How bad is it to hit the rev limiter?

[lsd]

There's a difference between WOT runs and bouncing off the limiter. Don't be a fool and think you can bounce off the limiter all day. Yes you can do damage by doing that all the time but once in a blue moon is fine.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I've spent prolonged periods on a small, technical track bumping against the rev limiter (my car will go about 70 in 2nd and I never felt a need to shift up to 3rd). No harm done.

 

[Fenixgoon]

My rev-limiter kicks in at about 9100rpm. I love it.

11,500. nice try

 

[arcenite]

It amazes me that people find a way to make an e-peen competition out of just about everything...

So what if your rx8 revs to 9k. Seriously. It makes marginally more power than a kid slinging a yo-yo around like a lasso.

 

[videogames101]

It amazes me that people find a way to make an e-peen competition out of just about everything...

So what if your rx8 revs to 9k. Seriously. It makes marginally more power than a kid slinging a yo-yo around like a lasso.

Right...

 

[Bignate603]

It amazes me that people find a way to make an e-peen competition out of just about everything...

So what if your rx8 revs to 9k. Seriously. It makes marginally more power than a kid slinging a yo-yo around like a lasso.

You can't really compare the RPM of a mechanical oddity like a rotary to that of a normal engine with reciprocating pistons anyways. Different designs means different limitations. Hell, even between reciprocating piston engines you can't compare an engine big enough to power a car to one for a bike. Generally for most styles of engines the bigger the engine the slower it turns.

If I wanted to be like the typical forum dweller I could one up you all, we've got an engine at work that runs off diesel and spins past 60,000 RPM. It weighs so little that a your average man could pick it up and carry it around easily yet produces more horsepower than the ZR1. It doesn't require a radiator and can safely hit temperatures where parts of the engine are visibly glowing red.

I could say all those things (all of which are true), but if adds nothing to the OP's original thread. There's always something that is one step more extreme. Arguing about it is useless.

 

[BUTCH1]

The "Italian tuneup" is supposed to clear out the injectors so maybe you did gain some power.

Way back in the day when carburetors were used the "Italian tune up" was useful to remove carbon from the combustion chamber, with modern FI cars running so lean it's just not an issue anymore. Injectors simply stay in the on position longer (longer pulse duration) when a car is at WOT..

 

[vshah]

Actually, every engine in production from every manufacturer is run that way. Wide-open throttle for days on end.

It's how you find out that some cars will run out of gas in 12 minutes if kept at wide-open =).

there was a thread, which i've been trying to find for ages, about a guy who read that his s2k was "meant to be driven" at high rpms/near redline. he took it a bit too literally, and drove it in 1st/2nd all the time, and then wondered why his car died, somewhere around 50k miles if i recall. haven't been able to find that thread though

11,500. nice try

bike?

 

[thescreensavers]

there was a thread, which i've been trying to find for ages, about a guy who read that his s2k was "meant to be driven" at high rpms/near redline. he took it a bit too literally, and drove it in 1st/2nd all the time, and then wondered why his car died, somewhere around 50k miles if i recall. haven't been able to find that thread though

I heard that story too, never saw the thread, but in reality if you have good oil running the engine hard wont harm it as long as you change the oil accordingly and it still has enough additives,TBN to protect. I am sure he left it at Stock OCI and kept it at the high RPM's with oil that needed to be changed.

 

[Fenixgoon]

bike?

yep

 

[Pulsar]

I heard that story too, never saw the thread, but in reality if you have good oil running the engine hard wont harm it as long as you change the oil accordingly and it still has enough additives,TBN to protect. I am sure he left it at Stock OCI and kept it at the high RPM's with oil that needed to be changed.

Actually, that may not be true. If he really did run it at HIGH rpms for extensively long periods, it can result in issues with oil drain-back. The oil doesn't have enough time to drain back into the oil pan, and thus you end up starving the engine for oil. You can also whip the oil up into a froth and cause oil aeration issues. That's particularly bad on overhead cams where you have hydraulic lash adjusters and hydraulic chain tensioners. Nastiness can happen.

While the auto manufactures test that way, they don't expect an engine that has been run like that to last 300k miles. Of course, you shouldn't either if you're running it that hard.

 

[MrWizzard]

11,500. nice try

I can drive mine in the rain and not get wet!

 

[Fenixgoon]

I can drive mine in the rain and not get wet!

i can too with the right gear

 

[CraigRT]

I'm a fan of the rev limiter. Hit it fairly often

 

[hanoverphist]

i make it a point to not go over the red line in my truck. but, when towing on hills and such ill run it at 4500 rpm and it does wonderfully. right about 3000 rpm it seems to pick up a ton of power, so i spend a lot of time in 3rd and 4th gear when on hills. i rarely use 5th gear, the damn thing sits just under 2000 rpm at 65 so its pretty worthless.

 

[KIAman]

I hit my rev limiter at least 2-3 times a day. It's too much fun not to.