Consequences of Redlining
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Consequences of Redlining I was racing an RX-7 off the lights earlier on today and I redlined my car at 7500rpm in 2nd gear (I drive automatic), I was curious as to what the consequences of this could be in the short and long run and what effect regular redlining would have.
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Rep Power: 0 Good thing I don't make it a habit, heh. On the upside, I think the guy in the Rex was driving stick, so being beaten by only 3/4 of a car length in auto isn't half as bad as I thought it would be.
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You can redline a car pretty much all you want. It may put a SLIGHT more wear and tear on, but it's very minimal. That's why engines are designed with a redline. Your fuel cutoff will prevent you from going too high in the revs and causing any damage when you are racing and redlining your car.
So rev away.
Your car is MADE to go to your redline. Of course if you do it every day at every light, your wear and tear may show sooner, but that's only if you beat on it. Some rev happy racing won't hurt it. Just keep up on oil changes. That's MORE important than whether or not you redline your car.
So rev away.
Your car is MADE to go to your redline. Of course if you do it every day at every light, your wear and tear may show sooner, but that's only if you beat on it. Some rev happy racing won't hurt it. Just keep up on oil changes. That's MORE important than whether or not you redline your car. 
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From: SF, California, US
Rep Power: 0 All the rev limiter does is cut off fuel, dropping RPM (to prevent the engine blowing up)
Can someone explain specifically how it could be bad for the engine? I would like to understand this, as i've never read/ thought about it before. (i rarely hit my limiter)
Can someone explain specifically how it could be bad for the engine? I would like to understand this, as i've never read/ thought about it before. (i rarely hit my limiter)
I sure wish my car was newer
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From: St. Louis, Mo
Rep Power: 364 Like S2000Man01 said... it's gonna be minimal wear that probably won't even show up until you're more than done with the car and have sold it and bought something else. Probably the worst aspect of redlining is the fuel efficiency.
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Rep Power: 0 Well, as far as made to go into redline is concerned, I was well after our cars redline (7200rpm) at 7500rpm. I don't think it was designed to go at that many revs it was just simply assumed that nobody would try to redline it in 2nd gear and hence only made the rev limiter kick in the highest gear (4th in auto, 5th in man.)
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From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Rep Power: 400 Originally posted by Da2K1
All the rev limiter does is cut off fuel, dropping RPM (to prevent the engine blowing up)
Can someone explain specifically how it could be bad for the engine? I would like to understand this, as i've never read/ thought about it before. (i rarely hit my limiter)
All the rev limiter does is cut off fuel, dropping RPM (to prevent the engine blowing up)
Can someone explain specifically how it could be bad for the engine? I would like to understand this, as i've never read/ thought about it before. (i rarely hit my limiter)
Well, as far as made to go into redline is concerned, I was well after our cars redline (7200rpm) at 7500rpm. I don't think it was designed to go at that many revs it was just simply assumed that nobody would try to redline it in 2nd gear and hence only made the rev limiter kick in the highest gear (4th in auto, 5th in man.)
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Rep Power: 338 Sometimes it's healthy to bring the RPMs up there... if you dont bring it up there once in a while, I heard you might lose some of the high end power as time goes on.
And yeah, was this a 1st gen RX? or maybe a NA 2nd gen? Even if it was a 2nd gen NA, it would still rip the Civic apart.
And yeah, was this a 1st gen RX? or maybe a NA 2nd gen? Even if it was a 2nd gen NA, it would still rip the Civic apart.
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Rep Power: 0 As a general rule of thumb, the amount of engine wear is an exponential function of the RPM = N^2 (N-squared). In other words, if you double the engine RPM, the engine is actually working 4 times as hard.
Common sense dictates that if you work the engine hard all of the time, it's likely to fail sooner.
Common sense dictates that if you work the engine hard all of the time, it's likely to fail sooner.
