Is it Bad to Redline your Engine? Can it be Good?

[@R3cce]

Definition of redline: Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine.

[@Xsar1942]

Or: Redline definition of not being a white line

[@4ae109]

leaving your rpms at the redline for a long time (minutes to hours) can cause your engine to blow. manufacturers leave the redline high so the driver can get power when they want, but they dont expect you to continually bang the redline. cars are not completely idiot-proof. that is why they have manuals and take licenses to drive them.

[@mfdoom4358]

@@4ae109 what about sport cars arent they supposed to handle redline?

[@ryans413]

My car goes to 8000 RPMs the redlines at 7000 and a caution line at 6500. I can rev to 4000 in park obviously a limiter but in drive I can go all the way to 8000 but why that’s so much stress on the engine even if it’s all warmed up it’s just going to shorten the lifespan of the engine.

[@R3cce]

@@mfdoom4358 Take for example the F1 racing car. It’s engine only lasts for 7-8 races. So it doesn’t really matter what car you own(regular or sports car). The engine components will wear out faster if you regularly hit redline.

[@mxmln8699]

I flor my 12 year old 1.2l Corsa with about 100k miles on the clock on the Autobahn for years now, also regularly reaching the red line. It still manages it like a boss. You just need to get it serviced regularly and wait for it to heat up before you do that.

[@Make-Asylums-Great-Again]

Ok

[@karelpipa]

Ok

[@HellaFlush070]

Ok

[@Llihcon]

Ok

[@erion_yt263]

Ok

[@TheRealEnglishTeacher]

Honda Civic owners at 3 AM:

[@ankybhagat9283]

Horror 😮😮😮😮😮

[@TheRealEnglishTeacher]

Top 5 loudest objects: 5. Motorcycle (100 db) 4. Concert (120 db) 3. Jet engine (150 db) 2. Shotgun (190 db) 1. Honda Civic at 3 AM (653 db)

[@MageZathara]

​@@TheRealEnglishTeacher 😂😂

[@2seep]

All that noise while barely going 20mph

[@TheRealEnglishTeacher]

@@2seep Jokes aside, you'd be surprised how fast they accelerate, and how well they handle. They corner so well, as if it's planted.

[@geoffclarke3796]

Great advice. I owned a Porsche 996 GT3 for many years with a redline of 8200rpm and maximum power was close to the redline so you really had to rev the engine for maximum performance. I used to hit the redline frequently on track days and had a few second gear blasts on the road and never had any issues. Always made sure the engine had warmed up before I extended it and the car was regularly serviced and had frequent oil changes. Too many drivers thrash their cars from cold and the results can be a trashed engine and big bills.

[@ghoulbuster1]

It's a Porsche, they WANT you to rev it! That's where the fun is.

[@AJS86]

Then they bring out a 991 and 992 and add another 800rpm 9000rpm is crazy

[@shanefowler9443]

​@AJS86 damn I thought my 8250rpm redline on my shelby gt350 was high...9k is WILD

[@AJS86]

@@shanefowler9443 I get 7500 with my Toyota 86. I'm still getting used to the boxer 4 driving sensation. All the way through the rev range there's no feeling. So without the sound or shift light on the dash you wouldn't know the rpm is up there

[@AJS86]

@@shanefowler9443 it's that smooth. My old V6 Commodore you'd know you were near the redline lol

[@barsorrro]

Richard, you have a rare gift for explaining things clearly, in simple terms, without childish simplification, and with a backing in personal experience. Keep up the great job! Really grateful for this bit of very informative and pleasant to watch video.

[@Comic-Man1]

100 percent hes the goat😭

[@kierenalvarez]

Did you see the length of the video for a no? Lol

[@svg_pikachu5816]

I wish that was true. Anyone can explain everything in 30 minutes. Rather find a video that tells it to you in 3 minutes and gets straight to the point

[@barsorrro]

@@svg_pikachu5816 Haha! You're so very wrong. On so many levels. Even putting aside the strict nonsense of what you said -- which can be ascribed to your inability to use grammar (See, how could you possibly explain _anything_ in 30 minutes if you're unable to compose even one written sentence that would carry the meaning across exactly as you wanted it to?) -- you took a very weird assumption that: a) everybody watching videos on KZbin is always in a dreadful hurry (... Well, duh, obviously -- why would they be doing it if they weren't, right? ;) ) b) listening to a good lecture canot bring joy (alongside information) c) the little timer in the bottom of the video is invisible, and nobody can judge beforehand if they're ready/happy to spend 30 minutes of their time on the video. Now, I was going to ask you to explain in a few sentences what inspired you to write your useless comment, but I'm not going to. And only part of the reason is that I'm fully convinced you wouldn't be able to. I'm just not interested.

[@svg_pikachu5816]

@@barsorrro if u werent interested then u just wasted time sweating your ass off writing that because I can care less about your comment 🤣🤣🤣

[@03olo020]

I'm glad you mentioned valve float at the end. One of the biggest killers of tuned engines is this. People absolutely underestimate the importance of timing and high quality valvetrain components.

[@Ambrose4k]

i was drive and i dont got a rev limiter on stock engine and it when to 7500, and the red line is 6500 but the engine was chilling

[@LifeLongBruhGamer]

@@Ambrose4k that has nothing to do with timing

[@patrickblakethesaint]

I'm so glad I discovered this channel. It's quickly becoming my favorite. It answers so many questions I didn't know I wanted to ask!

[@ElderlyAnteater]

Know you hear this a lot but I passed my first test today with 2 minors! Really appreciate your videos, especially watching loads the night before to get my confidence up. Cheers Richard, will be sticking around for future videos, love videos like these going into detail about cars rather than learning for the test, too :)

[@ConquerDriving]

That's really great news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!

[@sadface]

Wholesome af. Congratulations!

[@ElderlyAnteater]

@@sadface thanks man

[@nightwolf9951]

Dope stuff! I passed two weeks ago, driving in the same learners car that our fellow KZbin was teaching us on! Him and my instructor were the best help I could want and it paid off listening all the tips 🤙🏼

[@ElderlyAnteater]

@@nightwolf9951 happy to hear that my friend

[@floodtheinbox]

This video very approachably touches on subjects that those of us blessed with mechanical sympathy understand on a spiritual level: the engine in your car, although it be a machine, is still constrained by laws of nature and the properties of matter; and when a driver dimly pushes it beyond its tolerances, the results are inconvenient and expensive. What a great watch m8, honestly. Love this channel.

