Does revving your engine regularly damage it?

[ang9444]

Hello,

 

Just seen a comment on a video with someone saying that if you rev your engine a lot, it will only last like 10k miles or it will damage it? I have a fabia monte carlo and tend to rev it to 5-6000rpm regularly, is that a bad thing or?

 

Cheers

[Ootohere]

I take it you have a petrol and not a diesel.

 

I can hardly see where you are doing any harm, i take it you are in the correct gear, and that is you wanting to get a move on

& not just redlining it for the fun of it..

[Ally_bassman]

Revving from cold, yes it will probably damage it.

Taking the revs to the redline regularly when warmed up will be fine.

[OzFabia]

Needs a good rev every now and then to clear the carbon particles out. I can create a good size smoke-screen after a week of stop-start driving. 

[mannyo]

No damage will occur as long the engine is warmed up and not revved to the max from cold or just after startup.

 

My MK1 Octavia vRS petrol spent most of its time at very high RPM travelling laps of the nurburgring, the engine was still running fine at 100K miles when it came up for sale on ebay a couple of years ago. I sold it at 54K miles in 2005.

 

I really wouldn't worry about it, the rev limiter is there for a reason as long as you do not go over the red line for extended periods the car will be fine.

[lol-lol]

With DSG the computer decides when to change gear and has all the information.

 

Always good to let the oil warm up to 70C or so despite it being a 0-30 weight oil.

 

Opinions vary but I like to warm it up with some revs ie 4-5K but keep the load light.

 

When warm cane it like it is a hire car.

 

Cars can get coked up if treated to gently and get worse fuel consumption and performance, and pollute badly, regular thrash a good think not a bad thing.

[SeaGoat]

With DSG the computer decides when to change gear and has all the information.

 

Always good to let the oil warm up to 70C or so despite it being a 0-30 weight oil.

 

Opinions vary but I like to warm it up with some revs ie 4-5K but keep the load light.

 

When warm cane it like it is a hire car.

 

Cars can get coked up if treated to gently and get worse fuel consumption and performance, and pollute badly, regular thrash a good think not a bad thing.

I agree entirely about the importance of allowing the engine to get up to operating temperature (I aim for 80ºC) but I don't understand your first sentence and subsequent "cane it like it is a hire car" comment - do you mean override the DSG Computer which "decides when to change gear and has all the information"?

[ang9444]

I won't have to worry anymore then   cheers guys

[Gizmo]

Just be mindful that the oil takes a lot longer to warm up than the coolant, so when the (coolant) temp gauge is reading 90° the oil will still be pretty cool, oil is at full working temperature just under 100° ! (so it will take a good few minutes AFTER the coolant gauge is reading 90° for it to be up to temperature)

 

Any engine that is being worked hard is going to have a shorter life expectancy than one driven ‘normally’ for example rally engines will last less than 10K, as they are warmed up then driven on the limit for 90% of its life.

[XK140]

Any engine that is being worked hard is going to have a shorter life expectancy than one driven ‘normally’ for example rally engines will last less than 10K, as they are warmed up then driven on the limit for 90% of its life.

Exactly,so by habitually using high revs to proceed rather than using lower revs in a higher gear you are bound to shorten engine life in the long term to a degree. 

Personally I give my cars a good workout now and then using all the revs either for fun or when necessary in an overtake.However,when I'm not in a hurry I use always use the highest gear possible,to minimise fuel consumption,noise and engine wear,it's a matter of getting the balance right. 

[lol-lol]

I agree entirely about the importance of allowing the engine to get up to operating temperature (I aim for 80ºC) but I don't understand your first sentence and subsequent "cane it like it is a hire car" comment - do you mean override the DSG Computer which "decides when to change gear and has all the information"?

 

The gearstick and paddles for the DSG in the Fabia 2 VRS are simply electronic input devices for the Engine Management Unit and not mechanical linkages and therefore you cannot, or at least I have not been able to do it and I have tried, get the engine to over-rev, under rev or do anything much that would harm the unit as the computer will not let you.

 

That said, in the 300,000 miles I have driven with DSGs, I think I have only once managed to slip it in to Park whilst moving along. 

 

It revs right to 7K in the lower gears and if you use the paddles to down shift and the resultant shift would take the engine to over 7K revs it simply will not do the gear change.

 

Moving the paddles, or using the tiptronic function on the PRiND(L)/S stick is just a suggestion method which the computer will either act on or ignore.

