Is hitting the rev limiter really bad for the engine?

[shauncr91]

Hi,

As in the title just how bad is it to hit the rev limiter in a car? Obviously running the car to higher RPM is putting more load on the car than driving at a lower engine speed but I'm referring specifically to the limiter itself.

It's always been something that I've believed in being bad for the engine but I can't really think why, more just something I heard once and always believed? Is a hard or soft rev limit better/worse for the engine health?

 

[grudas]

It's a rev limit for a reason, it literally stops you from damaging the engine, I hit rev limiter once in a while, no issues. It's usually 500-800rpm below the actual "damaging your engine" territory..

 

[acemastr]

Generally tuners will increase the limit by 500rpm (that RS6 on here did it by more than that i think). The engine will rev to 10k+ before valves contact pistons generally (obviously depends on engine).

I've hit it a few time on the R6, and that's 16500rpm. Just don't hold it there, heat becomes a problem.

 

[ianh]

My old R34 Skyline went from 7000 to 8500rpm after mapping and head work (valves/springs etc) and I used the limiter "a lot" during my amateur drifting days. Mine was a "spark cut" limiter rather than "ignition cut" so I had lots of lovely bangs/flames out the back.

 

[adolf hamster]

It isnt in my car, it disconnects the throttle and goes to idle in neutral or it changes gear in any of the gearbox modes, i dont know if its even possible to make it bounce off the limiter.

I guess as long as you arent driving any length of time on it it wont do any more harm than driving it hard anyway.

 

[Burned_Alive]

Only vaguely related, but I once hit the rev limiter in 3rd gear in a Mclaren 650s and nearly pooed. It was accelerating so fast, I forgot to change up. The guy in the passenger seat wasnt impressed. Car was fine, probably.

 

[Nasher]

Most performance cars will regularly be hitting the red line and never have issues because of it.

 

[adam cool dude]

My GT-Four hits 7.3K every time I use it which is quite a lot for a turbo motor.

 

[azibux1]

On the other hand... Better be careful..



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmuzvsPZsaI

 

[Holst1981]

I avoid hitting the limiter as the sudden stop in acceleration isn't comfortable.
Best to change gear at the right point.

 

[d_brennen]

Only vaguely related, but I once hit the rev limiter in 3rd gear in a Mclaren 650s and nearly pooed. It was accelerating so fast, I forgot to change up. The guy in the passenger seat wasnt impressed. Car was fine, probably.

Same experience in a Super 7. Forgot how driving worked for a few seconds

 

[andy_mk3]

Hitting the limiter does no damage for a bit while driving. Sitting on the limiter for ages isn't too clever though. My rev limiter was upped 500rpm and it's fine on it.

 

[Flibster]

9000RPM+ every time I get in the car.

 

[breadturbo]

My rev limiter is 2750rpm in the dodge bet Scania's is even lower

 

[Stormster]

It's rude not to hit the limiter when you have a noisy exhaust! Never ever seen an ill effect from hitting it.

/chav mode off

 

[tom_nieto]

The whole rev counter flashes when mine hits the limiter, so it must be good!

 

[Maccapacca]

I found out that my father's mustang dash goes all red once you hit the limiter last weekend

 

[flinco]

As said before, it isn't very comfortable hitting the limiter most of the time due to the sudden lapse in acceleration.

I don't think I've hit the limiter on my current car. The power drops off at 6500rpm and you'll have changed gear by the time you get to 7000rpm.

 

[sovietspybob]

As long as you're not there bouncing off it for minutes at a time it's fine imo. It's there for a reason and will have been set with a decent amount of safety margin so as long as your engine is in good heath don't be afraid of hitting it.

If you ever own anything VTEC you'll regularly be hitting the limiter as the power is right at the very top of the rev range anyway so after owning one of them you generally stop worrying about it, made me laugh when i swapped from a Honda DC5 to an Impreza as some of the guys on the scooby forums were adamant you should never really go over 5k rpm... Mine used to regularly hit the 7800rpm limiter when on track.

 

[Scania]

My rev limiter is 2750rpm in the dodge bet Scania's is even lower

2400 iirc, way past max power which is 444bhp @1900rpm and peak torque of 2350Nm from 1000-1300rpm.

Interestingly on the overrun near the engine redline it goes near silent(!) from what I'm told, after the silence, it goes bang!