[@BO2Letsplay]

Had a thesaurus open for this for this comment did you mate

[@TheFracturedfuture]

It's not that deep.

[@nightwolf9951]

Man, I love how informative your channel is, so many great tips to learn for daily drivers or new car fans! Keep up the great work and know it is much appreciated 🙏🏼💙

[@georgebrindley1752]

Hi Richard. I'd already passed my test by the time I stumbled across your channel, but I've found your videos extremely helpful as a new driver. Thank you!

[@-aid4084]

@Thawne1338 if you have driven enough and properly that you are a confident driver, then you won't have any trouble. Say if you weren't feeling confident and you scheduled your test soon, you really set yourself up to fail.

[@georgebrindley1752]

@Thawne I didn't! I passed the second time, after I made a stupid mistake on my first. It's very stressful, but try your best to stay calm. For example, I engaged my examiner in a bit of a chat during the test, just to distract myself from how nervous I was. The other piece of advice I'd have is to not get too blinkered, so you can keep your head up and be aware of your surroundings. I failed my first test because I came off a roundabout into a bus-only road, because I was too focused on my gear change and my mirrors to see the sign. It is not easy, but you'll definitely get there.

[@-aid4084]

@Thawne1338 but test nerves are a normal thing to experience, so don't feel down from that, you just need more time to refine your driving so you become comfortable.

[@8XL]

@Thawne He didn't let his nerves get the best of him

[@Biibahh]

@Thawne lesson hour before test sorted mine out

[@dErHaRd23]

The level of precision that you have at all times makes this one of the best videos about engines/cars I have ever watched. I can truely say you are well educated about engineering nd mechanics and that you have an outstanding communication level. Brilliant video

[@valiantdiesel1332]

My primary car is a 2008 R230 SL 350, and the age vs mileage debate mentioned here is a very good one. The metal components of the engine, after 40000 miles, are perfect. The plastic components, after 15 years, are all reaching the end of their lives (looking at you, variable length intake manifold). The engine's been tuned so that after a certain temperature has been reached, the redline increases by about 500RPM (this is a stock feature on lots of new cars too) which kind of takes some of the worry away. When you're buying a car, remember that depreciation, although really harsh in the first few years, does occur for a reason. That Ferrari 360 with *only* 50000 miles might be £25k now, and that might seem like a great deal... until you buy the thing. Counterintuitive though it may seem, oftentimes the more expensive the car, the less the manafacturer actually expect you to drive it. A super highly strung engine categorically will not last as long as one tuned for long journeys, NA, turbo, diesel or otherwise. Remember that any car is as good as its weakest point, if that's the shoddy £200 handbrake on a £2,500 Hyundai Coupe, so be it, if that's the £5,000 air suspension on a £5,000 S-Class... you can see where I'm going with this. Do your research on the model of car, and the model of engine for the year you're looking to buy; if there's one glaring problem that costs twice what the car's worth to fix, make sure it's already been fixed/replaced/sorted before even getting excited. Nice cars get cheaper quicker for a reason and while there are plenty of diamonds in the rough, they scarcely get the care Richard gives his cars throughout their lives. On that topic, the approach to maintenance Richard takes on the Leon is exactly what everyone should aspire to do, yes it's more expensive than waiting for something to go wrong in the short term but works out so much cheaper in the long run. I've had the timing belt changed and every rubber and plastic component short of the head gasket replaced and other than a coil pack giving me a misfire on cylinder 6, the engine has been running super smoothly ever since. Service your car regularly, at least to what your manafacturer suggest or even more if it's financially feasible for you to do (especially if you do lots of slower miles, or traffic light racing). Your car will reward you by not suddenly dying on those particularly hot, or cold, days. Never ignore a check engine light too, you can buy cheap OBDII readers online which will (most of the time) be able to point you in the right direction for a fix, especially if you go to a garage who charge additional diagnostic fees for doing essentially the same thing, bear in mind this is only true of universal codes, some manafacturer specific ones will require specialist equipment (looking at you, again, Mercedes Star diagnostics!) Also, change your spark plugs! Often overlooked by servicing schedules, but they're often one of those tangible renewal feelings you might not get from a standard filter change. That's my two pence, sorry it's so long. :) TL:DR - Old nice car bad, new slow car good. Research car and engine before buying. Servicing cars good, waiting for problems bad. This video good.

[@zloychechen5150]

A like for thoroughness, otherwise, tl/dr.

[@valiantdiesel1332]

@100% COK Come to think of it a tl/dr would probably be a good idea

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

old corolla will live forever

[@DevanshBharti]

TLDR Good. Above it bad.

[@omostim2385]

Old S-Class airmatic has entered the chat. Damn right😅

[@alivekicking6247]

I'm 49, been driving since I was 17. I have a Leon, too. Mine is a 2018 Cupra 300. Irrespective of knowing it all already, I just love the way you explain things.

[@adrianridgway4333]

Richard would be perfect on Top Gear

[@lesa1378]

Init

[@cactusbase3088]

No way. He is far too professional to bother which such an infantile programme.

[@adrianridgway4333]

@@cactusbase3088 That's why he would be so good, help the show be taken seriously again!

