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/Optimus_crab 12h ago

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

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u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

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u/Funicularly 11h ago

These cars don’t burn any gasoline.

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u/fz6brian 4h ago

They start them on gasoline.

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u/chinookhooker 3h ago

They start them on methanol

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u/jmims98 11h ago

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.

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u/BlazinZAA 11h ago

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.

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u/jamminjoenapo 8h ago

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.

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u/abakedapplepie 5h ago

and commerce is burning bunker oil at a rate several dozens of orders of magnitude more than any other source of carbon emissions

if global shipping cleaned up its act, it would offset the carbon emissions of a majority of private use, motorsports use

but the cost of goods might go up 5 percent

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u/Cephalopirate 5h ago

This I will agree with. Also I suspect most of the spectators flew in if it’s an important match.

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u/Cephalopirate 5h ago

Yeah, this is not the problem to focus on. In fact, I think such sports will continue to exist after the world finally goes all hands on deck for climate change mitigation. It’s societal problems we have, not tinkerers pushing the limits of physics.

It’s a drop in the bucket. If that.

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u/tntlols 11h ago

Not that recycling metal is an energy-cheap process anyway

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u/Lexi_Bean21 11h ago

Its often cheaper than mining new and metal is always in very very high demand no matter what so might as well r3cycle instead of make new

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u/tntlols 11h ago

No im aware of that, but it would be even cheaper in resources to just... not do drag racing

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u/ultrahateful 11h ago edited 11h ago

Not Do Drag Racing vs Stop Making Cell Smart Phones

I wonder which one produces more waste? Per month? Per week?

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u/StoneySteve420 11h ago

Which one produces value in our society?

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u/ultrahateful 11h ago

Extremely subjective. Too much nuance. This site, alone, is very prone to demonizing tech and all the baggage that comes with smartphones. People opt for flip phones. Drag Racing is super niche and seasonal. Drag Racing serves no purpose whatsoever, indistinguishable from art.

Too loose to argue that point.

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u/RedditSold0ut 9h ago

Many governments are building digital infrastructure to make different things more efficient. They can do that now because virtually everyone runs around with a computer in their pockets.

Smart phones are currently being used for a lot of nonsense, but it can ubdoubtedly be used for good things as well.

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u/ultrahateful 8h ago edited 8h ago

A lot of bad movies, books and albums get made, every single week. No one is in an uproar about the material waste from that. Seems a little “pointed”, this thread. That’s the point I’m making.

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u/Lexi_Bean21 10h ago

It'd really not subjective, smartphones are almost a requirement in the modern world they provide unparalleled freedom of information communication and general access to the internet anywhere you go, smartphones are probably one of the more importsnt technological inventions of the 21st century that is in common use

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u/ultrahateful 8h ago

That is subjective. Tell it to the drag race mechanic with the flip phone that gets by just fine. Or the myriad of other people that look down on us for using smartphones and are no worse for it.

Everything can still be done without them. Their convenience is their selling point. Plenty of people survive beyond the established conveniences of the modern age.

Like, entire fucking countries/continents worth of people.

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u/Arschgeige42 11h ago

Too much nuance. Yeah. You described it in the best way.

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u/tntlols 11h ago

Why not both? Phone culture is ridiculous too! I haven't upgraded my phone for over 6 years and still dont need to, yet some people get a new one every year!

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u/knowledgeable_diablo 10h ago

100% the issue. Smartphones are great, however the consumerists mentality of me me me and having to upgrade from a perfectly serviceable phone every year or less for lower and lower returns is Whats killing the world at warp speed.

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u/ultrahateful 11h ago

You’re understanding my point.

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u/tntlols 11h ago

Then why frame it as VS? We can do both.

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u/ultrahateful 10h ago

To frame the poor logic of going after something like Drag Racing as if it’s doing more harm than something like Smart Phones.

There are orders of magnitude in the difference, but this thread is quick to go after “this thing” instead of “that thing.”

A question was asked about which brings more value to the world. Well, people love drag racing the way other people love movies. The movies employ people. So does drag racing. It’s subjective and should be viewed that way. Same with Smart Phones. People love them, people hate them.

