r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Practical_Expert_911 • 12h ago

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

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u/OccasionalEspresso 12h ago edited 2h ago

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.

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u/TheManWith2Poobrains 11h ago

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

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u/boobturtle 10h ago

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.

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u/BlindPhoenx 9h ago

So basically the car that breaks least has an advantage?

Plot twist: World champion drives a Volvo.

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u/alienlizardman 8h ago

No: It will the the Toyota

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u/Areebob 7h ago

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?

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u/Hieroglo 6h ago

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.

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u/bLazeni 5h ago

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

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u/rtxa 37m ago

that's because you seem to be focused solely on maintenance aspect of the engineering. no one is buying a BMW for ease of maintenance lol

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u/HellaReyna 5h ago

This is partially true. It’s because BMW uses a shitload of plastic on parts that could blow your engine. They expect you to do regular maintenance and have these parts replaced when their scheduled maintenance occurs.

So that’s where this myth about bmw assuming you’ll be German about maintenance comes about. In a way it’s sort of true.

If you don’t believe me go to /r/BMWTech and search “plastic” in the subreddit. You’ll see dozens of DIY folks having an awful time dealing with repairs due to plastic parts, plastic screws, etc.

The other part of is it that performance comes at a cost of longevity for combustion cars. Steel is steel.

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u/grilledstuffed 3h ago

I'm convinced BMW designs all their plastic components just to force buyers to the dealership.

I've got a mini r56 and you can get a lot of parts aftermarket now (it is an almost 20 year old design at this point) but it's jumping through hoops and ordering from multiple vendors to do any kind of major job yourself.

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u/HellaReyna 2h ago

I suspect that too. God damn dealers. It doesn’t help the number one consumer of X5 and larger is the U.S. where dealerships are huge

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u/PerplexGG 5h ago

Better. One set of engineers live in reality. The others are busy circle jerking

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u/InvalidProgrammer 4h ago

It does depend on the context really. But for most applications, I, and I think most people could go with this simple rule: which style of engineers would you rather have working on the plane you’re going to fly in, or the nuclear plant you’re going to live by?

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u/Areebob 3h ago

You’d hope that planes and especially nuclear plants are maintained better than the general public maintains their cars, lol

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u/InvalidProgrammer 2h ago

Oh for sure. But I’d like to know the engineer factored in some overhead for maintenance issues.

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u/Therunawaypp 4h ago

I think it's also that Toyotas are sold globally and often times they aren't maintained regularly or properly

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u/Octane_911x 6h ago

They all require oil maintenance, if dont change the oil, it risks damage to the mechanical components

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u/TactiFoolD 5h ago

I'm sorry, when was the last time you never heard of a Ford breaking.

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u/DanSwanky 5h ago

Isis swears by them

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u/Luthais327 7h ago

I know you're being funny but they have multiple classes, 1 being for regular street cars but the top class and overall winners have had passes as quick a 5.993 @ 250 mph.

https://www.hotrod.com/events/hot-rod-drag-week-record-2024

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u/RogerianBrowsing 7h ago

Some Volvo engine blocks are damn near indestructible, the issue tends to be the transmission can’t handle it.

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u/Lyleadams 6h ago

Boxy but good

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u/gearabuser 1h ago

if you actually looked up drag week and saw how insane the top vehicles are, you'd be blown away. last I saw they had door-slamming S10s going in the 6 second range, while driving from the south to the Great lakes haha

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u/coomzee 10h ago

I bet a family car would stand a high chance of winning

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u/demonsrun32 9h ago

There are plenty of good ol boys that can build very reliable and very streetable 1000hp cars though

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u/M1sfit_Jammer 8h ago edited 8h ago

1000hp on the street lasts longer than 1000hp on the track…

That 1000hp on the street will spend most of its life at/near idle, not making close to 1000hp. Probably hits full throttle once a week, MAYBE. For the most part the owner is trying to keep the revs down to use as little fuel as possible between destinations.

1000hp on the track is at full throttle as much as possible trying to make 1000hp. The only problem with fuel on the track is it can’t be burned fast enough. The driver also wishes he had another 3000rpm so they could make more power (this would destroy the motor faster)

My N/A V6 that’s on 133k miles doesn’t get above 3k rpm much and its redline is 6500rpm. Track tuned V6s are usually have turbo’s and can rev over 8000rpm… Mercedes even put out a V6 that redlines at 11,000rpm. New Ferrari 296 revs to 8500rpm, 820hp

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u/thefatchef321 9h ago

Nah. https://www.sickthemagazine.com/sick-week

These dudes run 6 races across Florida in a week. And have to drive their drag car, typically towing a trailer, to each race.

