question about car rpm

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: wasssup

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: wasssup
So with a car with an auto tranny, is bad to throw it from lets say D4 to D3 (so you force the car to shift from 4th to 3rd gear), then down to 2 (2nd gear)? My example is with a '03 civic...i've done that occasionally if i find myself slowly gaining on the car in front of me (and i didn't feel like hitting the brakes). It's kinda corny, yeah, but what can i say, i'm bored. If it's bad though i'll stop doing it

Civics have brakes, I believe.

you're a sharp one, eh?

Sorry.. I didn't bother reading any more when I realized it was an automatic Civic.

 

[KokomoGST]

Evadman's original general answer was correct... (I'm going to ignore Trinitron and all that BS)

That being said... some folks mentioned power past the peak... some tuned engines (also mentioned) make power well past the redline. In fact, they could benefit from increased redlines. I know some people that have redone valvetrains/heads as well as balanced crank/rods/pistons so they can run higher rpms without worry. Some turbos will keep pushing air well past redline and make even more power.

Most Honda buffs already know the S2k, Teg, Lude, and Civics (with performance VTEC engines) have very high engine cutoffs. Cutoff is what I'll call when timing or fuel or whatnot is taken away so you can no longer increase rpms by mashing accelerator because it varies between cars. Honda also knows that their engines will do so on a regular basis. They provide strengthened internals so you can "uZ uR m4d VTEK j0", but like others said... it's increased wear.

Running constantly and steadily at redline is bad... even with the engine running rich to protect the engine from detonation, the internals/valvetrain may not be able to take it for very long. If your engine isn't securely mounted to the frame, you may have other problems indirectly related to your engine bouncing around in your engine bay (and thus your drivetrain flexing around like a pilate's instructor) aka wheel hop. And if your fuel pump and injectors can't keep up even for the slightest and you knock? Umm, at those speeds knock is not good at all...

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: LS20

Originally posted by: wasssup
So with a car with an auto tranny, is bad to throw it from lets say D4 to D3 (so you force the car to shift from 4th to 3rd gear), then down to 2 (2nd gear)? My example is with a '03 civic...i've done that occasionally if i find myself slowly gaining on the car in front of me (and i didn't feel like hitting the brakes). It's kinda corny, yeah, but what can i say, i'm bored. If it's bad though i'll stop doing it

that practice is called engine-braking... i do it in my 5sp all the time... i guess youll be putting wear on your auto gearbox... but i avoid it completely just because it feels weird

I don't think it's very good for your auto tranny, you'll wear your clutch packs out faster than they would normally, AFAIK.