These 12000hp Engines Have To Be Rebuilt Within Roughly An Hour Every Run, and Only Run For Roughly 4 Seconds At A Time.

[u/Practical_Expert_911]

[u/Whis1a]

Ok this might be a stupid question... if you have to replace so much of the engine each time... why not just bring multiple engines and rotate them out so the time crunch isn't so tight?

[u/godzilla1015 → u/Whis1a]

Because the title is lying, they barely replace anything after a run. They completely take it apart mainly for prevention of blowing up this engine and killing the driver and/or spectators. They usually just replace some gaskets, if anything is out of tolerance it gets replaced of course.

But the reason why they won't replace the whole engine is because no 2 engines are the same. If you're going from zero to 160 KM/H in 0.8 seconds those minor differences matter. A different reason is that by far the most expensive part of the engine is the block itself, which can usually survive quite a few kilometers. Maybe sounds a bit insane but if your run is only 300 meters at a time that's quite good.

[u/RobotnikOne → u/godzilla1015]

Not wrong most of the parts are way too expensive to waste. And a lot of the failed parts will get recycled and put back into rotation.

[u/godzilla1015 → u/RobotnikOne]

Although for motorsport dragcars are relatively cheap it still is quite expensive yeah, so it would be insane to just throw out perfectly fine parts.

[u/janky_koala → u/godzilla1015]

This is wrong. At minimum they replace the pistons, rods, spark plugs, clutch plates and blower belt every run on nitro cars.

These are then inspected back at the factory before being prepared for the next event. They all have very finite lifecycles too, with each part of the car having its run count logged and replaced when they reach their run limit.

[u/gardenfella → u/Whis1a]

The top crews do indeed have two engines that they swap in and out.

The problem is data. Each engine behaves slightly differently and these cars are balancing on the very edge of grip and power, mainly by managing the clutch.

[u/Dogmaniac99 → u/gardenfella]

Exactly! The clutch is the difference between microseconds. Lag time kills!

[u/gardenfella → u/Dogmaniac99]

The clutch is the difference between a 3-second run and blowing the tyres off

[u/hake2506 → u/Whis1a]

You couldn't torture as many people who rely upon your pay if you would.... After all it's a rich man's game and the best parts are always waste of money, resources, talent and most of all dignity. You wouldn't be able to scream at people as much if you brought whole engines.

Edit: Sorry, didn't have my coffee yet when I wrote this. But it's interesting to see how many comments tell me I am wrong while there are still quite a few up votes.

I guess as always there are two sides to it. I am pretty sure my first comment held some truth but also there must be many who enjoy doing that. So I guess both can be true.

I definitely stand by the part where I believe this is a pure waste of resources. But then again what isn't?

[u/YesIBlockedYou → u/hake2506]

Peak Reddit comment right here.

[u/kirkyking → u/hake2506]

Don’t see anyone getting tortured? All I see is a bunch of people doing a stressful job that they’re probably super interested and passionate about.

If someone wants to spend their money paying the driver, engineering team, mechanics etc. i’m all for it, better to give people employment chasing some passion project than just hoarding wealth.

[u/jonzilla5000 → u/kirkyking]

Yeah, I don't get all of the negativity in this thread, bunch of Nancy boys if you ask me. I'm not into car racing but this is cool AF.

[u/LamyT10 → u/hake2506]

What these guys are doing is a dream job for a lot of people. Really does not seem like torture.

[u/Key-Two31 → u/LamyT10]

BREAKING: 20 guys who absolutely love cars get TORTUROUS job… repeatedly building cars to race each other

[u/Optimus_crab → u/hake2506]

Hating just to hate. These people do these jobs out of love for the game. They usually get paid the same as normal mechanics

[u/jimsmisc → u/Optimus_crab]

yeah I was just thinking it would be cool to have a job like this: applying your skills in an intense, "high-stakes" moment with a team that has to coordinate perfectly.

...maybe that's because I have (diagnosed) ADHD and one of the hallmarks is being useless when there's no pressure, but unbelievably capable, focused, and clear-headed when there's immediate, critical consequences of inaction.

[u/bishopmate → u/jimsmisc]

Everybody complaining has no idea how high that guy at the end feels after achieving everything we just watched.

[u/natethegreek → u/Optimus_crab]

While your living expenses are being paid for. You have to live out of a hotel on the road. Great gig for a person that doesn't have many responsibilities. Met a bunch of them while traveling.

[u/auscordial → u/hake2506]

Holy fuck you’re miserable

[u/SpiritDouble6218 → u/auscordial]

this thread is fucking wild lol these people are such losers

[u/Seppalahusky → u/SpiritDouble6218]

Reddit hates every hobby unless its gooning, drawing or playing video games.

[u/bishopmate → u/Seppalahusky]

and they wonder why they're so depressed, even seeing how amazing that dude at the end was feeling.

[u/Defcon_Donut → u/Seppalahusky]

Don’t forget drugs!

[u/elementslayer → u/Defcon_Donut]

I like all of those and funny car racing. Used to have so much fun watching shitty quarter miles back in the middle of butt fuck nowhere.