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Rep Power: 0 It was an 1989 RX-7 I think, hah, yeah, theres on way a more current model RX-7 (ie: mid 90s, RX-8) could almost not beat a Civic. No, this was the N/A older model that I believe only produced 140HP but a good bit of torque
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Rep Power: 0 i think that running your car in high RPM every once in a while for a little longer actually helps it out a lil because it burns away things that settle down in ur engine if it doesnt get hot enough to actually burn them. so if a lil hotter it will clear some things up. however u wear ur engine and i dont know if this is true or not, but i heard that our engines are not designed to actually withstand alot of heat(high rpms) for a too long period of time.
and i also dont think that in a manual civic the rev limiter only kicks in in 5th. i believe it has happend to me in 2nd or even 3rd.
if your in high rpm, i usually go up to the line when i race, its alright as long as u dont over do it(as to with alot of other things).
my .02.ce.nts.
and i also dont think that in a manual civic the rev limiter only kicks in in 5th. i believe it has happend to me in 2nd or even 3rd.
if your in high rpm, i usually go up to the line when i race, its alright as long as u dont over do it(as to with alot of other things).
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From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Rep Power: 400 Originally posted by htowncivicEX
As a general rule of thumb, the amount of engine wear is an exponential function of the RPM = N^2 (N-squared). In other words, if you double the engine RPM, the engine is actually working 4 times as hard.
Common sense dictates that if you work the engine hard all of the time, it's likely to fail sooner.
As a general rule of thumb, the amount of engine wear is an exponential function of the RPM = N^2 (N-squared). In other words, if you double the engine RPM, the engine is actually working 4 times as hard.
Common sense dictates that if you work the engine hard all of the time, it's likely to fail sooner.
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Rep Power: 0 Of course it does. A car that is used for racing all the time and sees high RPM's exclusively is probably not going to last as long as a car that is never brought above 3000 RPM.
You use your car more - the car is going to wear down faster. You rev higher - you are working the engine harder, thus wearing it down faster.
You use your car more - the car is going to wear down faster. You rev higher - you are working the engine harder, thus wearing it down faster.
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From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Rep Power: 400 Originally posted by htowncivicEX
Of course it does. A car that is used for racing all the time and sees high RPM's exclusively is probably not going to last as long as a car that is never brought above 3000 RPM.
You use your car more - the car is going to wear down faster. You rev higher - you are working the engine harder, thus wearing it down faster.
Of course it does. A car that is used for racing all the time and sees high RPM's exclusively is probably not going to last as long as a car that is never brought above 3000 RPM.
You use your car more - the car is going to wear down faster. You rev higher - you are working the engine harder, thus wearing it down faster.
It even says so in the brochure for our cars Registered!!
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From: Houston, TX
Rep Power: 0 A car is a wear and tear item just like eveyrthing else. On one extreme of the spectrum you have Formula 1 engines, which are run at 18,000 RPM for 2 hours continuously. These engines don't last past the race and must be rebuilt before every single Grand Prix.
If you redline only occasionally and take good care of your car, there should be negligible effect upon its engine life. Hondas produce so little torque that you have to rev them high to produce power.
However, if you redline constantly you're definitely subjecting the engine to undue stress and run the risk of shortening its life considerably.
If you redline only occasionally and take good care of your car, there should be negligible effect upon its engine life. Hondas produce so little torque that you have to rev them high to produce power.
However, if you redline constantly you're definitely subjecting the engine to undue stress and run the risk of shortening its life considerably.
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Rep Power: 0 Me and my car are actual proof that hitting your rev limiter too much is bad for your tranny. Last year I had installed some aftermarket gauges. After the insallation the needles started to stick. Anyways, to make a long story short, I hit the rev limiter too much. I thought my clutch was junk so I bought a new one and went to install it. Popped the old clutch off and the old tranny pretty much crumbled out of the car. The clutch was perfectly fine. Good thing I had a hook up at the Honda dealership. The tech that worked on my car said that hitting the rev limiter too much was definietely the cause of my tranny failure. That is straight from a Honda Tech of 25 years.
in fact he's kinda right about the "rpm=x^2" because a car going 200 mph has 4 TIMES the momentum of a car going 100 mph, meaning the same car going 200 mph is using 4 times the energy than the exact same car with the same weight and engine specs going 100. its all physics. ever wonder why there is a bigger difference between 140 and 145mph than 40 and 50 mph? its called wind resistance and all this has to do with physics. i recall from somewhere that the wind resistance of 200 mph is 4 times greater than 100 mph on a car.