[@RAYSGT]

@@adrianridgway4333 Nah the whole point of Top Gear is to watch 3 idiots doing silly things with cars, if they put Richard in it people would call it lame and boring and nobody would watch it

[@ArmednDeadly]

The American in me kept on getting terrified of the imminent head on collision… then I remembered you drive on the left. This happened several times throughout the video

[@moopet8036]

I've been driving for 30-something years and am not really watching these to learn anything - but they're just good, solid, quality videos. Well done :)

[@1988dgs]

I rebuilt the engine in an escort I had in the 90’s, new carb (yes, it was that old) and a home tuning kit, it could hit 55 in second ( I have no idea what the rpm was but it was definitely off the end of the gauge) in about 4 to 5 seconds and still 3 more gears to go. It pulled like a train even in 5th. I believe the carb was jetted wrongly Edit, just got to the part where you talk about the cam belt… the reason I had to rebuild the engine was the belt idler broke, shredded the belt, pistons ate the inlet and exhaust valves… bad things happened, but it was all repairable and it was a thirsty demon afterwards

[@Starchaser_24]

i bang the limiter almost once per 2 weeks and my car is 34 years old and 178k kilometers (110k miles i think) and it runs very smooth and had zero problems

[@harryminkley1962]

Love how an instructor is telling us it’s okay to ping it off the limiter 🤣 (dependent on vehicle and temp obviously)

[@samuelsmith6776]

i have a very special golf mk1 from 2005 that has been redlining warm and cold daily for 18 years, 300 000+km. it also races 10 laps a month on my local racetrack. i wish all cars was this bulletproof

[@ethanmccoy1680]

Old ls are the same I have a 02 ls430 and I drive it fairly hard and have no issues

[@neonblack789.]

Professional opinion: give it the beans

[@tynewlin]

​@@samuelsmith6776 when you gonna upload some videos of this gem?

[@AJS86]

My GT86 loves to rev high. 7500rpm Sorry still think it's better than an MX5

[@CarolinaCycloneJames]

I have a 13 mazda cx5 with over 255k miles. I drive it hard. But i also maintain it. I hit the limiter daily. Granted its one of the few cars that has a soft limiter set right redline instead of past it. It also depends on the brand. Mazda, honda motors are known for wanting to be revved high. They are designed for that type of driving. Therefore the components are designed for that even after 9 years or over 200k miles. I think it all comes down to maintenance. I do also drive it easy from time to time

[@illuminaticat4861]

Really eye opening. I'm guilty of lugging my engine and it shows with head gasket leaks. Never knew what I was doing was wrong so many thanks.

[@dinky_toys]

My 1991 110hp Honda Prelude gets driven hard when warmed up, it has over 100k Miles (170kkms) never have i ever had any problems in my ownership. The interior looks like its brandnew and has almost no wear. I know students (specially young ones) dont want to drive old cars anymore but old cars are just built different.. and thats coming from a 18yo. Theres really no good reason for me to wanting a newer car. To each theyre own tho✌️.

[@hubert190601pro]

This month did my first IAM observed run, They encouraged me to rev my mx-5 out. I think you explained it well.

[@Docinaplane]

Thank you for this information! You had me thinking, I drive a British car, a German car, a Japanese car, and fly an American airplane. They are all different. It's not easy to keep it all straight, lol

[@233yip]

There were 2 exact same cars in my family with 1.4 NA petrol engine. 1. Driven gently, 40000 miles, oil change every 6-7k miles 2. Driven hard from break in period ended, 100k+ miles, oil change 3-5k miles, looked after really well Both often driven in congested area The second one was significantly better than the first one. Engine was much happier across all rev range and the car didnt have much problems in the 8 yrs of ownership. car only broke down twice due to flat battery.

[@stug45]

Probably more the oil than how it's been treated. Italian tuneups aren't always a bad idea.

[@olii9062]

@@stug45 Its crazy to me that many modern cars now have oil change intervals or 20000 miles. Having seen what mine looks like at 5000, it amazes me they even run on oil that old

[@einar8019]

@@olii9062 synthetic oil is crazy

[@willpeony5534]

Driven gently implies short trips, death for an engine.

[@DC224gb64]

imagine the difference if they were turbo diesels with egr and/or dpf.

[@guritamarctiberiu1567]

PS: at the end you talked about downshifting through multiple stages at once. I wanna add that some cars have mechanical safety elements for this (if I try to shift from 6th to 3rd my stick seems to be stuck no matter how hard I push it forward, the stick lets me get into 3rd only after the revs tune down a bit).

[@TheCurlyP]

Well that's interesting, that you've maintained the car so well and still saved so much vs replacing it. Not many cars get new seats, damage to the trim is usually just left alone

[@mayorplayz]

As a guy who owns a 12 year old manual diesel turbocharged car, this is a really helpful video, thanks!

[@justinbuckley]

I think a lot of us have a lot to learn from you in terms of thorough car maintenance and care. It would be interesting to see a video covering the maintenance costs of your Seat Leon over that incredible mileage. I hit the red line for the first time a few weeks ago and got an "Engine overspeed!" warning, which did worry me, but it sounds like it's okay since it was fully up to temperature.

[@brianmapingere]

0

[@pussymcstanky]

The 'Engine overspeed' warning was probably a safety warning from the manufacturer, in case you hit the redline. If that happens from you simply hitting the gas, then yeah, no problem. But, if you hit the redline through mechanical means (for example, you shift into too low of a gear while going too fast), then that can cause damage, and very serious at that.

[@crazeguy26]

Ford vehicles will put a that code up if it has shut the injectors off.

[@AsteroSSB]

@@crazeguy26 which Ford model? Cause i haven't seen a message like that on a 1.0, 1,5 and 1,6 Ecoboosts

[@crazeguy26]

@@AsteroSSB mostly on the pickup trucks.

[@zloychechen5150]

I've had multiple old rwd volvos, and the handbook for those says you should do an Italian tune-up once in a while. Helps burn up some of the carbon residue.

[@oscarzt1652]

an 'italian tune up' doesnt actually work unless you are doing back to back laps of the nurburgring or flat out on derestricted autobahn because the combustion chamber does not otherwise get up to a hot enough temperature to burn off carbon

[@AsteroSSB]

@@oscarzt1652 This is true. Redlining it for few seconds will not do much good. You need to rev it at 5500+ for like 30 minutes continuously in order to heat it up enough so it starts burning carbon deposits. If you blast it for like 2-5 mins you are only making it worse, it builds carbon much more that way.

[@v12-s65]

there you said it.. it was an old car and therefore makes sense

[@hileutewie]

I've owned a humble Peugot 206 with only 60hp and I redlined that car all the time. Regardless of my "abuse" it was still very reliable, because I took care of the engine and only hooned it, when the temperatures allowed me to do so. Honestly, people really don't have to worry too much about pushing the RPMs, especially when they drive a n/a car. Those in particular are designed to be revved, the power is at high RPMs, not pushing the engine is quite a waste of the engines potential IMO.