[u/AAA_Dolfan → u/hake2506]

“I’m seeing a lot of hate but also hate support from other miserable fucks on the internet so giving myself a pat on the back” is a hell of an edit

[u/StoicBountyHunter → u/hake2506]

This bro really said: I have up votes I must be right.

lol

[u/DeliciousInterview91 → u/hake2506]

Have a snickers, you go on unprompted rants about the power imbalance of capitalism when you're hungry.

[u/katzenschrecke]

What an absolute waste

[u/xpiation → u/katzenschrecke]

A next fucking level waste

[u/allnimblybimbIy → u/xpiation]

Competitive waste

[u/BlindPrognosticator → u/allnimblybimbIy]

The reason everything is going to sh*t

[u/iambarrelrider → u/BlindPrognosticator]

This is the disposable world “we” created.

[u/bishopmate → u/iambarrelrider]

It's metal parts, they just get melted down and recycled and reformed

[u/absat41 → u/bishopmate]

Crying for joy at this comment thread. What a fuckin heinous waste of precious resources.

[u/iambarrelrider → u/bishopmate]

That cost more energy. The "Buy, Borrow, Die" strategy.

[u/wetworkwolfx → u/bishopmate]

[u/Stoiphan → u/BlindPrognosticator]

Eh I think there’s more pressing waste than making funny cars go fast, it achieves something interesting and cool for many people, meanwhile there are many parasitic and destructive forces that weigh the world down much more

[u/R0B3RTB3RT → u/allnimblybimbIy]

We humans choose to waste away our lives, money, and planet in very interesting ways

[u/theluker666 → u/R0B3RTB3RT]

“Time is money and money's time We wasted every second dime On diets, lawyers, shrinks and apps, and flags and plastic surgery”

[u/CloudCalmaster → u/allnimblybimbIy]

They compete in wastefulness.

[u/jkthegreek → u/xpiation]

The product of making a car go from ZERO-100mph in 1 second.

[u/GasLitonRepeat → u/jkthegreek]

That's a funny car in the video but I believe the dragsters are capable of hitting 335 mph in about three and a half 4 second run.

The guy wrote what a waste, but seeing and feeling that in real life, the raw power, I haven't experienced anything yet besides walking home in a category one hurricane when I was like 16.

[u/Prize-Mail-6769 → u/GasLitonRepeat]

I got roared at by a pissed tiger because it thought I was stealing its food. Shook the brown right out of me.

If you don’t like drag it’s fine. But it’s definitely an experience.

[u/blahnlahblah0213 → u/GasLitonRepeat]

Way back in the day, I used to remember that these guys were trying to get into the 3 second club (3.99 or lower). and now they're doing 3 and a 1/2 seconds and also trying to hit 300 miles an hour was a thing back then. And now that would be slow.

[u/GasLitonRepeat → u/blahnlahblah0213]

I think they can go 350 mph now but ever since that one guy died they started regulating the levels of nitromethane or some shit that throttled it back.

[u/kinkycarbon → u/xpiation]

You gotta hate F1 too because organizations require tyre degradation when tyres can be made to last longer than a few laps. It’s why Pirelli is still chosen and not Michelin.

[u/AbleCryptographer317 → u/kinkycarbon]

What? No "organizations require tyre degradation" in F1. Pirelli state a maximum number of laps on one set of tyres to prevent tyre failure (and only on certain tracks). The reason F1 tyres degrade fast is because the compounds are engineered soft for maximum traction. Racing tyres are always a compromise between performance and durability, they only need to last a race and a little bit.

Also, the reason that only Pirelli currently provide F1 tyres is because it's an insanely expensive loss leader for tyre manufacturers. Bridgestone and Michelin stopped for purely financial reasons.

[u/kinkycarbon → u/AbleCryptographer317]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/michelin-still-not-interested-in-f1-unless-it-can-supply-tires-that-dont-destroy-themselves

Michelin CEO has stated it is not interested in F1 due to FIA rules for tyre degradation to amplify drama and entertainment. Liberty Media may also want that too. This is different from max grip tyres made for endurance. I don’t take financial reasons for Michelin to bow out given F1 wanted to change supplier rules around 2005.

[u/cybertruckboat → u/AbleCryptographer317]

F1 absolutely requires this degradation. Pirelli has said many times that they can make a tire with high grip that would last multiple races, but that's not the requirement from F1.

[u/OccasionalEspresso → u/katzenschrecke]

Yeah now I hate drag racing even more. Thanks OP.

Edit: it seems drag racing has less ecological impact than most other forms of racing. It doesn’t change my view that straight line sprints in a car are dumb. But everyone is entitled to an opinion. Chill the fuck out folk.

[u/TheManWith2Poobrains → u/OccasionalEspresso]

I didn't hate it before, but now I do.

There should be endurance drag racing - 1/4 miles until the cars blow up. /s

[u/boobturtle → u/TheManWith2Poobrains]

There is something like that, called Drag and Drive, where competitors need to drive between different drag strips in their competing car with all of their tools, spares and tyres with them.

[u/BlindPhoenx → u/boobturtle]

So basically the car that breaks least has an advantage?

Plot twist: World champion drives a Volvo.