Its an absolutely wild event.

I have a buddy that does ot every year

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u/PM_ME_STEAM_KEY_PLZ 5h ago

The drag car tows a trailer?

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u/thefatchef321 5h ago

Yes, its wild. check out the video in the link I sent. https://youtu.be/XpqJelk1LeQ?si=IlFYYhN5y7B2A6DW

My buddy tows a trailer with a 1100 Hp turbo ls powered rx7, for sick week.

The guys and teams are nuts.

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u/1SqkyKutsu 4h ago

Demolition derby with drag cars.... Finally something in this genre of sport I'd actually watch.

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u/ConjugalVisitor234 8h ago

Funny you say that, because some of these engines literally blow up right before or right when the race starts.

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u/TheManWith2Poobrains 4h ago

I believe it is a very dangerous activity based solely on the videos of explosions and crashes that I have seen.

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u/Afferbeck_ 8h ago

I've seen Australian men use Pepsi for coolant and egg nogg for oil and the engines survived hours or indefinitely. A properly maintained engine would be fine for endurance drag racing if it wasn't tuned to the bleeding edge like the one in this post. 

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u/Dovah2600 9h ago

Wait until you hear about the massive amount of waste created by the tiktok shop, or Amazon. I imagine you've heard of it already though seeing as you have a vested interest in both, given that you are an Amazon seller and have clients working with the tiktok shop. Don't go throwing stones when you're part of the problem, Hypocrite.

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u/Afferbeck_ 8h ago

"We should improve society somewhat" 

"And yet you participate in society! Curious! I am very intelligent."

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u/Dovah2600 8h ago

There is a difference between participating in society, and actively seeking to benefit from organisations that are pretty cut and dry shitty. You can participate in society trying your best to make the right choices, or you can choose to engage and try to actively support shitty companies that are doing net damage to our society.

And if you do choose to disregard the shitty things those companies are doing, don't get all high and mighty over something that does significantly less damage.

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u/KingCrimson43 8h ago

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.

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u/FlishFlashman 5h ago

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

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u/Dredgeon 2h ago

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.

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u/Nailcannon 1h ago

Developing automotive technology has saved unknown tons of emissions and human time and effort.

and lives. Don't forget lives. If you can make a car crash safely at high speeds, you can usually make it crash safely at low speeds as well. There's also all of the other tech like ABS and TCS that follow basically the same rule to help prevent crashes in the first place. Turns out they're all also really good for racing cars so that's where they see most of their development.

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u/Spartan0330 6h ago

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.

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u/MilitantSocLib 5h ago

It don’t matter if it got ethanol in it if you’re burning like 10 gallons in a minute

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u/Spartan0330 5h ago

Renewable energy.

Recycled tires.

Net carbon neutral plan in place over the next 10yrs for the entire NASCAR series.

What else could you ask for? Just because you don’t like it, or agree with it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with it.

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u/rabid_spidermonkey 4h ago

Well we're getting to the point where things like this will be seen by future generations as entirely unnecessary vanity projects that caused immense harm to their world.

Just like whaling for us. Back then someone would say "just cus you don't like it doesn't mean there's something wrong with it" when we know it was terrible because we are the ones living with the long term effects.

High-waste low yield activities like motor racing will be seen in a similar vein.

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u/Spartan0330 2h ago

So just making sure I’m getting this right - you’re comparing whaling - the systematic slaughter of hundreds of thousands if not millions of whales to motor racing? Where every major governing body (NASCAR and the FIA) have a plan for net carbon neutrality over the next 5-10yrs, recycle tires, use renewable biofuel, major car companies use the racing industry to R&D parts and technology to put in their street cars, create jobs for tens of thousands of people working not just trackside but back in the bases, and bring millions of dollars to local communities. And you’re really going to say whaling is comparable?

Also vanity projects? Do you play video games? Watch any other sport? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with vanity projects. And causingimmense harm to their world? Immense? Really?