[@maxmgquba8494]

Yep NA are awesome for high revs

[@tiborjanoskiss2731]

I love it that you match the rpm's with the gas pedal when downshifting.

[@johnmichaelrichards]

Love your videos. All very informative. It is good to find a driving instructor with an 'older' car as most people who pass their test will generally start with a secondhand car. My wife learned to drive in a modern car. When she bought her secondhand Metro, she had never before come across a choke and I had to show her how to use it as it was a cold day when we picked it up. I was a driving instructor back in the early 80s. I look after all of my cars - ensuring that oil, spark plugs and all filters, cambelts, etc, are changed regularly. My last six cars (Mercedes 280SE W109/ MG Metro 1.3 Mk2/ VW Passat B2/VW Passat B3/BMW 520iSE E34/ Volvo 940 GL Estate first series) had all done in excess of 250,000 miles when I parted company with them and were still running well. My current Jaguar S-type SE 3.0 has only just reached 110,000 at 22 years of age as I don't do so much mileage now - its mechanicals are fine but age is getting to the electrics - as Richard rightly said, age is more an issue with modern cars than mileage. I was driving a VW Passat B3 when the new MOT emissions tests came in. My local VW dealer, Rigby Turner, was amazed that each year it went in, the emissions on my trusty Passat were cleaner with passing time. I can only put it down to meticulous care of the car. I changed the oil with good quality (Castrol Magnatec) on or before time, I used Molyslip for many years before switching to Slick 50, and I used Redex or STP with each petrol fill-up and every two years I did a full de-coke with Redex in the spark plug chambers. This regime works for my track car too which gets thrashed at ARDS for the last 23 years. Look after your cars and they look after you.

[@linuxandretrogamingfan3882]

You're a very savvy car owner Richard. I just had all the gaskets and belts replaced on my Impreza back in december. I'm at around 100k miles looking to see how long I can make it last I bought it at 93k miles but that was over a year ago. Has several mods, around about 165 ps and weighs just under 3000 American pounds. Not as zippy as your Mazda I'm sure...But that's what my other car, the 2014 WRX Special Edition is for ;) Another great video here from you man.

[@quinnobi42]

My personal approach to whether or not to redline an engine depends on how the engine feels high up. Some cars love to rev; I know Subarus will easily go above redline. Other cars run out of torque higher up and you don't really gain anything going all the way to the redline, so shifting earlier just makes more sense. My car falls into this latter category, so most of the time, if I take it high up in the revs, I'll shift 500-1000 rpm short of the redline because the engine starts to run out of torque at those rpms.

[@Randommmmm204]

It makes sense but my car feels good high up, max torque is at about 6200rpm I think, redline being at 6500. But it wasn't built for that, it kept having problems with things like valves or cam followers. So I got it built and now it feels even better and it hasn't failed yet. Just because an engine feels good high up doesn't necessarily mean it'll be reliable if you go there regularly.

[@micimaco9509]

@@Randommmmm204 if your redline is at 6500 rpm its probably your max hp at 6200 not your max torque as max torque is usually generated in lower rpms (1500 to 2500)

[@gabrielv.4358]

@@micimaco9509 not really. Max torque can be all the way up to 4300rpm's

[@drivein8055]

@@gabrielv.4358 i have my max torque from 1750-3000 revs. that said its a diesel, which really only revs to 4,5-5k , thatfor, max hp is at 4000rpm (ive never revved it to the limiter, latest shift ill do is at 4,5k, it can rev a tad higher, idk how much tho)

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

@@drivein8055diesels are low rev high torque, that's their whole point

[@etproductions666]

First video I've seen on this channel, I was amazed by his knowledge of how things actually work. Loads of youtubers say the same thing, but they miss the details that really shows their knowledge. For example, knowing that the temperature that is shown in the display is not the same as the actual temperature, is something most people dont know about Approved!

[@quinnobi42]

With money shifting, typically the most common part to get destroyed is the valves, since they'll float and get slammed into by the pistons. Connecting rod failures can also happen but that's not as common. Most engines nowadays are interference engines, which means that there's an area where both the valves and pistons can be, and the timing of it is such that they never contact. This is done to be able to increase the compression ratio. Many older engines (especially once you get to 80s cars and older) do not have interference engines, so overreving the engine and causing valve float won't destroy your valves. Something else is much more likely to fail.

[@dabj9546]

My car doesn't have a temperature gauge but it has the blue lamp. In winter it can take up to 15 min for the lamp to turn off which is sometimes less than my drive so it doesn't even get warm. Also I have only 75 HP so I need more than a quarter of that for reasonable driving. Anyways, the situation is suboptimal, but I drive carefully and so far the car is still going.

[@19jacobob93]

My general rule of thumb is if the engine is healthy and well maintained, then FULLY warmed up, go for gold! It's hard to damage an engine from driving it hard once it's fully warmed up, and thermal expansion has played its part. Massive amounts of damage occur from driving too hard before the engine is warmed up because not only are the tolerances and clearance out of spec, but the irons and alloys of the blocks, heads, cylinder sleeves and pistons all expand at different rates. It's possible to seize certain engines by driving them hard before they're warmed up, as for example, the aluminium pistons expand rapidly in comparison to the iron blocks. Some Alfa Romeo engines were notorious for this! Once they're warm could redline them all day... Edit: My 1992 Mercedes with an M104 engine has 230k on the odometer and runs like new. It's never had a single engine component replaced, just fluids, filters and ignition parts (has a distributor and rotor). I idle it for around 60 seconds first start in a morning, sometimes more or less depending on how cold it is outside, then drive like a grandma for the first 15 minutes. After that I often beat on it. Helps to keep the combustion chamber clean too when you hit the redline 😜

[@Bruh-vp6qf]

I already know how to drive but I stay subbed to your channel for all the car ownership videos. I always pickup useful tidbits from them. Cheers mate

[@xdevs23]

Very interesting and informational. One additional note: many manual shift cars prevent you from shifting into a gear that is too low. The gear will be locked in a way so that the shift lever does not go into that gear even when you try to move it into that gear. Of course, a lot of force can overcome this, but it will prevent most, if not all, accidental cases.