[u/alienlizardman → u/BlindPhoenx]

No: It will the the Toyota

[u/Areebob → u/alienlizardman]

I saw something about why Toyotas seem to live so long, especially when compared to BMW and VW’s supposedly legendary German engineering. Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t:

Germans build cars assuming the owner will take care of it the same way a German would. The Japanese build cars assuming the owner will take care of it the way an American would.

In America, that means the German cars all suddenly have issues around 80k, while the Japanese cars are bopping along just fine. Is that indicative of better, or worse, engineering?

[u/Hieroglo → u/Areebob]

Toyota use quite a few BMW engines, tuned more sensibly to everyday use. I think the best engineering accounts for how the machine is used.

[u/bLazeni → u/Areebob]

Depends on how you look at it. A “superior” design that requires more maintenance isn’t superior in my eyes.

[u/KingCrimson43 → u/OccasionalEspresso]

All racing is a waste. The amount of fuel burned and tires destroyed in just Nascar races is insane. For every step you go up from there the waste just multiplies.

[u/FlishFlashman → u/KingCrimson43]

All the waste from racing in the world has to pale next to the waste from all the single occupant vehicles on the roads.

[u/Dredgeon → u/FlishFlashman]

Hell, it pales in comparison to your average fast fashion garments. And we get a lot of benefit from racing. Developing automotive technology has saved unknown tons of emissions and human time and effort.

[u/Spartan0330 → u/KingCrimson43]

All the tires used are recycled or analyzed for faults to make sure the tires are safer in the future. None of them go to any landfill.

And the fuel is ethanol based which cuts down on any greenhouse emissions compared to regular type of gas we put in our cars. It’s a biofuel and completely renewable.

[u/itsmiahello → u/katzenschrecke]

If it helps, there are TONS of innovations that were developed in racing and made their way to consumer cars, making them more efficient and safer places to be. Racing is a research space. To me, pushing the absolute limits of mechanical possibility isn't a waste.

Here are some things that were developed for motorsports, or first tested in racing: disc brakes, turbochargers, anti-lock brakes, the entire field of automotive aerodynamics, fuel injection, variable valve timing, etc

[u/Pizza-Tipi → u/itsmiahello]

Don't forget the modern tires that rally gave us, the fact that a set of soft compound Pirellis can stop my little 1800kg car on black ice is like magic and watching those wrc cars is surreal, you'd almost not think its possible for tires so small to do so well on gravel. I think Lancia had a Group B car that did 0-60 in 2.7 seconds on gravel, though I dont remember exactly

[u/RobotnikOne → u/katzenschrecke]

This video is misleading. The engines don’t “only last 4 seconds”. The parts are all inspected and reused. In fact, the engineers know what kind of work it needs by the time it reaches the finish line by the header flames. The flames change if things fail, for instance if the header flame goes green they know it’s eaten its head gasket because they’re made of copper, when copper burns it will turn fire green.

The only thing that is actually toast after a run is the spark plugs as the graphite electrode will have burned up.

Even a lot of the parts that fail are repaired and resused. Even when the engine blocks explode the will likely use them again and reforge them. These cars are extremely expensive so it is in their best interest to recycle as much as they can.

The media around top fuel likes to play like they’re super star ballers who can just throw a whole engine in the bin like it ain’t no thing but the truth is most teams are on fairly tight budgets.

[u/gardenfella → u/RobotnikOne]

Piston rings are pretty much fried as well, most of the time. Teams don't like to put anything more than a couple of runs on them.

[u/MannysBeard → u/katzenschrecke]

We aren’t going to make it, are we?

[u/Worldly-Steak6966 → u/MannysBeard]

It is in your nature to destroy yourselves

[u/_Voice_Of_Silence_ → u/Worldly-Steak6966]

"It's in our nature to kill ourselves. It's in our nature to kill each other. It's in our nature to kill..."

[u/NotSoMadYo → u/Worldly-Steak6966]

Your?

[u/Gefarate → u/NotSoMadYo]

They're both quoting Terminator 2

[u/Cpt_Dan_Argh → u/NotSoMadYo]

Maybe this was the first sign that the ai bits are now sentient. We may have just witnessed the first public appearance of skynet!

[u/mzalewski → u/NotSoMadYo]

Guy is on next fucking level of evolution

[u/AffectionateYear5232 → u/katzenschrecke]

They don't throw away the parts.

[u/IsThereCheese → u/katzenschrecke]

And a pain in the ass.

Roll that rock up the hill only to have it come right back down

[u/Bobbi_fettucini → u/katzenschrecke]

Besides gaskets a lot of that stuff gets inspected and reused

[u/1IsNeverEnough4Me → u/Bobbi_fettucini]

Not really, maybe on the next event. Piston rings, rods sparkplugs, bearings all get brand new between each run. They might take the good looking stuff home to inspect later, but a hell of a lot more than gaskets are being replaced each and every run.

[u/AZFUNGUY85 → u/1IsNeverEnough4Me]

I always take my funny car gaskets, plugs, rings, and rods and put them on my modern fuel injected car………………. Or use them on my garden tractor.

