A Definition of Acceleration

[Roland the Fisherman]

I have read this before and have a question.
10 or so years ago I wrenched on a well known TFH and made the rounds both IHBA and SBDA.
Back then the buz from everyone and the promos for the NHRA boasted of 3000+hp. The motors both for cars and boats ran 500cu in KB's (mostly) Anderson, Dart ect. heads, 1471 blowers, dual mags, dual fuel pumps, 92+% in the tanks and burned roughly the same amount of fuel per pass and so on just like today.
Now the same promos are claiming 6000+hp.
Heres the question: Where the hell they getting the additional 3000+ hp?
A couple of years ago I was told by a feuler mech. the reason for quicker times and faster speeds was'nt due so much to more hp but to the advances in clutch technology. The problem is bitchen clutches don't sell seats.
5 years from they will be producing 10,000hp and with standing room only.
Rolland

[HOSS]

Agreed! Clutch technology and tire capability is what has been at the forefront of techno blasts for years now.

[HighRoller]

Well, actually you have to remember that a fuel car can take a lot more power than a boat because the boat can't handle all the power at the start. They have sensors on the fuel cars that combine the data and give an accurate torque number using vehicle weight matched against G force, MPH and driveshaft RPM. Austin Coil showed ESPN the computer screen on a 4.90 run and the peak torque was just over 6000ft/lbs. It also showed peak horsepower of 6800 or so. So for the announcers to say 7000hp is not that far off. Each cylinder in a fuel car makes about 750HP. Remember, once you get to 280MPH it's like hitting a brick wall. A top fuel car will run 260-280MPH by the 1/8th mile. It takes the rest of the run to get an additional 50MPH. Granted, clutch technology has taken them to new ET records, but a good clutch won't put 330 on the board. That takes brute HP. Once the forged engine block was developed these guys started going nuts with the tuneup. As far as the boats, one other thing is that the boat technology is always 2 or 3 years behind the cars because of smaller budgets.