Recommended to redline my car every once in a while? [Necro thread]

[AdamK47]

No that is stupid.

This is a JEDI thread. The quality is the same today as it was back in 2007.

 

[tortillasoup]

You don't want to be cruising down the freeway for 20 miles at redline, but accelerating hard through first and second gear a couple times a day isn't going to hurt anything.

ZV

Reminds me of some poster somewhere that had an S2000 who would drive around in a lower gear than necessary and he eventually blew up his motor at like 40K miles or so. He posted a lot about how his driving habit was 'good' for the motor by keeping it hot, or something like that. Complete fool.

 

[skyking]

On the topic of RPM's and clearances, my truck's oil consumption went up by 30% when I made a run across Montana with 80 MPH speed limits. It is an oil burner but this was quite noticeable

 

[tortillasoup]

On the topic of RPM's and clearances, my truck's oil consumption went up by 30% when I made a run across Montana with 80 MPH speed limits. It is an oil burner but this was quite noticeable

yup... the '98-02 corollas, if you got one with an oil consumption issue, the 3-spd corollas burned more oil than the 4-spd cause the 3 spd revved higher on the freeway.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Having grown up in the days when if you couldn't work on your car, you were either a girl, a rich kid, or didn't drive, I can say that to those that weren't around, you can't imagine the changes. Unfortunately, a lot of information about everything, especially cars is passed on for generations without being updated while the engineering in cars is advanced by light years. My first car was a 1953 Ford. At 100,000 miles the old flathead needed overhauling. Today, 100,000 miles on a car and if maintained, it is just getting broken in. Knowing that fact, it stands to reason that there is very little that you can do to a vehicle in 500 miles that will affect it in any way. With all parts machined by computers most parts show virtually no wear even after several thousand miles. When you enter into that the fact that most manufacturers run their engines at full throttle before you get them, it just emphasizes that. The main reason that most manufacturers tell you to take it easy is for product liability.They don't want to be sued because someone gets in over their head before they are comfortable with the car. They know if they are sued, they can't win because it will cost too much to fight it. Nobody advocates thrashing a new car or an old one for that matter. When people say to drive like you are going to drive, they are right. If you are a normal person drive like you normally would, but that doesn't mean to try and destroy something.

They may do that on an engine dyno but that is not the same as running an engine to redline with the weight of the car to motivate.

As for product liability? That's a load of nonsense IMO. You're honestly going to tell me that Honda recommends a break-in procedure on a 158hp Civic because they're afraid that someone will get in over their head in the first 500 miles?

 

[jdoggg12]

It's been my understanding that the 500 mile easy break-in was due to 2 related factors. Feel free to correct me if my understanding is off base.

1 - This is the period in which the piston rings are seating themselves in the cylinder. A slower/lighter use of the engine during this time results in more consistent wear on the walls.

2 - During this time, the temperature of the motor plays a significant role in the wear & tear on the cylinders. Running the motor too hard while it's cold may cause uneven wear on the walls... so it's easier to just say "drive easy for 500 miles" than to say "wait till your motor is up to full temperature before run the piss out of it"

I've never bought a car brand new, however, I've purchase a handful of motorcycles new and changed the oil by 200 miles or sooner on each. The first oil change usually looked like one of these http://www.imprintitems.com/sitewide/images/products/prodbigimgs/6561562.jpg

The thought of letting all those metal shavings circulate in my oil was a bit unnerving, hence the very, very early changes. All my bikes went on to last 20k miles with no motor issues whatsoever.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I find it difficult to NOT redline a car at least a few times per day. I do not think I have every had a car that was fast enough to avoid redlining all the time. My 300m could accelerate quite a bit faster than my current non-turbo forester, but, even with it I'd hit the redline at least a couple times per day.

 

[ultimatebob]

how about a 04 civic coupe?

Heh, you probably have to come close to redlining that sucker every time you get on an highway onramp