This is what it looks like when you go from zero to over 300 miles per hour in less than four seconds. This is what it looks like when acceleration forces are so great they can make your retinas detach. This is what it looks like when you’re sitting in the cockpit of a Top Fuel dragster.
It’s easy to see, from the outside, that these sorts of race cars lead violent lives. They’re all noise, fire, and raw, punishing speed. But once you see Top Fuel drag racer Shawn Langdon go from a dead stop to 316 MPH in 3.77 seconds, you’re maybe a half of one percent on the way to fully understanding what it’s actually like.
The Bugatti Veyron SS, the reigning fastest full-production car in the world, tops out at 267 MPH, and takes 10 seconds to run through the quarter mile. It’s pointless to compare Top Fuel racers to anything most people will even begin to truly comprehend.
I know I can’t.
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
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