How bad is engine wear at high average speeds?

[siksII]

I have recently been on a few long trips, ie up the coast, and dubbo(the zoo is good!)

On these trips due to a lack of traffic, and me taking the long, back way a lot of the time, the speeds often stayed up around 150km/h, equating to about 4300rpm (cant remember exactly) for extended periods (more than half an hour at a time).

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how bad this is for the engine, especially in terms of piston ring and bore wear.

I felt bad leaving the revs so high for so long, but then again, because most of the time i was not accelerating or decelerating, is it true that the sliding friction between the piston rings and the bores is small because of the lack of accel/decelerating, and therefore not so bad?

This question has also been in the back of my mind in relation to my swift gti, where on long trips, revs stay even higher than in the skyline due to the shorter gear ratios.

[Demon Dave]

I'm not sure if the same applies in Aus, but in England a car that has many motorway miles is considered a better buy than a car with equivalent miles done around town - the thinking being town driving with constant start/accel/brake/stop wears out components quicker than a steady cruise at a fixed speed...

[SLY33]

i concur

[sweetr33]

nah its all good, little if any wear. As long as the car was at normal operating temperature there is little wear.

[siksII]

Yeah thats what i was thinking, but then again, i think the general reason why more wear occurs in the city is because when the engine is idling, it runs quite rich, which in turn increases the amount of petrol which makes its way into the oil, in turn breaking that down faster, creating less protection for the engine and more wear.

Oh well, at least other people think its ok, im still half way about it. 2night i drove my swift at 5 grand for about 3 minutes, that felt bad. Maybe im just paranoid.

[EnricoPalazzo]

I think the main reason city drivin is bad, is cos its stop start, and people never let the cars warm up before they are driven. Somethin like 80% of engine damage occurs in the first 10mins (i think)

[Guest RedLineGTR]

i personally dont like pushing my car to it's limits or constantly reving it highly unless i need to or just for abit of fun.. Cos if something does break because of it i'm gonna waste money on it which could of went to mods....