Just thought i'd post and ask your opinions really due to the fact that a mate pointed out to me that i was "thrashing the car" today.

I allow the car to warm up to temperature (keeping it below 3000rpm) and then i do quite often take it to 4,500-5000rpm before changing up. I then quite often get home and think that i did push the engine a bit hard and wonder what damage I could be doing. However, when the next day comes I have forgotten all about it and the process repeats itself. I do also, especially in the colder weather, find that i'm wheelspinning off the line, what could be damaged doing this? other than tyres that is. I have been driving like this for about 18 months and have had no problems so far but recently I have been trying to treat the car with a softer right foot as I am worried that it may be doing damage. It's a 1.4MPi and I have been told that the engine is bulletproof, just wondered what you guys think?

-Duggie 'worryguts'

I tend to kill cars, but Lissy has withstood my driving thus far. Seems like a solid little beastie to me

The rev range is there to be used.

:popcorn: Oncor the abuse I guarantee someone will have a go at you for starting this thread simply because those people like to be heard.

We all tend to get our foots down when the conditions are right and all I will say is that things that wear and tear will do so more quickly I.E. Engine parts, drive train, suspension tyres etc

These things you obviously can replace but its all down to how much cash you have in you're piggy bank etc.

If you have modified your car like a remap etc then I would always recommend servicing twice a year but again its down to £££.

Just think the more you floor it the more you pay its the most simple way to look at it.

The rev range is there to be used.

Beat me to it. I just say that if it was not meant to be done then the manufacturer would have made it not do so.

I do the same thing in my VRS. Driving to work at the same point everyday, uphill (60MPH limit) I tend to rev tilll 4500rpm then change. When I do this the engine is warm already.

Like you, I have been doing it for a while now. I wouldn't worry.

When I'm on the motorway I love taking my vrs to 4000 or 4300rpm, I think it starts to make a terrific noise past 3500. Maybe I'm weird

I'm expecting to have people have a go at me for starting this thread, but to be honest i'm looking forward to finding a comeback (landed myself right in it there didn't i?). My furby has been remapped... but to 75Bhp, had the suspension bushes changed and a new set of coilovers fitted in February. The responces so far would seem to indicate that it is ok, maybe i should stop worrying and just make sure I have a few 'undred in the bank just in case.

Oh, and i do like the noise beyond the 4000 Rpm mark... Don't laugh at me... it's one of the "throatyist" 1.4 engines out there in my opinion!

-Duggie.

You'll have to come for a ride in my car sometime mate, then you'll see what thrashing is!

You'll have to come for a ride in my car sometime mate, then you'll see what thrashing is!

I knew that I would be able to rely on you for a comment like that... Maybe see if some of the DubClubOxford guys are out and meet up with a group sometime? I'd love to have a ride in the Octy... Just please stay away from ditches... Remember, it's a Skoda not a Rover!

-Duggie.

The red line is there for a reason, so using the engine upto that limit is not hurting it really. OK you may advance the engine were slightly, but IMHO if it wasn't meant to be used, the manufacturers wouldn't let you, so it's perfectly fine really.

I drive mostly around the 2 - 3500 rpm mark but i certainly take it up to 4500 now and again.

yegnold, you are not weird, I like the sound of the engine revving too

Ok, mine is a vRS Diesel, but still......I like the noise

Well the system has a rev limiter, so you can't really push it too hard. Doesn't do much for fuel consumption, but it's your money. Laboring an engine with low revs is the big killer.

I knew that I would be able to rely on you for a comment like that... Maybe see if some of the DubClubOxford guys are out and meet up with a group sometime? I'd love to have a ride in the Octy... Just please stay away from ditches... Remember, it's a Skoda not a Rover!

-Duggie.

or both of you at the oxon meet.

On the lines of wheelspinning you wont go faster, in fact you get a slower mark off the line, traction is more important for a fast get a way and whilst boy racers like to do it, you will be a head of most of them just by keeping your traction on pulling away.

Unfortunately, your 'friend' - and I think if he continues to criticise other peoples driving he'll have very few friends left soon - doesn't know what he's on about. Had you been driving a vRS, then you have been revving the car to close to the rev limiter. In a 1.4MPi you're nowhere near the rev limiter. That's the device that the manufacturer fits to stop you damaging the engine. Anything under the rev limiter is in the normal operating range of the engine.

One of the joys of relatively low powered cars is that you have to drive them. In a vRS you can follow anything at a safe distance, then when an overtaking opportunity arises you can close and, if safe to do so, easily pass. Quite often without even changing down.

In your car, you have to plan that overtake. You have to think about what gear you're in, what speed you will need to pass the car in front, exactly how much road you need clear ahead for a safe overtake. You need to keep the revs up because that's where the power is. In fact, in a lower powered car, you quite often have to plan ahead to drive up a steep-ish hill. Driving a car like that makes you a better driver. It makes you drive, not sit in a sofa with wheels.

