Pusing Your Car To Its Limits

[MP_R33]

Hey everybody!

Was just wandering how far is far enough to push your stock skyline before you begin to do any damage.

For example how far up the rev line is the furthest to go and how long can you hold it there.

Also what factors you take into account such as; intervals to do it within, temperature of the engine and so on.

I have heard from people its bad to put ur foot straight onto the floor, can this be justified by anyone or is it ok to do it once in a while?

Just looking for some opinions i'm sure some of you will have different views.. Please share

Edited November 2, 2008 by MP_R33

[wraith_skyline]

If your going to be running lots of trackdays look into your under bonnet temps, as i just found out by melting my coils and cracking plugs from heat. Am now looking for some method of venting. Apart from that, your rev limiter should stop you doing too much damage (thats what its for) so high revs arent too bad as long as you dont hold it too long.

[MP_R33]

Thanks for your input, yer i had assumed it would be fine as long as it is not held there for an extended period of time.

What about the foot flat to the floor is that bad to do??

I have heard from many that it is but in my opinion i dont really think it is... THen again what do i know lol

[cuppas]

...theres nothing wrong about putting your foot to the floor, apart from the excessive speed.

also if you bounce it off the limiter too long, your valves might not like it

and from your other thread, leave overdrive off when towing. which i doubt youll be doing in a skyline.

i dont see any way that it could be harmful for the gearbox.

preference i suppose

[MP_R33]

...theres nothing wrong about putting your foot to the floor, apart from the excessive speed.

also if you bounce it off the limiter too long, your valves might not like it

and from your other thread, leave overdrive off when towing. which i doubt youll be doing in a skyline.

i dont see any way that it could be harmful for the gearbox.

preference i suppose

Yer i thought so it doesnt really make sense for it to do any damage the only difference is increased speed!

As for the overdrive like i said just opinions i heard

- "well Nizmo,

my dads a mechanic and him and his boss told me that the overdrive switch is only meant to be used above 70 km's/h and that having it on while drivin on normal ctreets could cause damage, because it forces the engine to stay in third gear instead to changin to fourth and reving lower."

Thats from an old thread i dug up lol must just be different people i guess

[Johnny]

Most engines are pushed for long periods eg. fords xr4 engine was left at redline for weeks and weeks and so was mercedes benz c-class engines; im talking non-stop on a dyno with an unlimited fuel supply.

if your car is tuned well without knock and you dont over-rev your engine can take all the punishment it wants; only reason why most engines blow is while drifting because of the constant lack of airflow and bouncing off the limiter.

Either that or burnouts where the engine overheats very quickly.

I drive hard alot now but i never rev past 7200rpmish and never flat-shift; always nice easy changes to save the gearbox and motor.

[KiwiRS4T]

Yer i thought so it doesnt really make sense for it to do any damage the only difference is increased speed!

As for the overdrive like i said just opinions i heard

- "well Nizmo,

my dads a mechanic and him and his boss told me that the overdrive switch is only meant to be used above 70 km's/h and that having it on while drivin on normal ctreets could cause damage, because it forces the engine to stay in third gear instead to changin to fourth and reving lower."

Thats from an old thread i dug up lol must just be different people i guess

The above looks a little confusing - when I say leave it on all the time I mean leave the overdrive in the "on" position (i.e. do not use the button to switch it off) except when going down hill while towing or thrashing it through a windy section of road when you want it to hold 3rd.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Don't be too worried, past owner of your car in Japan probley thrashed abit anyway.

You can still do damage to the car even if its stock. Its how you treat your car.

Just do your regular oil top ups and 5000k's oil and oil filter change and check all your fluids too.

Give it abit of stick occationaly but no need to red line it every gear change.

[No Crust Racing]

Hey everybody!

Was just wandering how far is far enough to push your stock skyline before you begin to do any damage.

For example how far up the rev line is the furthest to go and how long can you hold it there.

Also what factors you take into account such as; intervals to do it within, temperature of the engine and so on.

I have heard from people its bad to put ur foot straight onto the floor, can this be justified by anyone or is it ok to do it once in a while?

Just looking for some opinions i'm sure some of you will have different views.. Please share

Always play it safe unless you have deep pockets and like having your car off the road. There is no hard and fast rule for how hard and how long you can push an engine. The rev limiter is to prevent catastrophic failure and excessive wear but hitting it constantly will see your engine life shortened dramatically. You're not making power that high in the rev range anyway, check figures on peak power and torque, they're not at 7000 rpm so why bother.