[@ConquerDriving]

I've not driven a car that locks you out of gears. Only reverse. Low gears are often stiff when fast as it's hard for it to engage when spinning quickly, but I don't know of any locking mechanism for forward gears.

[@Chrisallengallery]

The synchromesh may make it difficult to slot into the wrong gear but it can still be forced in. Usually happens when people are racing and are shifting quickly.

[@videomaniac108]

Thanks for the good tips on driving. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is possible to delay that degradation of non-metallic parts, like gaskets and seals, in the engine by not allowing dirty and contaminated fluids from remaining in contact with these parts for long periods of time, hence the benefit of frequent fluid flushes whenever these fluids start getting dirty.

[@friendlyreptile9931]

Me as a german knows: The red line in highest gear, is what prevents you from going faster.

[@user-si5fm8ql3c]

The redline is what sorts people into different lanes on the Autobahn

[@einar8019]

idk my m235i at 260kmh has hundreds of rpm left and its the ECU that electronically limits the top speed to 260kmh

[@friendlyreptile9931]

@@einar8019 That's b.c. you didn't pay tp get the limiter removed that is standard with german cars. Back in the 80', Audi, BMW, and Mercedes agreed to limit standard cars at 250km/h (little toleranzes are there) for safety reasons. I don't know about today but in the early 2000s, you payed like 2500 bucks to get it removed if you had an M3 and got a driver training with it to be safe. This driver training alone was way more professional and helpfull than the whole us driving "school" XD

[@einar8019]

@@friendlyreptile9931 kinda hard to option a car i bought used when it was 6 years old

[@paul8161]

Cant say i ever seen a video explaining about when to use revs on a engine..i guess as soon as you started speaking on your video i knew that you knew what your talking about..i do to because most of my engine knowledge was passed down to me from my late dad who knew pretty much everything about about every engine..his was a engineer and mechanic so i never had any doubt everything he told me was correct..his advice on engines and anything mechanical stood me in good stead to this day .

[@MichaelFlatman]

My first car was my grandad's honda jazz, that car had almost never gone above 3000rpm in its life. The EGR was quite clogged probably because of this. I also find that turbo actuators can stick on cars that have taken lots of short journeys too I always prefer to buy high mileage diesels.. Most engines can take the mileage just fine. The repair bills from other components are what get you in the end (clutch, suspension, wheel bearings etc). I feel like to kill a modern day engine you'd have to try quite hard.. or just neglect changing the oil

[@andyshaw2304]

Great video Richard, well explained without being patronising. I am a retired engineer with a lot of car experience, and I was taught never to rev a cold engine and never when the engine is not under load. I have always stuck to this manta and have had cars that have topped 300k on the same engine and clutch.

[@PatrickTCAPIreland]

I drive a Honda.......so yes high revs all the time!

[@simonr23]

oil temp is the best measure of an engine and its metals being up to temp and expansion (ie - optimal temperature) - rather than coolant. if you don't have oil temp available, wait until your coolant has reached normal temp for about 5 mins (10 in winter) before considering the engine optimally warmed up.

[@ConquerDriving]

I mention oil temperature later in the video.

[@slp-pancakeface3401]

one of the only driving instructors i will continue to watch now i passed today. Richard provides great videos

[@ConquerDriving]

That's great news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!

[@slp-pancakeface3401]

@@ConquerDriving thank you :]

[@ivaylodimitrov8577]

Thank you for the great video. As a Honda owner it was good to peek in to some other car brand. Realized that will stay Honda owner and will not be peeking again to other car brands as it gave me quite a bit of shock, what is and how is failing and how it’s reving and so on. Thank you and all the best.

[@saurabhbakare4]

Very well explained. The biggest enemy of the engine is heat. If it generates more heat its going to wear faster. Reving engines at higher RPM will cause more stress on the moving parts and thats not a goood sign.

[@RGV2300]

Excellent video, very technical. Something to add: the engine is designed to go redline acutely, that means if you need or want to accelerate aggressively, use all the power, there is no problem if that is going to be brief, just a few seconds it won't harm the engine at all. What it does harm the engine, is to be constantly at a higher rev range, because theoretically, the engine wear is determined by the average piston speed, the higher, the more wear, this is the reason race cars don't last too long (also cylinder pressures at those rotation speeds). That at least is the theory, i know germans keep their engines revving high in the autobahn, for long periods of time.

[@ConquerDriving]

I've done over 2000 track miles in my MX5 and the engine doesn't seem to be any different from new. I think race engines don't last long because of how they're set up, road engines are built to last. There should be no metal on metal contact if the rpm is within the set limtis. Apparently oil does degrade more quickly with track use, I've been told not to allow more than 1000 miles of track use before an oil change. But I don't know how accurate that is, I've not tested it. I'm guessing whether or not the engine has a turbo makes a difference to oil degradation during hard use.

[@RGV2300]

@@ConquerDriving yes, probably. I have read guys using ITBs with no air filter also saying there is no problem with accelerated wear as long as you change the oil more often. Certainly, i have just read that about average piston speed (i have no experience racing my car), there are other factors to consider such as working cylinder pressures in race cars, as the compression and volumetric efficiency have been upgraded. It makes sense in my head the cylinder walls will take more abuse as the pistons are being pushed more violently. I know how you can test the wear if there is any: make a compression test periodically. It will only tell you the cylinder condition over time.

[@SoraGremory0121]

hows bro turned a 5 min video into 30 mins

[@joshuaaherron1]

Richard, BRAVO!! Fantastic video sir. Excellent

[@mattegeniet]

I live in Finland. On some days with like -20 degree weather it could take me like 10 minutes and 5-6 km of stop/go traffic before that coolant gauge started moving 😅 at least now I have an outlet for a block heater which most cars around here use. Now it’s much faster.

[@rookie4582]

I would like to thank you for helping me be able to driving a manual smoothing. My 10th Gen Civic Si also thanks you too for extending its clutch’s lifespan.

[@ChrisChronos]

I like to drive my 1.5 golf mk7 as if it was your mx5 😂😂 its got 130bhp which is severely underpowered for what it actually could produce, even the version prior to mine had 150bhp with the same engine. A remap mechanic told me they usually can get the engines to 175bhp, and I'm thinking about it, but bit worried about reliability. Have you ever remapped one of your cars? Cheers for the video!

