As I was pulling onto the highway this morning, I guess I wasn't paying attention and hit the rev limiter. I realize the whole reason for the rev limiter is to prevent idiots like me from trashing the engine. Nevertheless, now I'm worried that winding it up that high takes some longevity out of the engine.

I jumped on the clutch the second I felt it kick in. I did a seach and found some threads that said its likley no damage was done. Any thoughts...

 

i wouldn't worry about hitting the rev limiter once. i also wouldn't make a habit of it, but it's there to prevent damage.

 

I bounced off my rev limiter all the time when racing on the hwy... Maybe that's why my tranny blew last week

 

At least you didn't blow the engine...undoubtedly a more expensive proposition. Maybe you could swap out the tranny and sell it on ebay - as slightly used.

 

You know if you're trying to run somebody and get the best times, or be faster......the best shift points are about 500 to 1000 rpms from red line. after those marks you're just basically winding up the engine rpm's and not really gaining anymore speed......just food for thought.

 

Every engine is different. They have different powerbands, make their peak power at different RPM's, and the optimal shifts points may or may not be right at redline.

If I try to take my 4th Gen (190HP @ 5000-5600rpm) past 6k on the highway, it's wheezing for breath. So yes, your statement would be more or less true here.

The 5th Gen VQ30DE-K (222HP @ 6400rpm) doesn't make peak power until redline. You won't get all that you can out of the engine shifting 1000rpm short of redline. You'd only have 200HP or so, instead of 222HP.

The 5th Gen VQ35DE is sorta in between. You don't need to short shift it as much as the 4th Gen, but it won't pull all the way up to redline hard like a DE-K will.





As you can see the 4th Gen takes a complete dump after 6k, yet the DE-K engine is still building in power all the way up to the limiter pretty much.



Every motor is different