Rev limit

N

Nelly Welly

Active member
Hi guys

Out for a drive to work this morning I was stuck behind a lorry, once clear of a roundabout I floored it in second to overtake and before I realised it I was up at 7k revs and looking for my next gear.

Would I have done any damage by going beyond the red line ?
 
There's a rev limiter that kicks in and stops you revving too high

NB The rev limiter won't stop you changing down to a low gear at high speed and over-revving that way - if you do that it's possible to cause some serious damage
 
PerryGunn said:
There's a rev limiter that kicks in and stops you revving too high

NB The rev limiter won't stop you changing down to a low gear at high speed and over-revving that way - if you do that it's possible to cause some serious damage
Click to expand...

oh yeah... thats not pretty when it happens...

i regularly hit the rev limiter in the westy and its done no damage before. i guess so long as your not doing it all the time you will be ok. i would wage that the redline is well below the physical rev limit of the engine anyway.
 
Nelly Welly said:
Hi guys

Out for a drive to work this morning I was stuck behind a lorry, once clear of a roundabout I floored it in second to overtake and before I realised it I was up at 7k revs and looking for my next gear.

Would I have done any damage by going beyond the red line ?
Click to expand...

im sorry to sound harsh but is this for real? are you new to cars/driving?
 
That probably is a bit harsh, if you're new to a car, marque, whatever, then you can worry about its foibles and if you inadvertently do something you're not sure about it's natural to ask questions.

My first dumb question was about the cam belts on #69. I bought her privately and wondered if I should get them changed. I hadn't researched enough to know they have timing chains.

So in answer to the OP, as others have said, probably no harm done. If the engine was still cold you may have taken a few extra miles off its life (that you won't notice) but I wouldn't worry. Just get used to the capabilities of the car. They're surprisingly free revving :)
 
Stuart Truman said:
That probably is a bit harsh, if you're new to a car, marque, whatever, then you can worry about its foibles and if you inadvertently do something you're not sure about it's natural to ask questions.

My first dumb question was about the cam belts on #69. I bought her privately and wondered if I should get them changed. I hadn't researched enough to know they have timing chains.

So in answer to the OP, as others have said, probably no harm done. If the engine was still cold you may have taken a few extra miles off its life (that you won't notice) but I wouldn't worry. Just get used to the capabilities of the car. They're surprisingly free revving :)
Click to expand...

i understand what your saying and believe me i've asked many a stupid question in the past but to me this is just common sense? why would you assume you have damaged a car by going to the rev limit? its what its made to do? car manufacturers test engine to the utter extreme before butting the design into a car. and stress test engines for weeks/months at a time with them sat at the limit!
 
Nova2k7 said:
Stuart Truman said:
That probably is a bit harsh, if you're new to a car, marque, whatever, then you can worry about its foibles and if you inadvertently do something you're not sure about it's natural to ask questions.

My first dumb question was about the cam belts on #69. I bought her privately and wondered if I should get them changed. I hadn't researched enough to know they have timing chains.

So in answer to the OP, as others have said, probably no harm done. If the engine was still cold you may have taken a few extra miles off its life (that you won't notice) but I wouldn't worry. Just get used to the capabilities of the car. They're surprisingly free revving :)
Click to expand...

i understand what your saying and believe me i've asked many a stupid question in the past but to me this is just common sense? why would you assume you have damaged a car by going to the rev limit? its what its made to do? car manufacturers test engine to the utter extreme before butting the design into a car. and stress test engines for weeks/months at a time with them sat at the limit!
Click to expand...

A bit OTT on your reaction Nova. OP asked a question he didn't know the answer to. Now he does.
 
Nova2k7 said:
...to me this is just common sense?
Click to expand...
To you, yes it is. You seem to have a reasonable mechanical aptitude, so the issues involved are quite clear. Not everyone is fortunate enough to understand mechanics as you and I, to them it's just a complex magic box that does mysterious things to make a vehicle move. From such a viewpoint, I could easily understand how the sudden lurching from bouncing the rev limiter could cause concern. Can't you? We should be extra accommodating to such folk. To them, the world is a strange mysterious place, they don't need know-it-alls deriding them for not understanding something. They in turn could be absolute geniuses in a field we know little about and are equally naive in.
 
Now then Nelly - what's this GT6 hiding in the garage - just like a miniature Z4 coupe!

Got any pictures - me and my mate used to travel up to College in one during the late 70s!

Re the rev limit - like you I sometimes hit the rev limiter when overtaking - the engine is very smooth and the gears from 2nd to 3rd cause a big drop in revs so there is a tendency to hold onto second for too long - I also came from an MX5 which had a usefully higher redline (7250 I think). Nevertheless my Zed seems to shrug off the hard work I put it through and takes such high revs in it's stride. Always ready for more of the same - strong engine (4 pot) don't see why the same isn't true of the 2.2 - enjoy!

:driving: :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom