This is How Loud NHRA Cars Are

"Matthew Keyser" (teisco15)
06/28/2014 at 00:06 • Filed to: None

Today I had the pleasure of attending my 3rd Route 66 NHRA Nationals outside of Chicago. The Topfuel and Funnycars are incomprehensibly loud. Whenever I am confronted with the task of putting this automotive phenomenon into words, I give my standby answer "imagine the loudest thing possible, and multiply it by 10."

I am sure that somewhere there are louder man made means if transportation either in the sky or tucked away in Area 51, but as far as I'm concerned, these cars are the loudest things I will ever encounter.

At one point during the day concocting my brilliant plan to reasonably explain the extent of the volume, I in my infinite wisdom decided to support my case using science in the way of a free dB meter app on my iPhone. I didn't just try one, I tried them all. 5 different apps and all of them forced to wave the white flag in favor for the several thousand horsepower V8s. The highest reading I got was 121 dB.

Time for plan B.

While watching a few more runs I looked at my drink at how it was reacting to the immense strength of the sound waves and the wash of nitromethane and bits of Goodyear rubber. Instead of trying to describe it, I chose to record it. Here it is:

As you can see, the effect was more than just the tea sloshing around. I was using the metal grandstand to help stabilize my phone while recording and the camera was shaken so hard when the cars launched that there was the resulting scrolling kind of messed up effect you see in the video.

This is the perfect example to show just how loud the cars are.

DISCUSSION (100)

BrianNutter > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 00:38

Im shaken, not stirred and now able to viualize a singlr Hz. and multiples thereof.

XJDano > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 00:41

ahh YES!

Sept for us in STL. The way I can describe it is that its so loud & in close proximity you feel it in your chest.

Matthew Keyser > XJDano
06/28/2014 at 00:51

Feel the sound waves pound your chest and the nitromethane burning your eyes and nose and throat. I'm sore, covered in rubber, smell like nitro and sweat and I don't care. It's a great time!

tromoly > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 01:52

Now try standing on the starting line between both cars ;)

Also, next time you're there pay attention to the difference in sound from Top Fuel and Funny Car, they have a different exhaust note and it's pretty cool to figure it out.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 02:15

I was thinking about going to this but I had work :'(

YSI-what can brown do for you > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 02:38

Oh speaking of loud cars, I forgot to ask. Ever heard an F1 car at WOT? It is piercing.

Gamblour > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 08:51

Glad you're experiencing it in person! I go every year to Englishtown and most years to Maple Grove as well. The noise alone is worth going to a live event. A few years back, I brought some friends who had never been to a live NHRA event and one of them insisted on not wearing earplugs. That lasted until the end of the first run. He was so overwhelmed by the noise, it actually made him nauseous. Both of them commented how watching it on TV gives you no appreciation of the noise and the speed the nitro cars are capable of. Even if one is not necessarily into drag racing, going to an event is a must-do for any gearhead.

Hyland33 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 08:52

The best is watching people who have never been before and don't have ear plugs or anything.

Rwlong > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 08:52

Not anymore...Sadly.

f86sabre > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 08:53

I've seen both, including F-1 (Indy, front stretch, full throttle from about 8 feet away) from the V10 years and older cars at Goodwood. NHRA is in another world as far as volume. The only other thing that I've heard that comes close is an AV-8B Harrier in hover close by.

WMUCarGuy > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 09:03

F1 cars are loud and extremely piercing (or they were...), but I would bet you, a single top fuel drag car is louder than an entire field of V10 F1 cars.

I went to an NHRA race last summer and was similarly blown away by the both the top fuel cars. They're easily the single-loudest man-made things on the planet.

mezzeta > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 09:03

Not anymore!

vondon302 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:03

f1 vs nitro come on. Nitro is so loud it rattles your eyeballs in your skull

loki03xlh > XJDano
06/28/2014 at 09:10

I live about 15 miles from Gateway Raceway(STL). When the NHRA is in town, it sounds like they are next door. I may have to check it out this year.

GTCL > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:10

I used to go to Gainesville a lot growing up for the Gatornationals. Also living in Florida most of my life we used to go watch shuttle launches. The space shuttle is the only thing that I've ever seen that was louder than an NHRA dragster. It is so loud that the closest you could get for viewing was 5 miles away on the causeway. Sitting at the causeway viewing area you are only separated from the shuttle by a waterway. You could actually see the shuttle on the pad.

