4:15 you say they go through the finish line at 390mph which has never happened and never will. At 4:43 you say they consume 11 gallons per second when they use 11 gallons for the whole pass. Next time run this by a few people in the industry to proof it before you click [Upload].

The Dodge Demon is 9.65 seconds so its actually the second fastest Production car

Dragster : I am the fastest Thrust SSC : Hold my beer.

Ahh good old Phil Lamattina, he almost died once when his dragster snapped in half and launched him into the air. He retired after which. (It happened at the exact same dragstrip too, Willowbank Raceway in Ipswich Queensland Australia.)

Ah, yes. Toyota Corolla remains one of the most powerful production cars in the world. 1:31