It's your car, from your other posts you seem like a well-adjusted individual, certainly the kind of person I'd sit in a car with, so keep doing what you're doing. Enjoy the experience of driving your car.

As a driving instructor I know what good safe driving is.

I also know what eco driving is.

And advanced driving.

And rally driving.

And driving like a ****.

Basically if you are wheel spinning off the line at traffic lights you are not in control of the car. Unless of course you intend the wheels to spin. It won't damage the car but it does reduce the life of your tyres.

From an eco driving point of view it is more economical to change up early keeping the revs low. If you are red lining the engine for each gear change you are simply wasting fuel. But it is important to gun the engine occasionally to clean it out, if you sit at low revs all the time the engine gets choked up. My mother drives my spare fabia and she rarely goes over 2,000rpm. She has a heart attack when I drive it. lol

I personally have a number of driving styles, I have my DSA approved eco safe drive and I have my let my hair down at the weekend I am driving a vRS FFS drive.

I would suggest that for general driving you should moderate your driving style a little to save fuel, tyres, wear and tear to the car and most importantly money.

The rev range is there to be used.

Indeed. Not using it ever can lead to things getting sotted/gummed up- like VNT mechanisms on TDIs for example. Just make sure the car is regularly serviced and warm before you do it.

I'm the type of driver that does not thrash it very often but it will not to the car any harm to thrash it now and again, I think if you were the driver that thrashes it every single day of the week then you will have problems down the line but the occassional thrash should not do it any harm.

i brought my VRS from an old guy who told me he had never reved it passed 3K, whitch after he drove me in it i can realy belive. He was about 70 somin.

When I got the car and drove it I took it over 3K and it seemed to be be a little upset, pause, splutter and so on. the more i did it the better it got. in the end when I got it serviced, 2 days after i borught it, they were impressed with how clean the engine bay was, but said the car didn't even look like it had been bedded in, and the power could be down as a result, i got it RR next door and it is only running 112BHP. Havn't got it remapped yet and i think it has improved, so lession i lernt there was........

Drive your car hard now and then as otherwise it could have dmaging affects.

Don't know what other people will say about that...!!!????

is revving a petrol to 4.5-5k considered thrashing it?

does your manual make any comment about maximum continuous and maximum intermittent engine speeds?

is revving a petrol to 4.5-5k considered thrashing it?

Not on my watch ....lol

is revving a petrol to 4.5-5k considered thrashing it?

I think this was one of the reasons i posted my mate's comment, i wasn't sure to be honest...

It seems that the majority thinks that it is ok to give it the beans but only when safe and legal to do so. As for the wheelspinning i'd say that half the time i mean to do it half the time i don't... time to brush up on my clutch control!

Oh, and thanks for the "your driving seems ok" comments, it's nice when someone says they'd feel safe in a car with me.

-Duggie.

Oh, and thanks for the "your driving seems ok" comments, it's nice when someone says they'd feel safe in a car with me.

One person out of 40,000 members :P

i brought my VRS from an old guy who told me he had never reved it passed 3K, whitch after he drove me in it i can realy belive. He was about 70 somin.

When I got the car and drove it I took it over 3K and it seemed to be be a little upset, pause, splutter and so on. the more i did it the better it got. in the end when I got it serviced, 2 days after i borught it, they were impressed with how clean the engine bay was, but said the car didn't even look like it had been bedded in, and the power could be down as a result, i got it RR next door and it is only running 112BHP. Havn't got it remapped yet and i think it has improved, so lession i lernt there was........

Drive your car hard now and then as otherwise it could have dmaging affects.

Don't know what other people will say about that...!!!????

Mine was the same.

Have you tried disconnecting the battery for half an hour then taking it for a ruddy good thrashing?

Mine felt a lot perkier afterwards.

Consenting adults, privacy of your own home, what's the problem?

oops, wrong thread

Just thought i'd post and ask your opinions really due to the fact that a mate pointed out to me that i was "thrashing the car" today.

I allow the car to warm up to temperature (keeping it below 3000rpm) and then i do quite often take it to 4,500-5000rpm before changing up. I then quite often get home and think that i did push the engine a bit hard and wonder what damage I could be doing. However, when the next day comes I have forgotten all about it and the process repeats itself. I do also, especially in the colder weather, find that i'm wheelspinning off the line, what could be damaged doing this? other than tyres that is. I have been driving like this for about 18 months and have had no problems so far but recently I have been trying to treat the car with a softer right foot as I am worried that it may be doing damage. It's a 1.4MPi and I have been told that the engine is bulletproof, just wondered what you guys think?

-Duggie 'worryguts'

get a VRS and have some REAL pleasure when you put your foot down

get a real (octy) vrs and have some real pleasure when you put your foot down

:d:d

hth