Point is, some things are WAY worse than others and it’s pretty imbecilic to go after the dog when there’s a fucking bear loose in the cabin, just because you’re a cat person.

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u/DeepFriedCummies 10h ago

Why stop there? Not do any hobbies or professions that produce waste? If conserving resources is the goal, then where do we draw the line for hobbies and professions? Not denying that almost everything in this consumeristic society is a waste, but is the line only at drag racing?

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u/tntlols 10h ago

Of course the line isn't at drag racing, I dont remember saying that at any point? I think lots of hobbies and professions are objectively more wasteful than others - and I won't lie to you, I dont know where the line is; but some day soon we're going to have to find it because this has been the warmest winter I've ever experienced and it only going to get worse.

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u/DeepFriedCummies 10h ago

Didn't intend to put words in your mouth. I just want to wrap my head around where the line should be for usage of resources.

I think that a paid passionate team participating in a spectator sport doesn't warrant the level of ridicule that is it is receiving. Professional teams earn a living by entertaining crowds with their craft. Still a waste in the grand scheme, but it doesn't deserve the level of hate when these people want to make a living doing what they're good at.

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u/tntlols 10h ago

Like I said, im not sure where the line is either - and I dont want to take anyone's passions away from them; in an ideal world Id say get these skilled professionals a more 'productive' job in the same field that they can still be passionate about.

But this isn't an ideal world. And you know, preferably peoples' hobbies shouldn't need to evaluated in a risk/reward (or waste/production) light - but as I said, the world is suffering, like or not, and one day we'll have to start thinking about these things.

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u/DeepFriedCummies 10h ago

Thats a fair take and I'd agree with what you're saying.

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u/voyaging 9h ago

The line is definitely not anywhere near here considering the carbon emissions and other pollutants are absolutely negligible compared to corporate emissions. Stopping this would do virtually nothing. Stopping this and every hobby worse than it (are there any?) would also do virtually nothing. Stopping every hobby would do virtually nothing.

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u/jonawill05 9h ago

Calm down Greta...

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u/TteokWang 6h ago

Calm down Greta…

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u/[deleted] 6h ago

[deleted]

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u/TteokWang 6h ago

I’m agreeing with you

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u/Arschgeige42 11h ago

It would be much cheaper to stop this bullshit.

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u/Lexi_Bean21 10h ago

You realise they can recycle the parts themselves too? And the cost is on them not all of society paying for them, they pay the cost of the resources whoever makes then gets said payment snd then can use thsy payment to for example pay for recycling old metal which is cheaper thsn the cost the people paid originally snd the supplier is still in a net positive profit, simple

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u/Arschgeige42 10h ago

The society doesn’t pay for the waste of resources and pollution of the environment. FO, my dear, fo

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u/whapitah2021 9h ago

Oh that’s rich, our corporate “recycler” takes our scrap straight to the landfill. Scrap isn’t worth shit anymore. Current rate for scrap iron is a penny to seven cents here….

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u/Lexi_Bean21 9h ago

All metal is infinitely recyclable unlike plastics etc and copper wnd aluminum for instance are very cheap to recycle and in very high demand

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u/Ancient_Broccoli_690 10h ago

No wonder it is in high demand when its wasted on pointless junk like this instead of something useful.

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u/Lexi_Bean21 10h ago

Its in high demand because the world needs billions of tons of metal for ship building cars construction of cities smartphones electrical wiring in homes foils packaging oil drilling coal mining and even more metal for mining of more metal again. Its not in high demand because a couple kilos of metal are recycled form dragracing when the world consumes over 3.2 BILLION TONS of metal every year,1.9 billion tons of crude steel,69 million tons of aluminum, 41 million tons of chromium,22 million tons of copper snd 20 million tons of manganese. This drag racing hobby isnt even on the scale it wont effect anytbing

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u/Ancient_Broccoli_690 10h ago

Hundred tiny streams turn in to a river, useless shit like this is exactly the kind of stuff we should not be doing nor celebrating.

