To red line or not to red line that is the question.
 

So I have been reading all over these forums in the past few days since I am a new owner of a rx8 09 and I noticed that in some threads people will say to red line at least once a week and others will say to never red line. I also searched and did not find a thread dedicated to this question. (correct me if I am wrong please)


So this leaves me with, should one red line or should one not? Give examples and evidence to back you answer.

:lol:

I find this line hilarious, sorry :) "Evidence" is going to be really hard to find.


In the new owner's thread: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...4/#post4533728 (I still need to clean up the formatting it up and re-write it in a clearer way)
If you are worried that it is just my opinion, that thread has been around in one form or another for years, and is the most linked thread ont he forum, and the thread from the forum that receives the most linkbacks from outside the forum. Any objections to what is in the thread have plenty of exposure to be challenged, debated, and corrected, and I am more than happy to debate any more, and change if it I am wrong.


Simply: The rotary engine loves to rev, and doesn't suffer any harm from it as long as you don't overheat it. Using that rev capability is one of the funnest parts of the car, so don't be scared of it, don't try to fit it into a strict schedule, and don't treat redline like it's something harmful. "Examples" are hard to provide, since it implies that there is a piece of circumstance in which "hey, I redlined and it didn't blow up!". Did you want examples of track driving where redline is reached in every gear upshift? Did you want examples of people driving the engine hard day after day after day for years on end? Did you want examples of people that did redline and blew their engine?

I'm not sure what you are going for. This isn't a piston engine that has significantly more strain the higher the RPMs get, and this IS an engine that is small and spins, no starting and stopping to deal with. Revs are a good thing. People that lug the engine in low rpms all day every day tend to have hugely carbon choked engines when they finally blow and are pulled apart. Enjoy the car, don't be scared of it.

Redline a day keeps the carbon away, I redline mine every time I drive it, 2nd, 3rd and sometimes 4th when its safe to do so. On ramps are really fun. I have 2005 With 81000 on the odometer and have never had any major problems ( knock on wood) just religious with oil changes and top offs and coils wires and plugs. Besides all that it's a blast watching your buddies face as you pass 8k rpms and keep going and the look of terror on his face as he thinks your about to blow your engine.

I don't think it is necessary to actually take it to the 'redline' as such.
What this engine needs is to be regularly driven hard to avoid excessive carbon buildup . What the definition of driven hard is , is open to opinion .
If you take it as read that putting about like an old grandma WILL carbon up the engine and that race engines ( while they don't carbon up) do wear out faster , you will understand that somewhere in between those two scenarios is ideal for engine longevity.

You want to rev because you want to cycle all the intake valves that open at various engine speeds, and to build combustion pressure and heat to combat carbon. You don't need to take it to 10k to do that. The concerns about redlining are more about engine balance and bearings (the ones I've read anyway), so simple answer: don't take it to 10k, take it to 8500 and it'll be enough.

In fact there were Mazda racing guidelines that don't recommend taking the renny over 8500 (or something in that ballpark) .

WTF ? It isn't even possible to take it past 9k without ecu modification !

Not sure how accurate the scangauge II is but if I hit 9k and buzzer goes off, it only reads about 8850ish any ways. I don't think I could get 10k if I wanted to, not that I ever would try.

My beep stopped working a few years ago, and by accident I have hit the fuel cut off about 3 times in the last three years. The delivery is just so smooth you think the power will just keep coming! If this was a piston engine, I would have blown it a long time ago. I routinely run it up to 8k though.

Speedo is off the higher you climb the RPM scale. Fuel cut is 9000, no if, ands or buts about it.

I bring it to the beep every time i drive just for the fun if it. I don't know about carbon buildup but you definitely get more oil injection.

My 05 6 port lasted 138k before i cooked a water jacket seal.

Standard oil change was 3-5 k miles on 5w-20 with no premix.

If u have seen the internals of an engine that has never been rev, compare to say, an engine that has seen redline often, the amount of carbon inside the former engine will scare u away

Thanks for all the good replies! I think ill just make her chirp, since that is what the car was made to do right?

Yup! Enjoy! :) :icon_tup:

Be like a fat kid on a cupcake and get all over it. I typically red line 2nd, 3rd and maybe 4th if I have enough room and is safe to do.

Mmmm me likes a cupcake