[@B_-.-]

I would ask around on VW forums. What you want is a good range of people to have ran a power level for a long time and not encountered an excess of problems. On my engine many push 225hp (up from 143) with stock internals and that's generally considered the limit of reasonable. If many people run 175hp without issue, you probably won't have an issue either.

[@ConquerDriving]

I would be very careful, a lot goes into a factory map.

[@eponymous7910]

I'd be more worried about the clutch than the engine tbh. Just make sure all the usual vw gremlins like plugs, coils and coolant are in good shape before you do it. Changing the oil more frequently than vw specifies is probably advisable too, especially given the 1.5 has a chain

[@docexotic]

last car i had was a 2017 Avalon (bought in 2021) that only had 19k miles when I purchased it, and the Italian tune up worked absolute wonders. I did 1 tank of shell vpower which has the best detergents in my opinion (not recommended more than once as the engine will pull timing and be slower if it is made for 87 octane) and drove as fast as safely possible for a few days. whole different car after just a few pulls. Toyota knows what they are doing so they have a port and direct injection come to find out so maybe that is why

[@averyj8160]

Don’t forget transmission fluid. That needs to be at temp before you start pushing. And starting a journey in stop/start traffic may warm up the oil and coolant slowly but gearbox won’t be warming up as quick.

[@kezamyt]

"Redline a day keeps the carbon away!"

[@TheChrisLeone]

As a getaway driver, I appreciate this advice.

[@mindcrome]

Thanks for explain more how the engines work with real world driving. So a open question for those who read the comments from the peanut galley. What do you think would be the best driving characteristics for my environment. I drive a 2019 Honda Accord Sport. It is a blacked out car (black everything) and I live in Vegas. I mention the color because I think it is important For those who don't know the engine is a i4 1.5L Turbo with 192hp about the same torque. (I would have liked the 2.0 but it was just out of my price range for the year I wanted. That is 252hp) I am NOT going to modify the car like most would. Now it is very hot here (We hit 117, as my dash reading is spot on). I have run the car allot and it had low miles on it. Runs just fine all day in the heat, of course with the AC on. I don't drive aggressive till the end of my day and that is mostly when the sun is down and the AC off. I do regular oil changes around 5,000 miles (my dealer does it for 60 bucks with the filter, I spend that in a day sometimes at the store so it is worth it to keep things running good) . I plan to change the other fluids in the next oil change or too. (I do them fast as I drive allot). My thinking is I drive hard a bit before I shut down for the day because of the design of the engine. Because of possibility of carbon build up do to how the injectors are placed. The engine never seems to be under heavy strain and seems to want to rev high. Even with passengers but I drive alone mostly and I am a skinny guy (some people are way too fat for the cars that are trying in vain to push all that fat around, being honest. Not trying to be mean, but you try and drive 3 people over 300lbs in a Madza 3 up a hill). I don't take off after the car has been sitting for a bit. I wait until the revs fall below 1,000. And I don't slam on the gas to get on the freeway, I cruse quickly up to speed. I also always drive in normal mode (sport mode makes everything respond quicker and the engine tends to live in the higher rev range allot more, it does change the dynamics of the car a good bit, more then I thought it would). I surprised on how well the car has preformed for what I use it for now (until the summer is done and part of fall). I have more trust in bigger engines when it comes to the heat but Hondas like the desert here (there is allot of civics and accords running around with tons of miles here)

[@BasedMan]

Always good to check these things before pushing your car harder than usual Man, Im in love with my 1991 Lancer GTI 16V

[@SpaghettiRealm]

Thanks Richard, it’s always great to understand what’s going on in your car, it helps you be a better driver

[@subikazaferi1501]

I have a 2007 Ford Focus ST. 2.5l 5 cylinder turbocharged engine (only mod i did is the Block Mod) I very respect that car, oil change every 10'000 Km with good quality oil (Motul 0W-40 ACEA A3-B4) and using castrol engine shampoo. Do a full of shell V-Power 100 every 5 fulls. And even tho i trust that engine, i really don't like to redline it, it's just a feeling that gets me when i go above 6'000 RPM😂 (redline is at 6'500). i really liked your video, thanks for the advices💪🏻👍🏻

[@Drew-Dastardly]

Is it actually illegal to idle your car for 10 seconds in Germany? @1:00 That is clown world levels of Stop Oil and green virtue signalling nonsense. Do they recommend drivers just drive straight off in winter without demisting the windows? I guess it will help with depopulation which is the eco-nutters goal.

[@thunderbug8640]

I didn’t believe it myself but according to Google its true. It’s a 10 euro fine apparently. Germany really is a paradoxical country. Sometimes they are so logical and matter of fact and then other times they come up with this kind of worthless crap. You’re right though it is purely for virtue signalling purposes since it will have no impact of emissions.

[@_monti142]

this manual is at least 10 year old, its probably something else

[@DeepRacer-zr4yp]

Your spot on

[@MikkoRantalainen]

5:00 I think it would be good to explain *why* you should take it gently to the operating temperature. Historically the reason was that engine oil didn't work well enough until the temperature was high enough and you could damage the engine with high load without the optimally working oil (because oil being too cold). Modern fully synthetic oils are good enough to allow proper lubrication even when cold but the thermal expansion of the engine parts (different parts made out different metals have different rates) is still the reason to avoid heavy loads until the engine has acquired proper temperature. I think nowadays the biggest issue is piston ring blowby which causes extra sooth into the engine oil and reduces quality of the oil if you keep loading the engine too high when cold. Plus if you heat one part of the engine really rapidly with high loads while the other nearby part is still cold, thermal expansion rate between those parts causes a lot of stress to the parts.

[@MyKneeHurts]

1:23 excuse me the ignition timing are what???????? lol

[@spykerm6]

💀💀

[@peterjhartvideo]

Today I learned about the SEAT/Cupra car company.