Two very cool things were on display that day. I firsthand saw how light travels faster than sound. I could actually see the shuttle fire and lift off the pad before I was able to hear the low rumble of the engines. The second was that I actually saw the sound waves rolling towards us across the top of the waterway. I could see the waves move across the water and then I was completely immersed in that unforgettable roar. There really was nothing quite like watching a space shuttle lift off. I just moved to ATL from jacksonville. I'm going to miss walking outside during a rocket launch and seeing it flash across the sky.

The Transporter > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:12

My drag racing cousin took me to an NHRA event with top fuel cars a number of years ago. I didn't really get to see much because my eyeballs were rattling in their sockets. I went to the launch of STS-135 and it wasn't that loud. Granted I was six miles away and the sound shook the earth under my feet, but it wasn't as loud. Had I been at the press booth three miles away from Pad 39-A, I might have a different story to tell.

Arch > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:19

Love the video. Everybody, gearhead or not, should witness fuel cars in the flesh at least once in their lives. It's beyond belief.

T off the New > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 09:19

Too bad they sound like this now

jimz > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:23

I've never been to an NHRA event like that. The loudest motorsport event I can recall attending was the Unlimited Hydroplane races in Detroit and Madison Indiana. I mean, back before turbines took over the field; you'd have six boats with Rolls-Royce Merlin (28 liter) or Griffon (37 liter) V12s flying past you for the start, all at wide-open throttle.

Planktron > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:26

went to the Gator nationals once and been dieing to go back. People aren't lieing when they say you feel it in your chest.

Sad thing is it's easier to find reruns of high school basketball than it is to find an NHRA race on TV. Even as I was typing this my phone autocorrected NHRA to NBA.

jimz > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:27

the burning sensation is from nitric acid, which is a byproduct of nitromethane combustion. R/C racers get the same thing (glow fuel engines burn a mix containing methanol and some nitromethane, around 10% for planes and up to 65% for boats.)

JDiesel > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 09:43

I'm not so sure about that, pulling tractors with three, 3000hp motors are so loud at WOT that you only hear white noise. Also an f18 with afterburners lit is probably louder than any engine, but you can't really get close enough to compare.

Old-Busted-Hotness > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:44

0-300 mph in 4 seconds, 8-9,000 hp. Drag racing is awesome in the literal sense of the word.

phDiesel > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 09:58

The noise off of a TF Dragster really is unbelievable. We used to go to Atlanta every year for them and sit on the lights. It literally will make your hair stand up.

Shiyal > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 10:10

Been waiting to go to the US131 drag strip in Martin MI...

My loudest experiences... and possibly the reason for my deafness... NTPA and ATPA Unlimited Super Mod Tractors.

I'm not even going to post a video because none can give the feel of the noise...

So here is a pic.

Kinja'd!!!

If you've never been, you owe it to yourself to go to a National Championship level pull.

You will see the power and feel the noise as the driver attempts to use many thousands of horsepowers to pull a sled that becomes harder to pull the further it goes with 300' being the magic mark to cross.

In the unlimited super mod class there are tractors with up to 5 alcohol burning supercharged V-8s, tractors with multiple turbine engines, tractors with multiple Allison V-12s (like the P-38, P-40 and early P-51s used, tractors with multiple multi-stage turbo diesels.

And in the less loud but more awesome Pro- and Super-Stock diesels. Inline 6 cylinder with 4 turbos water injection and 200+ lbs of boost. See that too.

Wurrwulf > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 10:26

My dad and I used to go to the Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. We went for 5 or 6 years straight. It's some of the most incredible, fond memories I have of my father. Every since he's past, I've wanted to make a trip there for old times sake. One day...

quickquest88 > jimz
06/28/2014 at 10:33

this. i own an rc car. it runs on 30% nitromethane (they get between 3 and 5 hp from .21 of a cubic inch). i have to be very careful when tuning the damn thing because of the exhaust fumes. they burn like hell. i was watching some drag racing with my dad last weekend and made the comment about how can those pit guys stand it. they must all have some really bad lung problems.

grossmotor > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 10:50

I think its sad how many car enthusiasts haven't been to a top-fuel drag event.. whatever you think about drag racing.. 10,000+ HP and 0-300 in 3 seconds is an incredible thing to experience. It pulverizes your guts.. in a good way.

3daywheelie > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 10:53

F1 hurts ears. Top fuel hurts you. They are worlds apart. You should go - truly epic.