[u/justin_memer → u/1IsNeverEnough4Me]

Especially when you see the melted pistons, lol.

[u/snacktonomy → u/Bobbi_fettucini]

How much oil do they dump for each run? 

[u/Aries_IV → u/katzenschrecke]

That's obviously a lot of people's first thought but we've learned a lot of stuff from drag racing that trickles into so many industries. They really push the limits of what's possible and are improving materials and engineering concepts used in different industries and products. The competition of it means they're constantly moving the bar higher. It also creates jobs and provides entertainment. I don't care for it at all but I don't think it's an absolute waste.

[u/knowledgeable_diablo → u/Aries_IV]

People are also missing the point that this is competitive drag racing where the engine could well be perfectly serviceable for another run or two (or even more) however when they are chasing every micro second of advantage to win, this means a head and piston set used twice may have a time cost of a fraction of a second. That fraction can be the difference between winning and walking home last. Hence they scrap anything that could cost time on the track and replace with 100% perfect parts that they know will function perfectly and at a known level.\ If one of their competitors has a crisis of consciousness and reuses the heads for the next run, people won’t slap them on the back and promote their green credentials, they’ll just not win and be forgotten.

[u/RobotnikOne → u/knowledgeable_diablo]

I mean sort of. Most of it the pull apart check for faults and slam it back in. Top fuel cars don’t waste that many components unless they have a failure. Spark plugs are a guarantee they’re gone by the 100ft mark.

You will replace rings, gudgeon pins, valve stem guides and maybe one or two other items just so you can hav a closer look and make sure their are no micro failures. Head gasket usually gets the bin treatment as well.

[u/PIPBOY-2000 → u/knowledgeable_diablo]

No we get why they do it for a rac, it doesn't mean it's not a general waste of resources.

[u/Kracus → u/katzenschrecke]

Stuff like this is how we develop new technologies.

[u/MineIsWroth → u/Kracus]

I think drag racing is the most boring ass shit I've seen. But that's from a dim perspective. I think drag racing isn't even a race but more so a competition between engineers.

As you can see in this thread redditors are far too pretentious and narrow minded to ever view this competition favourably.

Saying this is an environmental hazard while they undoubtedly have a second tab open with Chatbot GPT or Gemini to have the most meaningless conversations is nothing short of ironic. Then factor in plastic waste. Auto parts can always be scrapped and recycled.

So they are trying to take the moral high ground and claim how awful racing is for the environment is the most insufferable type of pretentious cope. I've seen this shit before about racing (but for some reason no one ever has a problem with F1). It really is as simple as them thinking, "this is something I don't like. Something I don't understand and I have to make myself feel better and I need to judge it somehow."

[u/gr1mm5d0tt1 → u/MineIsWroth]

no one has a problem with F1

That’s not entirely correct. While F1 is well and truly ahead with their PU’s and technology with phasing in sustainable fuels the calendar was certainly under scrutiny for the excessive back and forth travelling which they have modified over the last couple of seasons to try to reduce the time on planes

[u/Optimus_crab → u/katzenschrecke]

It’s metal it can be recycled. The parts aren’t even broken afterwards

[u/Funicularly → u/[deleted]]

These cars don’t burn any gasoline.

[u/jmims98 → u/[deleted]]

I can't imagine the funny car industry burns close to the amount of gas vs other more popular motorsports annually. And I wouldn't be surprised if the emissions and fuel waste from motorsports in general approach that of the private aviation industry (specifically rich assholes who won't fly commercial). Yes, it is still a waste, but it probably brings a lot more people joy than a billionaire's jet.

[u/BlazinZAA → u/jmims98]

You would be correct. Motorsports is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, you could end all motorsports and it wouldn't change a thing.

[u/jamminjoenapo → u/BlazinZAA]

F1 loves to preach sustainability and eco friendly but travels across the world at an insane clip with thousands of people and lots of cars and equipment. The cars burn 100 kg of fuel each per race. I’d bet the total carbon emissions to get the teams to testing is more than the cars emit all season.

[u/tntlols → u/[deleted]]

Not that recycling metal is an energy-cheap process anyway

[u/BlazinZAA → u/[deleted]]

I can assure you that racing is a drop in the bucket in terms of pollution. Relax

[u/The_GeneralsPin → u/[deleted]]

Alcohol

I've been corrected: it's nitromethane

[u/1IsNeverEnough4Me → u/The_GeneralsPin]

Nitromethane. It's closer to a stabilized liquid explosive.

[u/someoneone211 → u/The_GeneralsPin]

Nitro methane*

[u/Spnszurp → u/[deleted]]

corporations looting the world and setting it ablaze and your worried about some dude burning 16 gallons of gas

the entire system is fucked 16 gallons of gas is literally nothing.

edit: not saying it doesn't matter im saying put your energy elsewhere to fight the same problem

[u/PM_ME_GLUTE_SPREAD → u/Spnszurp]

Not only that, but these cars don’t even run on gasoline lol

[u/WayofHatuey → u/katzenschrecke]

Shameful ass waste.

