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6K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  kevin27803 
#1 ·
I did a search and didn't come up with anything and I REALLY want to know.

How safe is Red Line? The computer cuts you off around 5.8K i think? How safe is that number? If I sit outside in my car and mash down on the pedal at redline, how long will it take before everything explodes or what not?

If I want to drive hard, how bad is it to take the engine up to the red line?

My car is stock and has synthetic oil in it.

I've been to the redline a few times... most of the time accidentally because of the EXTREMELY quiet engine. I'm thinking about cutting out that first muffler so I can hear when to shift.

Thx
 
#3 ·
not really sure where mine cuts off, 6800 i think.

eather way after 5700 or so it shows a fault code "engine waranty void" via vag com
 
#4 ·
LOL ^^^


VW is not gonna let you blow your engine. If it does blow it's covered under warranty. EXCEPT if you mis a gear, overrev, and blow it up. If that happens you will get a fault for overrev condition and YOU pay for an engine. So unless you have a mechanical overrev, ur fine.
 
#6 · (Edited)
How does the over-rev condition get set? I think someone said if it rev's above 5700 RPM... Does it set if it's a real short excursion, like a missed shift? or does it have to be above speed for a few seconds at/above the limit? showing willfull abuse.

Does it ever go away...like if it's driven 'normally' for the rest of it's life?

How automatic is VW about voiding the warranty? do they have some latitude to apply judgment in the case?

It's kinda scary to have been driving my car for years, not knowing this magical code is set due to the actions of any of the many people who've driven it over it's history when I'm not around to make an issue of it. My car could have had warranty voided before I even took deliver by the guys that drove it on/off the ship and trucks or even the tech who test drove it after prep.

And don't try to convince me of the 'professionalism' of these goons: I knew one and he loved describing how they took perverse pleasure in their job. Incidentally: I've read some high perf sports cars are shipped with ECU's in a valet mode just for that reason, but I doubt they do that with Rabbits.

To think I've spent almost $1K for an extended warranty that could be worthless because I don't even know if a code is set in secret.

Last...can it be reset at all, by VAGCOM or even an OBD-II scan tool?
 
#8 ·
I have missed a gear going upward. I'm just curious how much an engine can take. Say 100 miles in third gear at red line...

Would redline be comparable to a motorcycle with one gear that you just push the gas and max it out? Or is it comparable to your engine slowly wearing itself down at those speeds?
 
#11 ·
In your example, youre trying to compare an apple to a grapefruit and draw some conclusions. It just doesn't follow: the motorcycle engine also wears at max throttle. If it's can do it, and they didn't put some kinda rev limiter on it, then it's self-rev limiting as it runs out of power way before it gets into problems.

I think one problem with over-revving of engines comes in when the valves can no longer follow the cam as it spins too fast... that is, they "float". In zero-clearance engines Einsteinian physics takes over and the engine warps itself into a junkyard. In other engines, they just run out of power (prolly the case with your motorcycle).

In engines where valve train can handle the revs, newtonian physics may take over and things start going places they shouldn't: like a crank, pushrod, piston can't change direction fast enough and mysteriously appears in your hood with a spray of oil announcing it.

I had an old Mustang with a 302 V8 that I could run all day with the throttle mashed...in first gear...the valves floated and it just stopped producing power and self rev limited. I sold it to a friend who put a cam in it with new valves, springs, rockers. He, blew the engine big time when he missed a shift....the new valve train didn't let the valves float and it kept producing power until it threw a rod through the crankcase. Wow.
 
#10 ·
iv been driving like i stole it recently, shifting at redline 1/2 gears (1 and 2) then ease off into fourth. should be ok
 
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