Squirrbells > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 11:03

Apparently you've never heard my ex gf yell.

Zoom > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 11:10

I agree with this. If you are anywhere close at full throttle launch, 20,000 horsepower and the resluting sound wave concussions vibrate the fluid in your eyeballs so violently you cannot focus on the cars for the first 300 feet.

It is impossible to see them.

If it's cloudy, you can literally hear TF echoing off the clouds for 20+ miles.

I love Top Fuel. Until you are there, you just don't get it.

bdk6017 > f86sabre
06/28/2014 at 11:13

agree the av-8b is one of the loudest high pitch ear piercing contraptions I've ever heard. Have you ever heard a T-37/a-37? For a little guy they are loud as hell too.

TheSpin > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 11:22

I have told many people they should go once even though they hate drag racing.

It is a life experience and a true assault to the senses.

Andrew Daisuke > loki03xlh
06/28/2014 at 11:32

You absolutely should, It's so much fun.

Brian, The Life of > f86sabre
06/28/2014 at 11:36

Seriously. The only man made thing I've ever experienced that was as loud as NHRA cars was an SR-71 taking off. Freaking unbelievable .

wizkashifa > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 11:40

Does no one else see the convertible Flex? You people are all irrelevant now that the CrossCabriolet has a worth challenger.

DSimms777 > quickquest88
06/28/2014 at 11:48

This is how they do it when warming up in the pits. At the starting line however...

Kinja'd!!!

DSimms777 > Planktron
06/28/2014 at 11:51

NHRA eliminations are almost always shown on ESPN2. Most of the time they are tape delayed and played on Sunday evening the day they happen. Last race was actually partly live on ESPN2.

LocalSP > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 11:53

The only thing that I can think of that could even match the sound of Top Fuel Drag cars are Rolls-Merlin or Allison piston powered supercharged unlimited hydroplanes. Nothing like hearing 6 of them coming to the starting line at wide open throttle.

YSI-what can brown do for you > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 12:07

Damn, that sounds epic! I was gonna go to the race in the post but I had to work that whole week

YSI-what can brown do for you > f86sabre
06/28/2014 at 12:11

Well it is like an 8L engine putting out like 8 thousand horsepower.

I also heard F1 cars at Indy this year on the main straight. Sounded awesome!

YSI-what can brown do for you > 3daywheelie
06/28/2014 at 12:15

Sounds like something I would enjoy. I am going to have to go next time. I literally live 45 minutes from Route 66. I go autocrossing there sometimes!

Matthew Keyser > quickquest88
06/28/2014 at 12:42

Especially the guys that scrub the tires after the burnout! They are standing there with no protection right in front of the headers. They are insane.

BigBlueMadness > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 12:42

There haven't been F1 cars at Indy for years.

BigBlueMadness > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 12:45

For how loud they are from the stands, you can multiply that by 10 when you are standing on the starting line. I have had the pleasure of standing with the starter between one pair of Funny Cars at Pomona ... Unbelievable.

Matthew Keyser > wizkashifa
06/28/2014 at 12:46

Yea I got a couple pictures of that, the Mello Yello people were giving out free drinks from the thing. I really really hope it has the 3.5 EcoBoost V6, just imagine.

Bryan Lively > Shiyal
06/28/2014 at 13:00

The five engine mods are deafening outdoors in close proximity but taking them indoors at Louisville in February at the Farm Machinery Show (where MAVTV Modified photo was snapped) is unreal. Even as violent as the sound is at Louisville, pullers have told me that Top Fuel and Funny Car are still much louder. I'm usually busy at a pull every weekend but I am going to sneak off to a NHRA event soon.

whoosh > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 13:01

Fire breathing dragons is what they are. Only louder.

killo15 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 13:04

Now you need to go to the 4 wide nationals in Charlotte! think that's bad? add two more cars! 40,000 HP launching simultaneously is like having a seizure. for 4 seconds.

bryan40oop > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 13:10

Don't get me wrong, f1 cars are LOUD. But in this particular video the noise is resonating off the buildings you can see in the video amplifying the sound. Top Fuel / Funny Cars are in a complete different league.