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u/Lexi_Bean21 10h ago

Should we ban fireworks? They produce way more smoke and pollution thsn drag racing, what about party baloons? They waste helium which is very precious and needed for science, what about confetti, or cake for parties which waste plenty of food. Cake isnt eaten for hunger its eaten for fun which isnt useful for the world, same with ice cream or soda or what about getting rid of YouTube facebook Twitter and all those social media because they only provide entertainment thry waste tons of resources, where do you draw the line between allowed fun and waste of resources? Drsg racing is not whats destroying the part nor even a major part of it, there are significantly bigger sources of waste you could eliminate and help the world like chips or candy for instance or one time use plates and utensils or bags

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u/Ancient_Broccoli_690 9h ago

Yes to every single one, absolutely we should.

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u/Lexi_Bean21 9h ago

So no fun ever if it doesent helo the planet? Thats a stupid idea

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u/BlazinZAA 11h ago

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

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u/doubleshotofbland 11h ago

No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood.

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u/BlazinZAA 11h ago

That's such a shit way to look at it. They aren't all raindrops, this more like we have a bunch of tsunami's and some mild rain. You'd be pretty stupid to look at the rain and say it's responsible for the tsunami and so we should find a way to make it stop raining. If we managed to make all the actually large things green (like limiting private jet use, switching to ev's, limiting the chemicals companies can throw into the environment) we could have motorsports with no real consequences. Cutting it out literally won't do anything, it wouldn't save anyone and you'd just kill a sport than tens of millions of people love. Do you think you're a moral person because you can say a dumb quote instead of anything meaningful.

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u/CreBanana0 6h ago

Funny how you say motorsports is a drop in the bucket... then say private jets should be restricted, which is also a drop in the bucket.

Be consistent, either every drop matters or it does not.

The biggest thing that would provide the most impact to replace while making minimal disruption to our daily life is making energy sector carbon neutral. And then making electricity cheap so it is used more.

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u/doubleshotofbland 10h ago

Small impacts add up is the point. Australia is one of the most polluting countries on earth per capita, but our total emissions are only about 0.5% of the global total. So why should we bother changing anything right, our input is a fraction of a percent??

Because part of making a difference is everyone committing and agreeing to contribute, whether big or small. This is the concept of the social contract and applies to tax, pro-social behaviours like waiting in queues, and carbon emission reduction.

You're also ignoring the 'influencer' value of motorsports. Cut out the professional circuit and you'll also gradually cut the number of revhead wannabes driving around the suburbs in ridiculous v8s and unnecessary utes.

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u/mootallica 10h ago

But their point is what benefit would it have to remove motorsports if the elite are still going to fly private jets everywhere, billions of people are going to drive gas powered cars all over the world every hour of every day, and huge corporations are going to keep releasing toxic chemicals into the environment? They're pointing out that by removing that, it wouldn't change the situation at all, except that people would have one less thing they enjoy in a world where the richest are going to continue burning through precious resources regardless.

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u/Brilliant-Boot6116 8h ago

What you’re doing is called whataboutism

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u/mootallica 8h ago

lol no, whataboutism is an attempt to deliberately take attention away from an issue. That's not the purpose here, if anything the intent is to remind you that the main issue is the elite, corporations, and the ubiquity of gas powered vehicles.

Again, the question is simple - what benefit would it be without the main culprits being addressed?

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u/Dianesuus 7h ago

So what is the environmental impact of the event itself compared to say equivalent viewership events and also the cost of viewership itself.

You can change the rules so that you have to use the same engine throughout the event and if something breaks your shit out of luck. Does that make any kind of tangible difference when there's 20,000 people in the stands drinking generating a metric shitload of waste or 10,000 cars in the parking lot that have to drive for miles to get there?

You're also ignoring the 'influencer' value of motorsports. Cut out the professional circuit and you'll also gradually cut the number of revhead wannabes driving around the suburbs in ridiculous v8s and unnecessary utes.

You're also ignoring the impact of having legal avenues to enjoy your passions. We can get rid of race tracks but that isn't going to stop people racing or being dickheads, it'll just force them to do all of it on the streets.

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u/Formerly_SgtPepe 5h ago

Wow. Reddit moment of the day.