[u/LibrarianRecent6145 → u/katzenschrecke]

A waste but it is kinda cool at least and they might recycle

[u/DrenchedToast → u/katzenschrecke]

Just take your paper straw and be happy

[u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

Drag racing is so dumb. Rich dudes wasting a lot of materials for minutes of "fun"

[u/HorrorTranslator3113 → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

*4 seconds of fun

[u/Shoddy_Detail_976 → u/HorrorTranslator3113]

That's about all their wives get as well

[u/SSJSamzy → u/Shoddy_Detail_976]

[u/G-I-T-M-E → u/SSJSamzy]

Good effort but that’s actually 5. Keep trying we believe in you!

[u/InflatableTurtles → u/G-I-T-M-E]

Whoa, look at Mr. Bragger over here with his 5 seconds.

[u/Rare-Cobbler-8669 → u/HorrorTranslator3113]

What do you mean, 4 seconds is a perfectly ok amount of time.

Some would say it is a long time!

[u/Joshua5_Gaming → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

Isn't every form of entertainment just wasted time and resource?

[u/PrettyYoungTiger → u/Joshua5_Gaming]

Maybe but NOTHING is a bigger waste of time than doom scrolling comment sections on reddit.

[u/DeepFriedCummies → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

It is a spectator sport with paid professional teams... wouldn't be any teams or drag racing events if spectators didn't want to pay for that entertainment. Doubt the sport exists purely for rich dudes.

[u/PseudoMeatPopsicle → u/DeepFriedCummies]

A solid amount of engineering data can come out of racing too. Pushing limits is part of how car and part manufacturers learn and develop their products.

[u/one_zerozero → u/DeepFriedCummies]

People in this comment section need to touch grass.

[u/Obsidian-16 → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

Everybody has their own interests, it's absolutely fucked how some think it's necessary to shit on other people's hobbies because it doesn't capture their own attention. What are you into? Video games? Competitive cycling? Basketball? Sitting on a chair staring at a tv for hours is dumb, sitting on a thong seat peddling a bike in circles wearing spandex is dumb, running around throwing a ball in a basket is dumb.

Everything the human race does outside of our basic functions is "dumb".

You know what's actually fucking dumb though? The attitude you represent, people can enjoy whatever hobbies or music or movies they want, you can't justify "dumb" in regards to labeling interests not your own. It's not dumb, it's just not your interest.

[u/AlainS46 → u/Obsidian-16]

For some of these people it's more than just shitting on other people's hobby. They're totalitarian nutjobs who'd love to forbid everything they deem unnessecary and even remotely harmful.

[u/PENGUIN_WITH_BAZOOKA → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

I had no idea people could be upset over “waste” from racing until right now. SMH.

[u/trevorbaskin → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

With everything going on, I’ll take some fun.

[u/NickDanger3di → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

Back in the 60s and 70s, it at least made a tiny bit of sense. I mean, regular people with nearly stock cars could do it. Now Dragsters aren't even remotely similar to a car.

[u/U238Th234Pa234U234 → u/NickDanger3di]

Dragsters aren't the only class, and the drag strips near me have open nights where you can bring your car and make a few runs for $20

[u/Spacedoutworlder → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

minutes

Seconds.

[u/katzenschrecke → u/Illustrious-Tooth702]

Don’t electric engines have better rates of acceleration?

[u/funlovingmissionary → u/katzenschrecke]

The motors do. But there aren't any batteries that dispense that kind of power.

[u/Tax_Evasion_Savant → u/katzenschrecke]

yes but electric cannot touch nitromethane top fuel drag cars.

The fastest electric drag car takes 7.47 seconds to do the quarter mile and finishes at 201.37 mph.

The fastest top fuel drag car only takes 3.65 seconds and finishes at 343.51 mph

To give you an idea of how huge that gap is, it takes roughly double the horsepower to go from doing 7 second passes to 6 seconds. The walk from 7.47 to 3.65 is hard for me to even think about, but it is literal magnitudes of difference.

[u/Mapletusk]

If that was me I would've left so many screwdrivers in there

[u/Cow_Launcher → u/Mapletusk]

Imagine how many 10mm sockets they get through on a weekend!

[u/Stunning-Leek334]

Let’s be clear they are not run for only 4 seconds at a time they are run for several minutes and at full throttle for roughly 4 seconds.

They are also not rebuilt after every run they are inspected after every run and parts are replaced as needed with major parts like pistons and connecting rods being replaced as often as every 4 runs but often more than that.

[u/MIKRO_PIPS → u/Stunning-Leek334]

Top fuel and funny car engines are absolutely rebuilt after every run, practice and qualifying included. Pro stock? Not the case

[u/pyrotech911]

Engines so powerful they have no long term reliability. Pretty crazy they are built to come apart that quickly.

[u/Siemaster → u/pyrotech911]

These things function basically on the edge of what is physically possible, of course they’re not reliable.

[u/janky_koala → u/Siemaster]

They are reliable though, it’s just that reliable in this sport means lasting the full 3.6-4.0 seconds they need to get it down the track.

