I was just wondering what will happen if we go pass the red line on our WRX? Let's just say 8k rpm. I have never gone that high, but I know a few friends have gone about 2k pass the red line. Could there be a problem with their engine? Will SOA void their worrenty? Any commens would be appreciated. Thanks

You can't get to 8000, there's a rev limiter on the WRX. I think it around 7200. If you miss-shift into a lower gear you could hit 10,000. Then it's time for service

The rev limiter will shut down the party, if the car is working properly. Another term for the rev limiter is "Dumbass protection system." Anything past 6,000 or so with the WRX, and you're just making more noise, not much more power. Look at the torque/hp curves for the car.

Anyone that tells you they have gone 2,000 rpm past the redline is having a bit of fun at your expense, IMHO, unless they grabbed second when they meant to grab fourth one day. :lol:

Kevin

I've hit my rev limiter in 1st gear before in a street race...it couldn't have been more than 7500...1st gear winds up so fast on a good awd launch :D

I have not gone over 7k rpm yet. Just want to clarify things, that is all. Thanks for your commens guys.

Yep, the only way you're going to wind it up too high is if you miss a shift. Otherwise the rev limiter will kick in. I did it once in first gear!:eek:
I was very displeased with my self. When I got home I hung my head in shame then washed my car. :lol:

Stanley
How does the limitter kick in? Does the engine just shurt off or it stops from going higher? I will never try to do that to my car. Anyway is your car OK after you missed shift?

Actually, I didn't miss a shift, I just kept my foot in the gas while in first gear a wee bit too long! Missing a shift is the only way you could severely over rev your motor. I believe the way the rev limiter works is that the ECU senses you are revving too fast and cuts fuel. I bet if you did a search on "rev limiter" you'd come up with all kinds of interesting stuff

My car is fine - it only "bounced" off the limiter for a fraction of a second.

And no, you should never "try" to hit the limiter.:D

wrx has a rev limiter? as in if you rev it in neutral all the way, it'll hit red line, bounce off, hit again...

or fuel cut? as in the injector would stop momentaraly so the engine stop reving higher (because i've hit pass 7k before - talking to a friend and forgot to shift, the car felt like it hit a wall, jerked forward)

any one can clear that? not something i want to "test" to find out

thanks

Can the engine be destroyed if we go pass 7K? What would have happened to the piston rings and valves?:confused:

It could, but it won't. I've gone a few hundred past 7000 a few times. Everything is fine.

Well, as I understand it, the main reason that the rev-limiter is there is because if you go much above it, you start to get valve-float, where the springs can't close your valves fast enough before they are opening again. causes for some ... interesting things to happen in your engine.

I wouldn't sweat it much if you went above the redline for a second or two. It "shouldn't" harm anything. Just don't do it on purpose! You get much beter power a little lower down in your powerband, like, around 6500ish.

~Loki

I bounce off the rev limiter all the time in first and second, it's a good way to control the speed of the car on a track where you know what's coming up (if you know you'll have to downshift again as soon as you upshift, or brake, and shifting won't benefit you anything). In first and second, I hit it between 7200 and 7400 RPM, but it could be, and probably is, because the tach is inaccurate, not because I'm actually revving the engine that high. Either way, hitting the rev limiter isn't damaging anything, but the higher you rev regularly, the more wear on your engine, so it's probably not a good idea to sit and bounce off the rev limiter.

In terms of going higher, there are a few people on the board who have had their ECUs reprogrammed with the rev limiter at 8k (cost is about $500, I'm thinking of doing it, just for kicks) but it only really helps if you have some sort of engine management to control fuel, air, boost, etc at these points. With an otherwise stock ECU, as someone said, you won't gain anything past a certain point, but the cars revving to 8k have been running reliably for a while now.