[@woolly3603]

Ive recently passed my tests and bought myself a little 1998 Toyota Corolla, it was a bargain from the original owner who had only drove it 48k miles till I bought it for £750, but ive never been worried about issues because he had cared for it so long even after not driving it for years it was still serviced and cared for

[@ivankulcsar2151]

A few years ago I installed a k-type thermocouple (they have rapid response and are very accurate) in the oil pan of my Renault Modus 1.4 16v to see how the oil temperature follows coolant teperature after startup... The oil temp lags quite behing coolant temperature, up to 30C... For instance, coolant will be up to temp (90C) after some 2 out of 9 kilometers of morning traffick to work, but oil will be at some 60C, and will require 5 more kilometers to reach 90C... That being said, coolant temp isn't what I would use as decisive parameter to floor it or not, but oil temperature... Or - when coolant gets to operating temperature, do a few more miles for engine oil to get up to speed... Cheers!

[@baarg8672]

19:46 - that was interesting too! to hear about investments 26:20 - wow, that is the great visualization!

[@M4ExKalashnikov]

The best way to find out if you can safely hit the rev limitter is by hitting a rev limitter, I did it in my VW from 1988 and after some time my crankshaft went kaput, lol. Replaced engine and done the same without any problems. P.S. its more of a joke, dont do it unless you are sure your car can handle it or you simply dont care about it

[@pobinr]

Centrifugal & reciprocating acceleration forces increase with the square of the RPM. Double the RPM = Four times the force thus four times the friction on load bearing surfaces such as piston skirts, cylinder walls & bearings. So engine wear rates increase with RPM. Piston slap is worse when engine cold. Pistons need to warm up & expand for correct tolerances

[@PJay-wy5fx]

YT just suggested one of your videos and I went straight into another! Very helpful info on things the average driver/owner is never told really. I was wondering what you mean when you talk about 'old' and 'new' cars. I realise this depends on the age, the use, the mileage and the make/quality of the car, but some indication would be helpful. If that is possible at all. I drive a 16 y.o. Daihatsu Sirion 2 (I believe the Sirion is going by 'Boon' in the UK) and it has a little under 170,000 kms on it. I bought it when it was 10 with a mileage of 100,000 km. Although it is still an absolute delight to drive and in good condition, I realise there is no way of not calling it an old car. It's not fast and I had a tendency to floor it even though it really doesn't make a difference. It was a bit of a subconscious thing, but I have woken up and will NEVER do this again. I wonder how much I have unnecessarily worn it since I bought it. It's being maintained at regular intervals by a certified garage, but still. PS: I'm happy to receive an informed comment on this by a viewer btw! You have a new subscriber!

[@1972Ray]

I had a model year 2000 Honda S2000. It had a 9000 rpm redline. The sound at 9000 rpm was amazing but a bit scary, I only did it twice because I feared damage even though the motor was made for it.

[@RoadsterAlex]

Why even get an s2000 then 😂

[@YouTubehndl]

I’ve been red lining my Ford fusion with the 2.5 L engine for over 271,000 miles now. Zero problems

[@jennamoonchild]

Many BMW drivers don't know that the needle in the temp gauge stays in the middle, when the water temperature is anywhere between 75-105 Celsius. After 110C, it moves rapidly and the red is about 130C. For example, M52 and M54 temperature sits in exact 96 Celsius, when warmed up. It never goes up, but if you floor it, it drops down to 80C. That's because of electric thermostat.

[@steppenwolf1872]

The feeling you have towards your Leon is the same of mine towards my Golf 6 Tsi.I don't know what to buy with the same money.Great content!

[@ForeverHobbit]

as someone that doesn't understand a thing about cars this was amazing

[@michaeldenson1929]

Im glad someone else thinks as critically about this when they are driving as I do.

[@3ch0_17]

In old old cars: BAD in modern cars, no not really. The redline prevents you from reving into the danger zone, and "bouncing" off the limiter is due to ignition cut. Maybe not great for the catalytic converters, but not that bad either. If your car doesn't "bounce" off the limiter, it has a fuel cut / throttle controlled limiter.

[@IllusionInfusion]

What you're describing is why I bought a new Subaru Impreza to not buy somebody else's problem. Took care of it, did everything the deal said, only problem is that the deal never checked the spark plugs and neither did I. They were in there finger tight and two of them failed, but one of them failed by losing the tungsten tip and copper under it and it wrecked the cylinder. So a new engine was in order. Even still, replacing the engine with a used engine with almost 100k miles less on it was far cheaper than buying a new car because I know everything about the car. Plus, when they replaced the engine, I had them do the clutch and intermediate bits as well, which had 150k miles on it. Without a turbo and 0w-20 oil or thinner, the blue light is a pretty good indicator of when you can start laying into it. For me, I'll keep it under 4k and half throttle most of the time. I'll let it warm up when it's in the middle of a frigid New England winter here in New Hampshire. All of your suggestions are sound, but I definitely feel you're a bit conservative when the engine is cold. Unless it's 0°F (-17°C,) you probably don't need to keep it as low as 2,500k with a modern engine. At least that's been my experience with my 2015 Subaru Impreza with a 2.0L N/A engine with a 5 speed. As you said, every car is different. My Saab 9-5 Aero absolutely hated cold weather, where the Subaru doesn't really mind it for the most part. It's a matter of learning what your car likes, doesn't, and not skimping on maintenance.

[@jankindl915]

I Have 1999 Passat B5 1.8, 240 000km, And i redline it every day. Still works like new. But i taking good care of it!

[@garylarson6386]

red line is one thing but do not over red line

[@nfsfu845]

Fantastic video, as always. I often come and watch your videos to learn something new or update my knowledge. I really like you are nothing like Scotty Kilmer. I drive a 2016 Ford Fiesta ST. I'll regularly red line it, be it traffic light racing shifting @ 5000 - 6000 rpm or spirited driving. This car is weird in the sense that computer is telling engine coolant is up to temperature at only 50c! Usually I'll wait 10-15 minutes before I rev past 3000 or drive hard. I do only have 72000 km (44000 miles). In the other news, I know someone with a tuned BMW diesel 6cyl engine on a 2007 car I believe that had 302,000 km and it just had engine workout costing over 3000 euros... Driving too hard an older, high mile car without warming it up properly is my best bet for that happening.

