Hitting 5.5k often.....

[Brucelee]

Developing a CONSENSUS doesn't impact the laws of physics. (Note to climate politicians).

If you guys want to rev your engines, that is cool, as long as it is legal and safe.

However, don't convince yourselfs that it is "good" for the engine. Your engine is not a muscle, it doesn't get stronger from use.

It is a constantly dying piece of machinery that dies a slow death, one RPM at a time.

To wit: You are interested in buying a Boxster and you come to look at mine.

It looks great and it runs great. I tell you that the reason is that I hammer the piss out of it all the time. To me, high RPMs are the deal.

I take it to red line every time I drive the car. I am convinced that the more times I go up there, the better for the car. A check at the dealer reveals that indeed, I love the rev limiter!

Do you buy the car?

Then I tell you that it is so good for my engine to rev it up that I regularly take it to Las Vegas. On the trip, I average 5 to 6K RPM for the 5 hours up and back.

Now, do you buy my car from me?

Answer honestly please.

My point is, saying this is "good" for you engine is kind of silly but it is a harmless silly I guess.

Enjoy!

[JAAY]

I never break 2900rpms.

[edevlin]

"I never break 2900rpms. "

"99 Boxster, S-Car-Go Headers, Milles Miglia Exhaust"

God bless you if that is true, but its a joke, right. I mean if you have trick exhaust and all, your Boxster wants to run.....


Ed

[porschegeorg]

There was a 9k RPM limit on my RX8. I don't know about piston engines, but rotary engines really do need to be taken to the limit every once in a while. Not the most torque, but the smoothest power I've ever driven.

I still like my Box better.

[larryshomework]

I hope there's no problem with it - I've been pushing it towards red-line on every drive.

I frequently drive (in twisties) with the car around the 4K mark so I've got power when I need it.

If this is bad, I don't want to be good

I ALWAYS redline 1st 2nd and 3rd aBout every Day

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

However, don't convince yourselfs that it is "good" for the engine. Your engine is not a muscle, it doesn't get stronger from use.

It is a constantly dying piece of machinery that dies a slow death, one RPM at a time.
Enjoy!

I totally agree with you Richard, I don't think anybody in this thread said it is "good" for the engine to be reved high or driven hard. However, it's a sports car and unfortunately some people never enjoy the car the way it was intended. An extreme example; I talked to this one guy the other day that has a 2001 C5 low mileage vette and he told me he has never driven it over 35 mph and he is afraid of driving it on the highway for fear of rock chips. He won't take it to car shows either because he afraid it might get scratched It's a C5 for crying aloud...they made 250,000 of them! Who are you babying it for? The guy was 65 years old and I'm thinking this guy seriously needs to get a life....he probably doesn't have a lot of good driving years left. Why waste them?

[dmcutter]

"I ALWAYS redline 1st 2nd and 3rd aBout every Day"

Good lord. I passed someone the other morning on a back road and saw about 85 by the time I got past them. I know I was in 3rd but honestly didn't look at the tach. I do know I didn't bounce it off the rev limiter. What's top speed at redline in 3rd?
My ZX10R will do 100 in 1st at redline...I don't get to bounce it off the limiter too frequently

Originally Posted by dmcutter

"I ALWAYS redline 1st 2nd and 3rd aBout every Day"

Good lord. I passed someone the other morning on a back road and saw about 85 by the time I got past them. I know I was in 3rd but honestly didn't look at the tach. I do know I didn't bounce it off the rev limiter. What's top speed at redline in 3rd?
My ZX10R will do 100 in 1st at redline...I don't get to bounce it off the limiter too frequently

In 3rd i get up to about 90mph

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by Adam

I totally agree with you Richard, I don't think anybody in this thread said it is "good" for the engine to be reved high or driven hard. However, it's a sports car and unfortunately some people never enjoy the car the way it was intended. An extreme example; I talked to this one guy the other day that has a 2001 C5 low mileage vette and he told me he has never driven it over 35 mph and he is afraid of driving it on the highway for fear of rock chips. He won't take it to car shows either because he afraid it might get scratched It's a C5 for crying aloud...they made 250,000 of them! Who are you babying it for? The guy was 65 years old and I'm thinking this guy seriously needs to get a life....he probably doesn't have a lot of good driving years left. Why waste them?