Karrbon Fiber > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 13:19

I don't think one can call themselves a car enthusiast until they've been to a NHRA event. There is nothing on this planet like seeing a car hit 300mph in under 4 seconds. I swear you see the car move then hear it later. It overloads the mind with pure badassery. As a mechanic I like hanging out in the pits and talking with the drivers and mechanics and attempting to get parts from the cars. Its not unheard of to take a set of used slicks home, pistons, or a blower belt. I happen to have a blower belt from John Force.

KimJongIl > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 13:20

It's probably more like:
1) Atomic bomb
2) Saturn 5 rocket
3)NHRA

KimJongIl > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 13:37

I live in Shorewood about 15 minutes west of Rt66 Raceway. We have always been able to hear top fuel from our house, especially the night races. I grew up on that race track. I spent every Tuesday night there for test and tune during high school. I actually competed in a 4 cylinder rebuild pit crew competition there during nationals which was a ton of fun.
Having grown up on NHRA and only recently (2-3 years ago) gotten into F1, I can say there is a lot F1 can learn from NHRA. Last time I went to nationals, it was $65, which is way more affordable than F1. That $65 got you pit access where you could walk around and meet drivers and watch the pit crews rebuild the cars between races. At COTA last year, the closest I got to the drivers was watching them go around the drivers parade, and $65 covered parking...that's about it. F1 could do a better job giving fans greater access, and I don't just mean that for at the track. The only way I can even watch F1 races right now is by illegally downloading them.

Doctor-G-and-the-wagen > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 14:00

Kinja'd!!!

Is this a chopped-top Flex? That's kinda awesome.

Matthew Keyser > Doctor-G-and-the-wagen
06/28/2014 at 14:02

Yes it is, and very. I really hope it has the 3.5 EcoBoost. That'd be insane.

All Motor Is Best Motor > KimJongIl
06/28/2014 at 14:17

Saturn 5 for sure. What an epic piece of machinery. Truly awesome, in the real sense of the word.

Are you completely stupid? > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 14:17

10,000 hp now.

GreenLED > f86sabre
06/28/2014 at 14:20

Having been to a few drag races, and living near a Marine base and having stood about as close as is safe to a hovering Harrier as possible... I think I'm going to go with the top fuel cars. Harriers are loud as hell, but when two drivers hit the throttle, it rattles you to the very soul. Hell, there's a guy with a pro stock NHRA car that lives a mile from my house, and I can hear inside when he's running it on his dyno.

YSI-what can brown do for you > BigBlueMadness
06/28/2014 at 14:23

SVRA had a vintage race, there were two F1 car there. A Benetton 197 and a BMS Scuderia 191. Both with V10s! Here is a video I made of one of them!

YSI-what can brown do for you > Are you completely stupid?
06/28/2014 at 14:23

Holy moly!

YSI-what can brown do for you > bryan40oop
06/28/2014 at 14:27

Oh they definitely are loud, the shifts can be felt in your chest! I was just wondering if and how much louder a dragster was.

pickettk > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 14:48

At home in California, we live about a 15-20 minute drive from the Pomona Speedway, where they do the NHRA Winter Nationals every year, and we can watch the races live on tv, with the tv muted, during a live feed, and still be able to hear the roar as they tear down the strip.

Neal C. Potter > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 15:10

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job I've had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this - 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go to tech tab for work detail http://www.jobs700.com

TadKosciuszko > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 15:21

I loved every trip I made to the Southern Nationals. My new goal is to make it to the Charlotte strip. I want to feel 4-wide Top Fuels.

BigBlueMadness > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/28/2014 at 15:29

I would have loved to have seen that race!

MTY85 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 15:45

The loudness isn't what gets you, it's how your entire body feels like it's going to rumble apart. The burnouts don't seem TOO bad but when both cars launch, it feels like the Earth is shaking apart for a few brief seconds.

CMB > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 15:50

Loudest thing I can recall hearing was the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis from 3 miles. To quote the NASA guy next to me: "At 500 ft away, the acoustic energy is enough to kill you...at 1000', you will only wish you're dead!"

dalejrfanfreak > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 16:18

Below are a couple of my NHRA videos that illustrate how loud they are. The bottom one is my favorite because you can see the cars move before the sound gets to where I am standing, and then after the finish you can hear the sound echo off the mountains. Thank you for posting about one of my favorite motor sports!

dalejrfanfreak > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 16:18

Prismatist > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 16:35

Top Fuel dragsters are rated at 3.5 on the Richter scale, as measured in the grandstands. The noise has been described as "the whole race track is being bombed."