[@PhilLS460]

Do such a good job explaining, showing this to the folks with many questions

[@Zodliness]

The biggest problem with high performance cars, is the aftermarket nut with a screw loose, found between the steering wheel and driver seat. 😉

[@dielaughing73]

Some cars have a loose nut behind the wheel

[@SkoolConnor]

I can sum this video up into a couple sentences. If you run your engine to or past red line you are risking putting premature wear on your engine, lowering its lifespan. But if you have a sports car such as an RX-8, going to red line only a few times per month or year can be good because it will clear out the carbon and in an RX-8 carbon buildup is very bad for the Apex rotor.

[@bradleymilton9372]

Great video and very clear advice I always wait 30 seconds beofre driving off and never go full throttle ever really as u can't legally use it great video

[@innocuouspseudonym509]

Nice vid, very interesting. Just want to point out that with modern engines, cam belt failure is highly unlikely to result in "metal parts banging into each other" as I'm quite sure non-interference engines (ie the piston can't touch the valves etc) are the standard now. Of course, you still run the risk of smashing the engine to pieces. Engines without cooperating crank and cam angle sensors will probably misfire/backfire and stand a chance to bend/break a connecting rod if they fire early on their compression stroke if it is a petrol engine. I saw a cam belt from a transit the other day that had several teeth stripped from it, and the most surprising thing was that the diddy little belt was half the width of anything I've seen on a japanese car. The transit was having its engine changed as a result... and I wish I'd asked what the suspected damage was on the old block.

[@HeavenlyWarrior]

I have a 38 year old car which I sometimes redline and even surpass the speed limit by the manufacturer and has almost half a million kilometers. Still not a single problem to report. It's a mercedes-benz 190D. Top speed 160km/h but reached 170km/h.

[@jasonmorahan7450]

If you have any Mercedes/Daimler six cylinder built during the 1950s you can operate it constantly at the maximum engine speed for several days without pause other than to refuel, as the factory tested and advertised without any kind of failures or problems. This was considered an engineering quality standard by Mercedes which carried through until at least the 1990s, several 70s and 80s engines are also "over engineered" with tolerances well beyond any normal road going requirements for a domestic vehicle and typically aren't even seen outside of a race track (stock M110 internals closely resemble the ACL conversion kit for Formula 3800 open wheeler racing and tremendously exceed the weights and balance tolerances for the factory Buick V6 for example, which is utterly remarkable). It's one of the things which makes older Mercedes surprisingly inexpensive performance projects to mildly increase outputs, counter-intuitively they're cheaper than other cars for mild performance increases, for example a 30% power increase since stock components are easily within tolerances accommodating it. This was largely a luxury of being a low volume, typically European hand finished production system of automobiles, it is a very different case with large scale, mass produced vehicles and in particular the major manufacturers which were originally built upon the basis of large scale mass manufacture, which Mercedes and several European makes were not, although headed that way to be competitive in the world marketplace. Overall these origins are far more blended in terms of engineering quality these days, however traditionally they led to very different consumer results where overall performance was concerned, reflected very much by price differential which is also far more blended between manufacturers these days, with everybody having prestige models and budget models and several common engines being utilized across several different makes. My point being with the older cars generally it's the prestige makes which live up to the customer expectation that listed performance values are in perpetuity, ie. can handle something like being redlined all day long as if it were just taking a canter, but these days it's more blended between makes and more about selecting the performance or mid-luxury models that generally have performance orientated engines which will take this kind of driving style and some degree of outright abuse in stride. You can get away with it in cheaper cars, some don't actually have enough performance capability to really hurt themselves, but generally I wouldn't trust it. Personally I still lean with the older prestige, I've seen my iron block which left the factory at 160-180hp run 2 full bar of boost for 600-750hp on stock internals for an entire race season without a failure or a rebuild. I just don't think you'll be finding that in a Miata.

[@johnwaldmann5222]

My Suzuki 400cc four stroke motorcycle lived for a decade and 650,000 kilometers (until it was stolen) between 10,000 and it’s 13500rpm redline. Well actually it’s ignition limited 13700rpm redline. It was slightly over square, for maximum engine efficiency for its cylinder size. I changed the oil every 6000km, did plugs every 10k. And at 650,000km it still produced 5Hp more than factory, due to a minor valve seat and valve timing mod done at 35,000km. A well designed well engineered and maintained engine loves to rev. And using the full revolution range ensures reliable long life, and protects the pistons rings from damage due to carbon buildup, and lipping. Cars however are designed to fail, designed to be used by lowest common idiocy drivers, and should be driven moderately. Using the full range regularly, but not continuously.

[@nugget6644]

Asking this is like asking "Is it bad to go through potholes with your car" Well.. it depends! Some cars go through potholes without an issue. They're actually designer to go through terrain like that. Other cars might need to go to the maintenance shop after one pothole. It's the same with revving your car and going into the red. If you are driving a small, cheap city car - no it's not okay to rev it like that:) If you paid way more money for a performance vehicle that was meant for this - it's totally fine.

[@barcotics1880]

what you describe in the cold engine section is something i can actually feel in my car, starting out soft throttle will take it to 2000 rpm and eventually when the engine warms up it drops to about 1400-1500 which then i apply more throttle

[@ConquerDriving]

It depends on the engine but yes, some engines do respond differently to throttle inputs depending on their temperature.

[@nickrudischwark3552]

Amazing video with wonderful explanations!! It is clear that you really know what you're talking about!! Thank you for your work and for helping people understand more about these beautiful and complex machines that cars are.

[@iamt_tl]

Haven't come across a sensible car help video as this one. much of other youtubers kind of deviates from what mechanics recommends through some 'myth busters' video, when there's no facts nor logic to back them up. this, is basically what physics and sense is, esp the part on turners. running a car is an art. not everyone who can paint is Picasso, but, occasionally there's another fellow who comes along called Leonard da Vinci.

[@UndercoverDog]

For anyone at 1:00 wondering why its illegal in Germany. § Section 30 (1) of the StVO: When using vehicles, unnecessary noise and avoidable exhaust nuisance are prohibited. In particular, it is prohibited to run vehicle engines unnecessarily [...]. In practice probably nobody would care if you do it for 10s tho.