Absolutely! I am NOT suggesting that we drive our sports cars like little old ladies. I am simply saying that in the spirit of honesty, we don't go down that road of "hey, I have to drive it hard because it is good for the car!"

As a machine, it is clear to me that when I hammer my Boxster, I am NOT doing it any good.

Good stuff!

[markk]

Maintain it correctly with proper oil, clean filters, and perfect plugs, belts, etc. Put good quality petrol in it. Warm it up nicely (at least 10-15 minutes) untill you floor it. Let it cool down a bit too by driving the last 5 minutes or so before shutting it down nicely as wel (especially for turbo charged cars this is _VERY_ important)

For the rest, rev the hell out of it. It's made for it...

I do it with my BoxsterS, with my Mitsubishi EVO 8 MR RS and my wife's Peugeot 206gti all the time. Same for my former cars (Subaru Impreza and BMW e30 M3). No pain at all. Engines keep running as strong as ever.

And I will certainly do it with the "new to me" MY01 BMW e46 M3 I just ordered and gets delivered in 2 weeks. Woehahaha, a 8200rpm redline :-)


Mark.

[thomschoon]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

However, don't convince yourselfs that it is "good" for the engine. Your engine is not a muscle, it doesn't get stronger from use.

It is a constantly dying piece of machinery that dies a slow death, one RPM at a time.

You are very correct, an engine has only so much life, use it up only as fast as you can afford.

[Brucelee]

"'81 911 SC ROW = The Money Pit"

I rest my case!

[Paul]

Good, I'm glad we will never hear that opinion again!!!

[Brucelee]

Interesting. See the bolded comments on higher RPM impacts on engine internals.







Date: Wed Jun 7 11:55:45 2000
Posted By: David Ellis, Researcher, NASA Lewis Research Center
Area of science: Engineering
ID: 959212290.Eg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message:


I am assuming you are referring to overall fuel efficiency of the car in your question.

Fuel efficiency is generally referred to as miles per gallon of gasoline burned or MPG. The higher the number, the higher the efficiency of the engine. For a given engine, two main things determine the fuel efficiency: the gear ratio for the transmission and the amount of fuel consumed by the engine.

The transmission ratio is critical to efficiency because the ratio determines how many times the wheels turn per engine cycle. In a low gear, i.e., first gear, the wheels turn less than once per time the drive shaft turns. This produces the high torque needed to get a car moving, but it would be very inefficient at high speeds.

Higher gears have the drive shaft turn fewer times until in either third or fourth gear the drive shaft turns about once per revolution of the wheel. In modern cars equipped with overdrive, the highest gear, normally fourth or fifth gear, will have the wheels turn more than once per revolution of the drive shaft. Very little torque is produced relative to first gear, but the ratio means you get the most forward progress out of each cycle of the engine. This produces the highest efficiency for a given engine speed or revolutions per minute (RPM). Since you have to be going around 35 mph (55 kph) to get a car into overdrive, the first part of the answer is yes, the efficiency of a car engine increases with increasing speed.

However, what happens once you start to increase your speed further? Increasing speed means increasing the RPM of the car engine. As the engine speeds up, the mechanical efficiency of the engine parts tends to decrease due to increased heat, friction, vibration, noise, etc.

The exact speed where the maximum occurs is specific to each engine and can change with time as parts wear. Some increases in efficiency may occur as the speed increases because increased temperature removes the built-in allowances for thermal expansion and allow such items as the piston rings to seal for maximum efficiency. In general, though, the maximum efficiency is realized around the speed at which the car shifts into its highest gear.

[RandallNeighbour]

Jim, thanks for that good long explanation. I always learn a lot from you when you are in education mode

One follow up question. How often or when should I be adding an additive, or will running Chevron with Techron consistently keep the carbon deposits low?

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Jim, thanks for that good long explanation. I always learn a lot from you when you are in education mode

One follow up question. How often or when should I be adding an additive, or will running Chevron with Techron consistently keep the carbon deposits low?

Hi,

I add a Can of Jectron at the start of the season, in addition to working on engine deposits, it cleans the Injectors and Valves - the $10 Tune-Up '). Using good Gas and not storing it for extended period will usually be all you need to a year-round car...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99