Is hitting the rev limiter really bad for the engine?

[mushtafa]

Hitting the limiter won't damage anything. It's there to protect the engine. If the engine didn't like it, the limiter would've been lower.

I hit mine sometimes, but it's not good practise. At the limiter you're already past the max power of the engine, and in my case, my turbo can't keep up and runs out of puff.

 

[randal]

ITT: No worried Honda drivers.

 

[Clarkey]

Depends on the engine. Limiter bashing an SR20 is a one-way trip to broken rocker arms. As stated, it's not the rpm that is the issue, it's the action of the hitting limiter which breaks them. If you use spark-cut such as a Bee-R you're guaranteed to break some, even if the rpm is set quite low.

 

[P.B]

Why is the SR20 so weak as such ? I thought hitting the rev limiter is what drift cars want ?

 

[Clarkey]

Honestly it's because they are a steaming heap of ****. I'm so frustrated with mine I'm honestly thinking the best course now is to abandon the build and swap a V8 in instead.

But no, the engine isn't making any power when it's into the limiter so it's hardly good for drifting. It's painful to watch people drifting really slow in too low a gear bashing limiter and grabbing handbrake.

 

[Meridian]

I avoid hitting the limiter as the sudden stop in acceleration isn't comfortable.

This. Mine cuts the fuel when you hit the limiter. It doesn't directly hurt the engine, but there's a 25%+ that chance the engine management light will go on and boost will be limited until the ECU is reset. The most likely time to do it is when overtaking, as my concentration is on other matters rather than the rev counter. I have a warning buzzer, but near the red line the exhaust tends to drown it out.

 

[ianh]

But no, the engine isn't making any power when it's into the limiter so it's hardly good for drifting. It's painful to watch people drifting really slow in too low a gear bashing limiter and grabbing handbrake.

Guilty

Took a few months to get out of that bad habit and into weight transfer initiation under braking instead (my most reliable technique) but I was only ever good for one corner, trying to string a few together was my down-fall, never could quite get it and eventually gave up.

 

[balls]

Depends on the engine. Limiter bashing an SR20 is a one-way trip to broken rocker arms. As stated, it's not the rpm that is the issue, it's the action of the hitting limiter which breaks them. If you use spark-cut such as a Bee-R you're guaranteed to break some, even if the rpm is set quite low.

Spent a lot of time at the limiter on my SR... thought the generally accepted chocolate bottom end issue was people using thinner and thinner oils in them?

 

[mrk]

Some engines prefer being explored. I don't hit the limiter all the time,. but if the coast is clear, and it's been a while, then the foot goes all the way down. The S54 sounds sublime north of 7000rpm. Power continues to be made until 8300rpm since the remap.

If your engine is made for it, then it's fun to do it here and there

 

[xs2man]

Guy at a "cruise" in aberdeen was bouncing off the limiter until his car caught fire.

 

[Clarkey]

The bottom end isn't chocolate. 99% of them blow up from people modding on the cheap and screwing boost in without proper mapping and supporting mods.

 

[Pants]

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!

What is tickover rpm, and I wonder how much power it makes there?

 

[joeyjojo]

Last time I looked for an answer to this I read that in some cases, at the limiter the oil circulation is insufficient to adequately lubricate the engine. Not sure if true.

 

[Rainagul]

The occasional hitting of the red limiter isn't a problem, repeated and prolonged rev limiter hitting on a stock engine will cause damage over time.

9/10 times there is no reason to hit rev limiter.
Most engines will be past their peak torque/hp so it's better to switch gear earlier.

 

[Shoza]

Can't be that bad - Top Gear did an episode in Ukraine where they drove the cars only in 1st gear at the rev limiter for some distance.

 

[Uncle_Gravy]

Used to rev my 1.2 clio to the limiter in the car park with my crew cause it was sik innit.

still going strong at 110k miles

 

[Scooby_WR1]

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

That torque figure is impressive, what power/torque does the v8 Scania produce?

 

[adam cool dude]

9/10 times there is no reason to hit rev limiter.
Most engines will be past their peak torque/hp so it's better to switch gear earlier.

I hear this a lot but it isn't true. It is better to red line as when you change up you are in a better power band so even if you lose a little at the top end you are better in the next gear.

 

[godinman]

Plus you're in a lower gear so acceleration should be better anyway.

 

[Rainagul]

I hear this a lot but it isn't true. It is better to red line as when you change up you are in a better power band so even if you lose a little at the top end you are better in the next gear.

There are quite a lot of variables to take into account when considering this. What engine is being used, is it naturally aspirated/displacement/turbo/size of turbo/lag etc? These factors dictate if redline is a benefit or not.

Some diesels I have driven for instance require you to short shift as all the power is down low and you lose out by staying in a gear for too long.

If you can rev to 8k, but your engine has lost most of it's power at 6.5k, then the time it takes getting that last 1.5k revs out the way will negate any benefits of being higher up in powerband on the next gear. The opposite is true with a different setup however.

Generally speaking those who hit the rev limit lose time rather than gaining anything and most road cars these days are not designed with redlining to get that extra 0.1s benefit in a straight line.