Dances With Squids > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 17:27

The thing that made top fuel so forceful to me was not the volume of the sound, but the force of each and every pressure wave on your whole body. This was about thirty years ago when I used to go to Rockingham twice a year.

A little story. Back then if you got a pit pass, you could walk down the far side of the track all the way to the finish line. I used to watch the top fuels from there standing twenty feet away from the track protected by a 4' chain link fence.

For some reason that year, everyone was popping their blowers. This was before the days of retention straps. I saw one blow at the end of the track. The blower bounced off the side of the track and snapped a 6" diameter tree. That same weekend, a blower popped near the start of the run and the blower took a football bounce into the grandstands. It's amazing how a crowded grandstand can suddenly become empty except for one unfortunate woman. The blower knocked her over and then fell on top of her.

I stopped standing at the finish line after that.

SirRaoulDuke > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 17:44

I don't know, you ever been to a Shuttle launch?

Nitrofan1 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 19:17

Nitromethane dragsters average 150 db @ full throttle.

nitroand1320 > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 20:31

Insurance demands have caused most tracks to move the stands far, far back from the track, meaning square-law drops in loudness. As an earlier poster said, standing near the fuel cars at launch is as much more intense than feeling them from the stands as watching from the stands is over other motorsports. It's no longer even "ungodly indescribably loud," it's a whole new form of sensory experience.

Another casualty of the increasing cost of fuel racing is the end of teams doing "throttle whacks" in the pits to seat the clutch during warm-ups (the whacks don't seat the clutch predictably enough - the demands of the modern clutch are also what brought about the end of half-track burnouts). What used to be great fun was not only being able to stand right next to the car for a moment of WOT, but also to watch the shock wave of experience ripple through the surrounding fans, like waves in water.

For those who asked about the difference between a 10,000 HP nitro motor and something like the Formula 1 18K-20K RPM V10's and V12's, having heard them all I'd liken the F1 motors to an incredibly loud dentist's drill, and the nitro motor to...well, there's nothing else to which I can compare it. The first one is piercingly loud, but still a sound one hears; the second transcends loud and one's entire body becomes the medium through which the sound moves.

Thanks for writing about a beautiful and amazing sport.

Matthew Keyser > nitroand1320
06/28/2014 at 20:41

F1 cars hurts ears, Nitro cars hurt.

KimJongIl > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 21:24

Im sitting outside my house right now, about 15 minutes away from the track, and I can tell you top fuel just started running a little bit ago. It sounds like the earth groans for 4 seconds every handful of minutes.

Donald B. Anderson > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 21:35

93Miata > Old-Busted-Hotness
06/28/2014 at 21:57

0-100 in 0.8 seconds. They are running 280 mph at 660 feet (3 seconds on a good run).

schwartz > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 22:15

I was just by there earlier today. Spent the last few days at Autobahn Country Club. Saw Danica Patrick down at my hotel bar where I was staying.

93Miata > KimJongIl
06/28/2014 at 22:15

First of all, you're comparing apples to oranges. COTA had 113,000 people on Sunday last year. Route 66 has grandstands for 30,000 and they won't be full on Sunday. With a crowd 1/4 of the size, the pits at 66 are STILL unwalkable for most of Sunday. Can you imagine what the F1 pit lane would be like?

Second, your cost information is way off. COTA cost $10 to park in the remote lot and $170 for GA. Route 66 is $5 for parking and $125 for a weekend general admission pass.

NBC sports broadcasts F1 races so I have no idea what your last sentence means.

Misty A. Damato > Matthew Keyser
06/28/2014 at 23:33

mrbwa1 > WMUCarGuy
06/28/2014 at 23:35

Used to go t the AHRA events in Spokane, WA as a kid. The strip was sunk between concrete bleachers set in the side of a hill. Saw many jet cars, wheels ganders, even the 3 jet shockwave Semi. Tha was the only thing close to a singlet of fuel car. NOTHING is like 2 top fuelcars when you are at the fence (much too close for NHRA safety standards fence). It's not just a sound. It's the smell of rubber and nitromethane, the taste, the eye irritation and then the concussion. When you see the Mythbusters talk about blast waves from bombs, then you get the idea of what top fuel is. It's a shockwave hitting you. Not just sound and smell and all that. It is literally chest thumping power.

