5/20/2023 0 Comments Redline racer![]() While it’s true that the rev limiter is there to protect your car, brushing up against the rev limiter in a type 1 over-rev isn’t really a big deal. You know enough to sound like you know what you’re talking about, but not enough to give good advice. See, while it’s theoretically possible for an engine to be revved hard enough and become hot enough to burn off carbon deposits the thing would probably have torn itself long before the deposits were burned off. ![]() What about the Italian Tune-Up?Įver heard of this? Where you turn on the car and rev the bejezus out of it…the idea is that it’ll impress your mates and that it’ll burn of carbon deposits and make the engine run better. This sudden and dramatic exceeding of the manufacturer tolerances is often referred to as the ‘money shift’ because of its potential to cause expensive damage to your vehicle. This will cause the vehicle to feel like it’s hit a brick wall with engine braking and is the main way revving to redline can cause engine damage. The transmission will be going much faster than the engine and so the engine, when the gear is engaged, will rev and exceed the redline. Say, for instance, you’re in third gear racing towards redline and you want to shift into fourth but accidentally shift into second. It’s still possible to unintentionally rev to redline. So, then it sounds like I can’t rev to redline, so… This rev drop as you shift into the higher gear will then ensure the vehicle is revving at that peak power sweet spot but you’ve still shifted before redline. However, say you’re in a drag race with the Mercedes-AMG 35, you might push towards redline and shift into the next gear at 6200-6400rpm to account for a drop in revs. Beyond those peak rpms, power and torque starts to drop away, so, revving beyond the 5800rpm peak power output is theoretically pointless. So, take the Mercedes-AMG 35, for instance, it’s redline runs from 6500-8000 but it’s making peak power (225kW) at 5800rpm and peak torque (400Nm) between 3000-4000rpm. Sure, there’s power and torque being generated but peak power and torque is really what you’re looking for. See, while some people will tell you that the engine is producing power all the way to redline that’s not entirely true. What the rev limiter does to prevent over-revving is to cut fuel flow to the engine or it might also fiddle with the ignition system but, in both instances the system aims to reduce revs to a safer level. And these things tend to prevent you from either revving to redline or holding the car on the redline – but rev limiters are a reasonably modern thing. Thus, if you don’t exceed the engine’s maximum capability, it’ll happily rev without causing structural failure. See, car makers determine the redline of an engine based on several things like peak power and torque delivery but also on the structural strength of the componentry, including the piston, bearings, valves and so on. ![]() Well, the movies would have us believe that riding the redline in a vehicle will squeeze out every drop of oomph but by revving your car to redline or, worse, holding it on the redline, all you really do is cause the engine to tear itself apart. We know it as the red-shaded section of the tachometer and it refers to the maximum engine speed that an internal combustion engine can operate at before literally tearing itself apart.
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