RPM for Everyday Driving

[donv]

Great advice above. One other key point to keep in mind is that the biggest risk for over-revving the engine is not really on acceleration but rather deceleration. If you're an engine braker, or otherwise downshift unintentionally and don't match gears properly to your road speed, you can easily blow past redline and stay there (unlike when accelerating). On acceleration, the rev limiter is going to help protect the engine and back you off from redline - there is no rev limiter protection on deceleration, when the wheels are backdriving the engine through the tranny.