Uhm there is a rev limiter in place in 1-4 gears...otherwise there would be no point in having one because the higher the gear the more energy you have to put out in order for the engine to be able to redline in 4th gear....
Typically people blow their engines in lower gears, IE 1st-3rd because the gears allow the engine to rev to quickly gain power. Unless you modify your ECU in some way to remove the rev limiter and speed governor.
Typically people blow their engines in lower gears, IE 1st-3rd because the gears allow the engine to rev to quickly gain power. Unless you modify your ECU in some way to remove the rev limiter and speed governor.
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From: boston, Massachusetts, US
Rep Power: 0 It will not harm your engine unless you were going past the actual redline (which is past fuel cut because no engineer in his or her right mind would allow something to operate at its failure point)
everone who made compairisons to racing engines is not considering the difference between a stock motor and an engine putting out in excess of 100HP per pistion. When you combine extreme forces with light weight, tight engineering, and low to no factor of saftey THAT is when things blow up.
Another thing people aren't considering here is that yes, it is true that greater wear happens at higher RPM's, and you would see shortened life If you were to run your car at constant redline, however even if you redlined the car in every gear, most of the time, you only spend a tiny fraction of your total engine operating time at or near actual redline and the excessive wear is mitigated.
Ive owned a car or 15, and redlined all of them pretty much in every gear, every time I accelerate, ever, and I have NEVER had a motor fail on me. The trick is to maintain your vehicle properly, and preferably change the oil with synthetic.
also honda gauges are NOTORIOUSLY optimistic.....
everone who made compairisons to racing engines is not considering the difference between a stock motor and an engine putting out in excess of 100HP per pistion. When you combine extreme forces with light weight, tight engineering, and low to no factor of saftey THAT is when things blow up.
Another thing people aren't considering here is that yes, it is true that greater wear happens at higher RPM's, and you would see shortened life If you were to run your car at constant redline, however even if you redlined the car in every gear, most of the time, you only spend a tiny fraction of your total engine operating time at or near actual redline and the excessive wear is mitigated.
Ive owned a car or 15, and redlined all of them pretty much in every gear, every time I accelerate, ever, and I have NEVER had a motor fail on me. The trick is to maintain your vehicle properly, and preferably change the oil with synthetic.
also honda gauges are NOTORIOUSLY optimistic.....
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Rep Power: 0 Note that I did not say that you are guaranteed to blow your motor if you redline all the time. That's like saying you're guaranteed to die earlier if you smoke cigarettes. My grandfather was a chain smoker and lived until he was in his mid-80's. Does that mean that cigarette smoking doesn't shorten your life? Of course not.
What I'm saying is that you are greatly increasing your chances of shortening motor life and/or causing motor failure if you push it to the extreme limits constantly (bringing the motor to redline). The reason why race engines don't last long and frequently blow up during the race is because they are used at their extreme limits all of the time.
I've redlined my car countless times, especially right after my new motor was installed. But I rarely do it nowadays, and only rev high in situations where I absolutely need to. I need my motor to last a long time, and beating on it constantly is not my idea of good maintenance.
What I'm saying is that you are greatly increasing your chances of shortening motor life and/or causing motor failure if you push it to the extreme limits constantly (bringing the motor to redline). The reason why race engines don't last long and frequently blow up during the race is because they are used at their extreme limits all of the time.
I've redlined my car countless times, especially right after my new motor was installed. But I rarely do it nowadays, and only rev high in situations where I absolutely need to. I need my motor to last a long time, and beating on it constantly is not my idea of good maintenance.