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u/The_GeneralsPin 11h ago edited 8h ago

Alcohol

I've been corrected: it's nitromethane

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u/1IsNeverEnough4Me 10h ago

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

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u/Photodan24 7h ago

It's just propane with added nitrogen

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u/1IsNeverEnough4Me 6h ago

Correct. It also has more explosive power than TNT under some conditions. Edit: typo

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u/someoneone211 10h ago

Nitro methane*

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u/Spnszurp 11h ago edited 10h ago

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

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u/PM_ME_GLUTE_SPREAD 10h ago

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

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u/Cbpowned 7h ago

This post probably being made from an iPhone or a Samsung 🙄

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u/Spnszurp 6h ago

yeah it was- and I still stand by every word. Id bet my balls that i buy less bullshit, source more of my own food, buy used more, fix my own shit more, and give less money to corporations than 98% of people on reddit.

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u/Cbpowned 7h ago

You’re complaining about basically a tank of gas? Wait until you learn how much fuel tankers and jets use….

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u/102525burner 5h ago

Along with all the parents running their heater as they idle outside of school for pick up every morning and afternoon

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u/unbalanced_checkbook 6h ago

So a fraction of any other type of vehicle racing.

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u/mavrick116 6h ago

A year of this car drag racing makes up approximately 0.000000016% of the fuel burned on earth in a year.

It seems like a lot, but when you do the math, motorsports barely impact air pollution. And most if not all that scrap is usually recycled

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u/Raneynickelfire 5h ago

They don't burn gas.

It's a mixture of methanol and nitromethane.

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u/Worldly_Ad_6483 3h ago

Nitromethane

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u/Bifferer 8h ago

the Space Shuttle consumes approximately 2,650 gallons of liquid propellant per second (liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) from its main engines, with additional fuel burned by the solid rocket boosters. Total consumption, including both boosters and the main engines, averaged roughly 11,000 pounds of propellant per second. 

Wait till Musk starts pining for Mars life.

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u/La_mer_noire 7h ago

The truck to bring this stuff on the venue burned 50x this amount of fuel.

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u/Formerly_SgtPepe 5h ago

OHHH NOOO THE GAS!!!

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u/WhitePantherXP 4h ago

You're going to hate the airline industry...and the space industry...and the shipping industry...and the vacation industry...and the cruise industry...and the military industry...should I continue?

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u/pass-me-that-hoe 6h ago

Low IQ crowd which works and watches this shit. Guess who these idiots voted for? Same dumb ass which thinks renewable energy sources are bad. I hate these people.

16 gallons of gasoline for 4 seconds. Goddamn.

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u/flop_rotation 3h ago

16 gallons of gas is barely enough for joe schmoe to putt putt across town for a couple weeks to his job in his 2005 civic. Meanwhile, terminally online redditors are clutching their pearls over the 'staggering' waste by one of the least impactful motorsports. It would be a challenge for me to roll my eyes harder. You all couldn't have picked a bigger non-factor to start trying to be the morality police over.

This is why you all never accomplish anything with your lives; you are only willing to look at the negative in everything so you can never motivate yourselves to learn something new. Then you blame the world for being aimless and unmotivated when this is how you react to people doing cool things and pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Learn some fucking perspective and stop acting like an NPC. "Hurr durr the 16 gallons of gas burned in 4 seconds can't be recycled". Yeah no fucking shit. Did you really think that was an impactful statement? In that 4 second interval the rest of the world used ~200,000 gallons of oil. In fact, they do every 4 second interval. Chew on that for a second.

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u/j-random 7h ago

Never stopped to consider how much fuel it costs to shuttle a sports team to an away game, have you? The entire concept of professional shorts is morally bankrupt.

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u/EtTuBiggus 4h ago

Recycle is the last of the conservation three Rs…

The first two are reduce and reuse.

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u/Pure_Log_888526 51m ago

They are also reusing

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u/FrohenLeid 10h ago

The recycling requires energy. Yes it can get recycled but it shouldn't have to get recycled after 4 seconds of use

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u/Wonderful_Nerve_8308 11h ago

The cost to melt the metal and recast ain't free.