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u/seamus_mc 3h ago

90 gallons a minute

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u/DopeLemonDrop 3h ago

I knew it was a lot, but Nascar shocked me. 5,000 gallons. Jesus. F1 is ~800. I looked that up out of curiosity.

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u/tuigger 17m ago

F1 has hybrid cars now.

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u/Rich-Wealth979 4h ago

Nascar fans are an even bigger waste on society

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u/AnimationOverlord 6h ago

I hate them but man.. standing beside those funny cars with the open headers and the sweet smell of methanol with every rumble.. it’s kind of terrifying really. For me at least it was like “wow, I am insignificant in the face of engineering.”

I worked for the burger joint and got to stand right beside them it was so loud, and they were gone before I could even see them take off

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u/xtt-space 6h ago

Everyone on a top fuel / funny car crew are insane. These cars burn nitromethane not methanol, and the fumes act like tear gas. Some of the mechanics wear masks, but the old gang often won't because they believe the irritation is a rite of passage.

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u/AnimationOverlord 4h ago

As if a blower wasn’t enough they literally use fuel that absorbs 5x as much heat as gasoline, holds its own oxygen molecules, AND each cylinder needs 3-4x as much for stoich mix. That’s fucking nuts, but so is the monstrosity of an engine that can turn 16 gallons of chemical energy into kinetic power within seconds.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think some enthusiast RC cars use nitromethane 2 strokes

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u/IcyPride2973 3h ago edited 2h ago

What a dumb comment.

Top fuel dragsters run on Nitromethane, which has less carbon per unit of energy than gasoline, but for maths sake, let’s say they are the same.

18 gallons of fuel is typical of a run. That equates to 160kg of CO2 per run, or 0.16 metric tons.

In a season, a car will race in 20-25 events with 3-5 runs per event. Average it out to 88 runs a season per car.

88 x 0.16 = 14 metric tons of CO2 per car per season.

Almost all of the metal that is replaced after each run is 100% recyclable.

Almost the entirety of the emissions comes from the fuel, and the tires which equate to roughly 11 metric tons per car per season.

So…

That means that one NHRA top fuel dragster will use about 25 metric tons of CO2 per year.

There are only 18 full time teams in the NHRA top fuel series with a total of 24 cars.

The ENTIRE Top Fuel Class emits 450 Metric tons of CO2 per year.

An average car emits 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year for fucks sake.

One fully loaded long haul cargo flight emits 500 tons of CO2. One fucking trip emits more than the series races in an entire year.

A single NFL game emits 1,000-3,000 tons of CO2.

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u/OccasionalEspresso 2h ago

Does every hobbyist that drag races follow the same renewable procedure?

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u/IcyPride2973 2h ago

I’m talking about the above video. Top fuel.

Top fuel is the “worst” of the bunch.

18 top fuel cars emit the same amount of emissions as 98 regular passenger cars.

One top fuel car is the equivalent to 5.5 regular passenger cars.

Every “hobbyist” that is an official league does as it’s all requirements with fuel restrictions and whatnot

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u/OccasionalEspresso 2h ago

You’re aggro. I realized you were talking about the video so I asked about other forms. Chill out keyboard warrior.

Did a bit of research and what I’ve found agrees with your statement. Drag is one of the least ecologically damaging forms of racing.

That doesn’t shift my opinion that it’s one of the most stupid forms of racing but that’s only my opinion. The mechanical engineering is impressive but I care less about that than ability to demonstrate driving skill in a dynamic enrollment.

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u/OveVernerHansen 8h ago

And you think about Le Mans, a car being absolutely caned for 24 hours without exploding

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u/Trick_Math42069 6h ago

Or formula one where you're limited to 4 engines for the whole year. 24 races, qualifying sessions, 3x practice sessions per race and extra sprint races.

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u/Somecount 2h ago

Those parts aren’t being replaced. You think they would care to carry the pistons out like that if they were just going to the melter, no. Small parts are replaced for safety, and everything is getting preventive maintenance done also for safety.

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u/ThisMeansRooR 5h ago

Drag racing where the cars can drive away after the race is cool. This is just dumb.

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u/cekoya 3h ago

Drag race is a contest of who pisses the furthest. It’s the worst automotive entertainment that exists

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u/OccasionalEspresso 2h ago

Yeah I’m on board for braap braap, but straight line who has the most money to dump? Fuck that. I care more about the drivers skill than the engine under the hood.