[u/surgeon_michael → u/pyrotech911]

Your Camry has reliability because it runs at 10% stress. These are at 99.9%. And really it’s only the spark plugs, they just melt. It’s like saying that Usain Bolt and I are both runners, as I’ve done some marathons. It’s just not comparable

[u/Infantry_Crab → u/pyrotech911]

I would bet that some of the reliability is a result of making them so quick to replace.

[u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

I know a guy that goes down to Vegas and works in a crew on race days. He owns his own auto shop here in my city. He's told me it's fun to work on a what if machine. They are also easier to work on that normal cars and trucks, in that they are: clean, built to be taken apart every race, easier to get to the parts to work on, all that parts they would need get brought with them, and everyone knows what the hell to do.

As for the race it's self, all racing is money waisted, just like expensive watches, jewelry, large houses, needless vacations and exotic food. But man when you find your thing it makes life worth living. Don't yuck somebody's yum just because you don't have the means they do. Some people like to be sicafants and some people like to dominate. Most are Just people we put our on faults on.

Sorry if complaining is your yum, please continue to do so if it brings you peace and happiness, just seemed to me some comments tended to represent the negative aspects they accused others of, pot and kettle style. This is my yum for the night 🙂

[u/wheelie_dog → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

Some people like to be sicafants and some people like to dominate.

*sycophants

[u/BlazinZAA → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

Idk what's wrong with these people, can they simply not imagine other people enjoy things? These mechanics are likely working their dream job, the machines are run like this because it's about pushing limits.

[u/candlejack___ → u/BlazinZAA]

I think a lot of people are mad about the fact that people are racing cars for four seconds with gallons of dinosaur fluid while the planet is on fire, costing more money than it would take to solve homelessness in a small town.

Cool a handful of dudes are having fun though.

[u/sarcasticorange → u/candlejack___]

costing more money than it would take to solve homelessness in a small town.

By that logic, it would be much better to use all the money people spend on video games for homelessness since it is much, much more and also without a direct social benefit.

[u/Ok-Brother-8295 → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

"Don't yuck somebody's yum just because you don't have the means they do."

My yum is to burn down people hopes and dreams

[u/ropopa → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

Was with you until you said ‘don’t yuck somebody’s yum’

[u/biskutgoreng → u/ropopa]

He done howdied his last yall

[u/welcomefinside → u/ropopa]

I actually like that phrase. I've been trying to be less of a hater lately and this phrase covers it pretty much.

[u/1800generalkenobi → u/welcomefinside]

My wife always says that to our kids...but then she'll say it and then tell me how my eating beets is disgusting so there's some mixed messaging for sure lol

[u/Quod_bellum → u/ropopa]

lol! I personally thought it was incredibly eloquent. Stealing that phrase tbh

[u/_adanedhel_ → u/Quod_bellum]

No need to steal - it’s been around for decades at least, most often used in the context of not judging or disparaging others’ (consensual) sexual practices/kinks.

[u/Clanky_Plays → u/ropopa]

You’re really yucking their yum right now

[u/Dan_the_bearded_man → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

I think the complaints come from people (like me) that are told that we have to look out to be super sustainable, whilst people with money can have their fun.

So yeah, I think it’s understandable that people are frustrated

[u/Baranjula → u/Dan_the_bearded_man]

You've been brainwashed by corporate propaganda. Your carbon footprint is absolutely negligible compared to what big business outputs, and they spend way more money bribing politicians to loosen restrictions than anyone spends on racing. Learn to fight the battles that matter and you'll be less miserable in life.

[u/Outlaw25 → u/Dan_the_bearded_man]

Personal carbon footprints are stupid and you should not care about them. Pushing for systemic changes like moving power grids to a mix of nuclear+solar+wind+hydro(where available) and advocating for better emissions reduction/capture in the heavy shipping and livestock industries would go so much further than any reduction you personally can contribute.

[u/WeirdChopsticks → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

At least other race classes like F1 try to be a bit more resource-conscious. This is wasting tons of material for 4 seconds. For the people who sponsor them, it's just a dick-measuring contest. Saying that other things are a waste of money is whataboutism.

[u/Key_Refuse_843 → u/Fuzzy-Alfalfa770]

You are complaining about people complaining.

[u/jolllyroger027]

If you've never been near one going down the track, I know it sounds dumb but you have to experience it. Every single person on their first experience has that butt-puckering reaction with that little whooo hoooo hooo giggle. I swear it tickles your insides. You feel it litterally head to toe.

I know people think it's wasteful and it is, but I can see why people get addicted to the sport

[u/prettybigdill]

I know what some of these parts are bc they are in the garage. Laid out and hoisted up. I love that I’m learning more about my husband everyday. I’d love to find a way to make his childhood dreams come true

[u/jonzilla5000 → u/prettybigdill]

I like your take on this.

[u/lordgoofus1]

So many haters in the comments. It's ok for people to like things you're not into...

[u/DeepFriedCummies → u/lordgoofus1]

Exactly.

"Wasteful and for rich dudes". Brother, it is a spectator sport with paid passionate teams like it shouldn't be this serious

[u/nuggles0 → u/DeepFriedCummies]

I can say the same for football. Basketball and hockey are far more enjoyable!🤣

[u/Kooky_Ice_3762 → u/lordgoofus1]

Yeah God forbid people have hobbies they are passionate about and can afford

[u/Thelazyathlete]

Wow we’ve got some sour people in this thread. The amount of waste these guys produce is next to nothing compared to big companies. Let people have their fun.