Barry Land > Hyland33
06/29/2014 at 00:37

I used to love taking "virgin" friends to the strip and watch them jump when the first warmup whacks of the throttle hit them. I got one of my friends up almost on top of a Funny Car warming, up, it was the first time he had seen nitro cars and he about passed out when he got sprayed with fuel at the hit, and with no earplugs, the sound made him jump about 6 inches. He was pissed at me all day, but he was hooked. Over the years, a lot of the fun stuff that they used to do is gone. The hot girlfriends/wives backing them up, the dry hops, and now the warmup whacks of the throttle. Added to that, the 1000ft nonsense, they almost seem bent on messing it all up.

Beef7up > f86sabre
06/29/2014 at 01:12

The HARRIER. MCAS MIRIMAR, they hover it right in front of the paddock and then rotate and take off. Right up there with funny cars for shockwave of testosterone.

GR1M RACER : Wrong Most of the Time > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 01:48

I tried taking a shit at the Gatornationals. I went during topfuel because I knew there would be no line.

Dirty Harry Callahan > Bryan Lively
06/29/2014 at 03:06

The pullers are right, nothing in the piston engined world compares to the brutality of a top fuel launch. 500ci producing 8-10k hp running a AF ratio of ~4:1. They are utterly obscene. Few things of human creation on this earth have the kind of raw power to produce such noise. Pullers are amazing in their own right but nitromethane is the big reason they cannot compare. Alcohol fuel is utterly tame by comparison.

WalterABrockjou > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 07:50

last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My neighbour's sister has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out.

This is what I do,,,,,,,,,,

www.bam80.com

K317H > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 12:59

Still not as epic as a B36 on take off...50 year old recording with crap equipment and it'll almost shake your speakers off the desk. That's 6 radials turning and 4 jets burning. :)

hoosiercub88 > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 13:04

Kinja'd!!!

imma let you finish, but first.. there's a convertible Ford Flex.

I hope it's an ecoboost!

quarterlifecrisis > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/29/2014 at 14:32

F1 cars at WOT are a piercing sound, I've heard them in V10 and V8 iterations on track. Top Fuel and funny cars are felt, and the fumes burn. Very different feelings.

chadtoddham > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/29/2014 at 17:01

Hahahahaha!!!! The last time I saw a hat get blown off of someones head it was due to an RPG explosion, which too was loud. Cars are preferable to explosive devices.

George McNally > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 19:29

I've been to a few NHRA races (Maple Grove in Reading PA).....I've tried to explain how loud these cars to my wife.

I told her to imagine someone standing right next to her and having that person scream directly into her ear while a Top Fuel car did a run in front of her.....she wouldn't hear the person screaming at all.

The fact that a T/F car uses 7 to 10 gallons of fuel in a run blows me away.

Destructive Tester > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/29/2014 at 21:43

I've always wondered what permanent hearing loss sounded like...

Slighty_Less_Cooler_190e > Matthew Keyser
06/29/2014 at 23:03

Nice to add that it was during a burnout in which only half the cylinders are used i believe. The 4 seconds blast down the track is the main event.

Matthew Keyser > Slighty_Less_Cooler_190e
06/30/2014 at 00:22

No this was actually during a run. The camera on my phone just got overwhelmed with all the volume and didn't know what to do with it all. It does sound like a burnout from the video but it was in fact a pass.

n2_space > GreenLED
06/30/2014 at 09:31

I live 4 miles from ORP where the nationals are held... you can hear them in my backyard. Can't in the house though (it's very well insulated).

FormerInstants > Matthew Keyser
06/30/2014 at 09:55

If I recall correctly, the Saturn V launch vehicle was 195 dB. I doubt these are louder.

Abssy_East_New > Matthew Keyser
06/30/2014 at 10:28

Have been taking my kids and friends to Englishtown (Summernationals) for the past 4 years. Being in section 3/4 is probably like being next to 9 inch guns on a destroyer that can fire continuously. I was walking through a concrete grandstand tunnel last year while a funny car race went off and the sound waves bouncing around the tunnel were so strong that they pushed me around so it looked like I was a few beers away from pass out drunk.

Nitro in your nose indeed...

JackMcCauley > YSI-what can brown do for you
06/30/2014 at 10:55

What surprised me when I attended a race is that the top fuel cars will rattle your eyeballs just like that tea and that phone. It is impossible to focus on them as they roar past because your eyes are vibrating too much.

Awe inspiring, and I've never experienced anything like it before or since. Nothing is as loud as a top fuel dragster. NOTHING.