[Ootohere]

Is this OP about a 1.2 TSI Monte Carlo Manual,  or some other car?

[ang9444]

Is this OP about a 1.2 TSI Monte Carlo Manual,  or some other car?

yeah it's about that car, that's what I drive atm

[ang9444]

Just be mindful that the oil takes a lot longer to warm up than the coolant, so when the (coolant) temp gauge is reading 90° the oil will still be pretty cool, oil is at full working temperature just under 100° ! (so it will take a good few minutes AFTER the coolant gauge is reading 90° for it to be up to temperature)

 

Any engine that is being worked hard is going to have a shorter life expectancy than one driven ‘normally’ for example rally engines will last less than 10K, as they are warmed up then driven on the limit for 90% of its life.

I have a non-maxidot display and I can't see the engine/coolant temperature? I've seen maxidot displays and they show it but mine is nowhere to be found, played with the buttons and can only see miles left for petrol, avg mpg etc

[Ally_bassman]

In that case, to play it safe I would wait until you have covered at least 5 miles or more before opening the taps to full.

[fabiamk2SE]

I never thrash my stuff as such. I prefer to look after it.

I let the car and bike get up to full working temp, and drive as gently as possible until then.

Even when theyre up to temp, i wont redline. The HTP redlines at 6k and i think iv only been slightly over 5k once.

I prefer to use mid range power myself. I'm not a big fan of revving out, unless its a hire car lol.

[Toxicvrs]

I never thrash my stuff as such. I prefer to look after it.

I let the car and bike get up to full working temp, and drive as gently as possible until then.

Even when theyre up to temp, i wont redline. The HTP redlines at 6k and i think iv only been slightly over 5k once.

I prefer to use mid range power myself. I'm not a big fan of revving out, unless its a hire car lol.

You've got 70bhp so don't need to red line

[mannyo]

I have a non-maxidot display and I can't see the engine/coolant temperature? I've seen maxidot displays and they show it but mine is nowhere to be found, played with the buttons and can only see miles left for petrol, avg mpg etc

I guess you have the dash with the blue light, once that has gone out the engine is at normal operating temperature.

[fabiamk2SE]

You've got 70bhp so don't need to red line

Ha yeah. Powerrrrrr!

Theres no need to redline anything really.

I had a 10bhp 125, years ago. Never redlined that either.

Just prefer stuff to last tbh.

[fabiamk2SE]

And to add to that.

My uncle redlines his cars through the gears right from brand new. Doesnt run them in or anything.

Reckons theres a theory that that it helps the piston rings fuse and seal better or something.

Hes never had a problem yet, but he doesnt keep them for more than 2 years.

Redlined his golf R when we went out in it the other day with 200 miles on the clock. N he'd been doin that since he picked it up.

I felt sorry for the car...

[xman]

The red line is there for a reason. Go beyond that and you risk valve gear damage due to valve bounce.

Its good to give the engine a blast from time to time, to clear debris etc. but going past the red line is pushing your luck.

Personally I dont see the point on the 1.2 tsi as the max torque band is 1550 and 4100 rpm and you get pretty healthy gas flow in that range...

[XK140]

And to add to that.

My uncle redlines his cars through the gears right from brand new. Doesnt run them in or anything.

Reckons theres a theory that that it helps the piston rings fuse and seal better or something.

Hes never had a problem yet, but he doesnt keep them for more than 2 years.

Redlined his golf R when we went out in it the other day with 200 miles on the clock. N he'd been doin that since he picked it up.

I felt sorry for the car...

There is a theory that engines that are driven like that end up producing slightly more power than engines treated normally.

....but,so the theory goes,they generally end up going bang a lot earlier.

Makes sense to me.

[jonro2009]

I have the monte Carlo tech, I'm sure that has the maxi dot but it doesn't show oil temp and it doesn't show a blue light either...

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[ang9444]

I have the monte Carlo tech, I'm sure that has the maxi dot but it doesn't show oil temp and it doesn't show a blue light either...

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Hmm that's strange, is there no blue light when you first turn the key and all the lights come on? I've seen maxi dot displays and at the bottom it says the temp?

[fabiamk2SE]

Hmm that's strange, is there no blue light when you first turn the key and all the lights come on? I've seen maxi dot displays and at the bottom it says the temp?

The maxidot is the one with the analogue temp and fuel guage.

Whats this blue light look like? Whats it for? Im abit lost haha.