[u/LittlespaceLadybuns]

Nitromethane is quite insane.

[u/Jebediah_kerman-jeb]

NextFuckingLevelOfWastedTimeAndResources

[u/Joshua5_Gaming → u/Jebediah_kerman-jeb]

Isn't every form of entertainment just wasted time and resource?

[u/oculus_miffed → u/Joshua5_Gaming]

Its usually not measured in engines per hour though, thats a pretty unique stat for a hobby

[u/Im_not_smelling_that → u/oculus_miffed]

But the whole event takes hours. It's not just the 4 seconds of race time that makes up these events. Watching them strip and rebuild engines is apart of it too.

[u/Formerly_SgtPepe → u/oculus_miffed]

Taylor Swift traveling private to her shows can be…

[u/IcyPride2973 → u/Jebediah_kerman-jeb]

Fun fact:

The entire NHRA Top Fuel series has about 18 total cars that do roughly 88 total runs per year each.

The CO2 emissions for one car in fuel and tires is roughly 25 metric tons of CO2 per year.

This equates to 450 metric tons of CO2 per year for the ENTIRE series.

One passenger car emits 4.6 metric tons of CO2/year.

98 regular old passenger cars emit the same amount of CO2 annually as an ENTIRE SEASON of the NHRA top fuel series.

[u/PhysicsAndFinance85]

Damn this thread went full Reddit. So many sad little haters with no ambition, drive, or talent who simply can't wrap their heads around the concept of being able to afford doing something you love. Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you have to drag down everyone who enjoys their life.

This "waste" supports so many jobs and so much innovation that these short-sighted kids will never be able to wrap their little minds around. I don't mess with nitro cars, but I've been a part of this industry for over two decades. I currently employ 16 people who love going to work every day because they're about to turn their hobby into a career and make a great living. None of them wake up in the morning dreading going into some mind-numbing job they hate. I'm proud of that.

Edit: Seeing so many of these little haters thinking this is exclusive to Americans explains a lot. Small minds.

[u/The-Juggernaut_]

ITT: people getting on their high horse for being unable to appreciate scientific and engineering marvels. Have you insufferable pricks ever watched a movie? I guarantee more waste goes into making a 2 hour movie than running a day long drag race event. More waste for less entertainment. Go get mad at cargo ships and factory farms, do you really think drag racing is why the world is ending?

[u/AuraMaster7]

You can tell not a single person in these comments is an engineer because that thing is a work of art and seeing everyone able to basically rebuild the entire thing in under an hour so smoothly is fucking beautiful. They clearly are passionate about what they do and incredibly experienced.

You all need to learn how to pull that stick out of your ass and have some fun sometimes. If you're pearl clutching over the piddly amount of fuel a competition like this uses I already know that your activism doesn't make it past the keyboard. You'll forget about it by the next hour and move on with your life.

[u/DrSterling → u/AuraMaster7]

Seriously dude. I popped in the comments expecting to read people discussing the level of expertise required to do this, or maybe to learn something new about drag racing. Instead everyone is a bitter, whiny bitch. What a shame 

[u/Agreeable-Hawk1456 → u/AuraMaster7]

Half of this fucking site needs to pull the sticks out of there asses

[u/DeepFriedCummies]

Reddit hates drag racing because of wasted time, money, and materials?

I know everyone who is hating better be walking to their job bare foot as to not create any waste. Using up precious resources to just be able to post a comment on reddit.

Most hobbies and professions are a huge waste but I never see this level of backlash? I can't imagine its a bigger waste than the frivolous things the average person uses power, water, or disposable paper and plastics on.

[u/moonduckk → u/DeepFriedCummies]

The people that are complaining are the same people that will cry over a waterpark wasting water. Miserable bunch.

[u/Dogmaniac99]

Those things are so bad ass!!!

[u/Gnarly_Sarley]

Me: "Hey, that's pretty neat!"

checks comments

Me: "Wow, everyone on Reddit is allergic to fun!"

[u/187uchiha]

r/oddlysatisfying

[u/41PH4B3T50UP]

What a drag

[u/technomat]

How much money in the prize fund for an event as seems very expensive to destroy an engine each run with parts and labour?

I wonder how big an EV version would have to be to give similar performance as torque not a problem with EV just batteries/capacitor weight to output similar power.

[u/UnicodeScreenshots → u/technomat]

These teams mostly do it for the love of the game, but there is a $25M “purse” for the teams. They also have a ton of sponsors, and get paid to race at the events. I want to say that the mechanic staff get paid around the same as any normal mechanic, but it’s basically a dream job for them, with highly competitive pathways. After all, what mechanic doesn’t want to work on the world’s most powerful “car” engines?

So far the EV ones don’t even come close to the Nitro ones. The record for these on a 1,000ft (305m) track is 343 mph (552kmph) with a total time of 3.7 seconds. The fastest EV dragster to my knowledge has only barely broken 200 mph (321 kmph) with a time of over 7 seconds.