Don't boost the car or rev it hard or put it under high load( low speeds and high gears etc) until it's warm, the easiest way to warm it up is drive it gently until the temp comes up, not by sitting in your garage idling for long periods, this will only heat up the water and oil but the gearbox/diff, rotating assemblies etc.

Putting your foot flat to the floor is fine once the car is fully warmed up but again, be mindful of the rev's as excessive rev's will cause excessive damage it's that simple. If I remember correctly, the redline on an R33 is 7000, for me that meant my Series II rarely seen above 6500 or so but that's personal preference. Yes I hit the limiter a few times but it was on rare occasions and my car still had even compression when I sold it after 2yrs of owning it, same goes for my GT-R, it rarely seen anything above 7500 rpm as it went red at 8000.

The harder you drive it, the faster it will wear out. You can't avoid an engine wearing out but you can prolong the inevitable while still having fun.

It's also important to keep on top of basic servicing. Oil, oil filter, air filter and spark plugs go a long way. I chose to replace the oil and oil filter every 5000k's. The air filter was a re-usable type so it was washed and cleaned at the same time and the spark plugs were iridium so were checked and replaced as necessary. You don't have to spend a shit load on oil on a low power car or one that is receiving new oil and filter every 5000 k's.

Enjoy your car and remember to keep the race driving for the track.

Cheers

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

i kept my tune conservative (probably 10-15 rwkw from what i could have grabbed) and i smash the limiter and flatshift reasonably often.. (usually on low boost of 245 @ 1 bar tho). i understand the risks, but i bought the car to DRIVE!

i'm 6 months in to 265rwkw on an internally standard 25 and no probs so far

[HomeDawwg]

Thats what i like to hear, a car driven how it was meant to be

[burkill]

i've flogged my celica continually for about a year now, runs like brand new.

i'm very impressed actually, i can't fault it for a cheap to buy, cheap to run first car, that can be a little fun.

[No Crust Racing]

Hah, I had a Celica back in the day too and gave it a very hard time, didn't die.

I'm not saying Skylines are like glass I'm just saying that I preferred to be kind to mine 95% of the time and that there are some things you should avoid doing all day every day and when cold if you want your engine/turbo gearbox/clutch etc to live longer.

[krzysiu]

i kept my tune conservative (probably 10-15 rwkw from what i could have grabbed) and i smash the limiter and flatshift reasonably often.. (usually on low boost of 245 @ 1 bar tho). i understand the risks, but i bought the car to DRIVE!

i'm 6 months in to 265rwkw on an internally standard 25 and no probs so far

Haha yea my old car was bullet proof. On standard internals (that i know of, it had a rebuild but didnt know what was in there) 250rwkw all day. Only problem was it didnt have a rev limiter. Cant count how many times that car saw 8500-9000rpm and it still went strong, of course these high revs were by accidents in 1st gear as first gear is over in a flash.

[mehow]

I thrashed my dads 05 civic for 2 years runs like brand new lol..

[burkill]

now why would you ever own a car that isn't japanese.

motors have the numbers on them a reason, to be revved to.

clutches are pretty much consumables if you have enough power and see a few track days and other things i won't mention.

having 5SFE in my celica, that's not a worry lol.

[Johnny]

I do my oil changes every 2000kms now just to be sure lolz.

but i also watch my oil and water temperature gauges; I have a red flash when i exceed 89degree oil temps and 88degree water temps.

Skylines are notorious for breaking 3rd gear under a flat shift and big power/torque so keep that in mind when your shifting.

[MP_R33]

I do my oil changes every 2000kms now just to be sure lolz.

but i also watch my oil and water temperature gauges; I have a red flash when i exceed 89degree oil temps and 88degree water temps.

Skylines are notorious for breaking 3rd gear under a flat shift and big power/torque so keep that in mind when your shifting.

2000kms is a bit extreme lol, 3500 is really if you want to be on the safe side i say.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

depends on how ans where those 2000kms are... if they are all on the track then that's a very different story

[MP_R33]

depends on how ans where those 2000kms are... if they are all on the track then that's a very different story

yer thats tru, but his GT-R is just a daily driver. With the occasional "spirit ride" lol