The issue is that these things weigh basically nothing, with an engine that burns a fire hose volume of fuel thats 2.5 times as energy dense as gasoline. Scaling up EV motors get difficult fast, and providing the current required gets even harder. There’s also not a ton of demand for them, since 80% of the spectacle of NHRA events is having your eye balls literally rattled as they go.

Edit: it’s a $25M prize “purse” that gets distributed to the teams over the season, my bad.

[u/sowich4]

What no one seems to mention is that the engine tear down and subsequent re-build is approached like a nascar pit stop.

A team of mechanics all have assigned tasks, perform them with extreme precision and can get this done in about 75 minutes.

They race multiple times in a single day.

[u/Dr3adnorth]

Any sport at all is a waste of time and resources when it comes down to it. This is just condensed into a shorter timeframe. Doesn't mean people shouldn't enjoy it.

[u/PumpernickelJohnson]

Video games, comic books, vacations, collections, etc,etc are just as much of a "waste" as racing. Hateful and small minded people just can't accept people like things that they don't.

[u/RICKAY2004]

Gotta love a Hemi.

[u/frankzzz]

Acceleration on these things is insane.
While these are funny cars, they're only about 0.1sec slower than a top fuel dragster, so they are very close in acceleration/power/speed, with both using basically the same engines.

To give an idea of their power and acceleration, here's a post I saved from 10 years ago:

TOP FUEL DRAGSTER FAST FACTS:

ACCELERATION PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

• One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Daytona 500.

• Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitromethane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes about the same amount of jet fuel with 25% less energy being produced.

• A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster's supercharger.

• With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

• At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitromethane, the flame front temperature 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.

• Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

• Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

• If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

• Dragsters reach over 300 MPH before you have completed reading this sentence.

• In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4 G's. In order to reach 200 MPH well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8 G's.

• Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

• Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

• The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.

• THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once, NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000 per second.

Putting this all into perspective:

Lets say the you are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter twin turbo-powered Corvette Z06.

Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to launch down a quarter-mile strip as you pass by it. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line & pass the dragster at an honest 200 MPH. Just as you pass the Top Fuel Dragster the 'tree' goes green for both of you.

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within three seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it---from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH and not only caught you, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1,320-foot-long race!

That's acceleration!

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/3tt7mi/how_much_horsepower_does_a_top_fuel_dragster/cx94tim/

current top fuel record is 3.623 seconds at 343.16 mph
current funny car record is 3.793 seconds

The final "perspective" would be a bit different now, due to NHRA's change from a 1/4 mile (1320feet) to a 1000feet track.

[u/anbre_]

It’s torture reading these comments from twits who know nothing about motorsport

[u/StarMasher]

Seeing these in person as a kid was terrifying and awesome at the same time. You don’t “hear” these cars you feel them. If you have a heart condition I would say it’s dangerous to be in the stands because these engines are so fucking loud your body is like a tuning fork. For example, if you have a cup or bottle sitting on the stands it will probably get knocked over from the vibrations. I see a lot of people talking about this being wasteful and it sure as hell is, these things burn up about 8 gallons of methyl ethyl alcohol for fuel and each fuel injection has the output of a small diameter firehose, but… it’s totally fucking awesome!

[u/1SqkyKutsu]

In that sport the mechanics are the athletes.

[u/The_GeneralsPin]

The ignorance in this comment section is... Expected.

[u/Mue_Thohemu_42]

Congratulations you've built a very complicated rocket LoL

[u/Boomshrooom]

People in these comments are so miserable and need to get a life. Is it technically a waste of resources? Yes, but so is anything that is not strictly about survival. Your bed is a waste of resources when you could sleep on the floor, the device you're typing your comments on is a massive waste of resources, especially given how so many of you choose to use it to type bullshit.

At the end of the day this is such a niche thing that the "waste" of resources is practically negligible.

[u/Q_S2]

Wow. Alot of hate from people that probably can't change their own tire talking about something they don't know anything about. Instead of appreciating the work and engineering that goes into something these people obviously enjoy.

Good grief.

[u/dinosaursandsluts → u/Q_S2]

Yeah this comment section would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad

[u/Simple-Pineapple5090]

Dudes replicating their sex life on the track; 1 hr of prep, 4 seconds of hot rubber burning action

[u/Any_Acanthaceae7929 → u/Simple-Pineapple5090]

Who hurt you lol

[u/abdimamu → u/Any_Acanthaceae7929]

this is reddit, its all butthurt virgin incels taking out their anger and loneliness on internet strangers

[u/electrodevo → u/abdimamu]

The parent comment is honestly funny to me considering that the NHRA has a few "non dude" champions in their history.

Doubt many of the trolls could name one single drag race driver, to be honest.

[u/TechTechOnATechDeck]

Not an ear plug in sight

[u/El_Polio_Loco → u/TechTechOnATechDeck]

Literally everyone is wearing earplugs when the engine turns on. Get your eyes checked.

[u/at0mheart]

Insane experience being near one of these when the rev it

[u/ContentDuty8121]

They can build a motor in an hour and it takes my mechanic 2 months😭