hitting the rev limiter

No damage, its the fuel being cut off to prevent you from doing damage. Great you are enjoying your car.

 

I recall a thread (that I can't find) where there was discussion of whether hitting the red limiter can cause some issues over the long run. The question was, does the sudden change in reciprocating motion create the potential for engine damage, even though the limiter may prevent the engine from blowing right away. There was no conclusion, and I suppose only an experienced automotive engineer would know.

 

The deceleration that you are feeling is fuel and timing cut by the ECU. Revving to 9K shouldn't poise a problem...accelerating to the rev-limiter under zero-load (neutral) will cause stress on the connecting rods and bolts; leading to premature failure.

Additionally, living at higher RPM's for extended periods of time will result in valve-train fatigue.

 

i suggest speaking with a ferrari mechanic to find out if the car's cpu logs these over-revving moments as "events". if so, the manufacturer could potentially deny responsibility in case of an engine failure!

 

Excellent advice. I would not do it unless you rarely forget the revs. Also all the over rev blips are recorded and can be downloaded by Ferrari, or even checked during a PPI when selling the car.

 

Ferrari engines are engineered to be able to spin upwards of 10.000 RPM. Of course they are limited to 9200 (for the 458) for reliability and longevity reasons. Hitting the limiter per se does not harm any car engine. Of course the harder you drive, the more the engine is stressed but that's why you buy a Ferrari anyway.

 

I was under the impression that unless you're in race mode (or higher) the car would automatically engage the next higher gear right at (or before) redline. That's how my Lambo was. Since my car is new, I haven't flexed all the muscle yet. What gives???
TIA for the input.

 

Fcar RACE mode does not advance to next gear. I believe Sport and Wet mode do!

Best

 

You are right and that also holds true for the older F1 tranny in the 430, 599 etc.

 

Curious , how do you know about the maximum rpm's?
It is never a good idea to repeatedly hit the rev limiter.
Best

 

I have been told so by a Ferrari technician. He told me that the maximum RPM that a production Ferrari engine could attain before destruction was circa 3000 more than the limiter. Of course the engine is not programmed to work that high, but mechanically it can do so briefly.

Why do you say that hitting the limiter is a bad idea though? It is a "soft" limiter" to begin with and it is well below the destruction threshold.

Cheers.

 

Hi, Just have a real quick question as this just happen to me today. My friend's son sat in my 458 and accidentally pressed the accelerator paddle while the vehicle is in Park Auto Mode. When i try to stop him, it took a good 10 seconds to stop him (as it is so loud that he could not hear me). Anyway, the rev was definitely hitting the limit for the entire 10 seconds. Now, i can't turn the steering wheel without hearing this grinding noise and it seems power steering has been shut down. Any ideas? Thanks

 

Why did you have a kid with the engine on in the driver's seat?

Seems like a prescription for disaster to me.

Wish I could help you with this but I think you need a trip to the dealer. Maybe even towed.

Hope it's covered under warrantee.

 

Ostensibly, these two occurances are not linked. Take it to a Ferrari dealer and plug the car. Hope it's nothing serious.

 

A F engineer at the factory told me a long time ago that the 308 engine would flutter at 10300 rpm and occasional burst up to 9800 was tolerated. This supports the thought that the 458 can easily attain 12000rpm.

 

"Bounching off a rev limiter " in and of itself is not a big deal. However, it is usually safe to say that someone doing this drives at high rpms, which does increase temperatures and stress on components. "Technically", if a limiter cuts fuel, there can be no internal combustion, and therefor no damage, i.e. the car is "cruising". I shift before 8,000 rpm, and stay in the torque range to any meaningful speed on or off a race track. Best

 

When the limiter is hit, the reciprocating components necessarily experience a very rapid deceleration, starting from high RPM. I have read that this puts a great strain on them, and that such strains if repeated frequently can lead to failure. I don't recall the source and cannot say it was authoritative, but it is something to keep in mind.

 

Just avoid frequently hit limiter on 1 and 2 gears. Stress is too high.

Car only jumps to the next gear on Auto mode and, if throttle full, near the 9000rpm.

It’s easy to hit rev limiter on the 3 first gears if you are just controlling it for the led on the wheel. On these first three, a glance over the tachometer is more useful.

 

In the olden days of the Can-Am, the McLarens with the big block Chevrolets used a soft rev limiter to tell Bruce and Denny when to shift. Everything was happening too fast to try and use the tach. No harm done because cutting fuel does not brake (yes, brake, not break) any of the reciprocating components because they slow gradually as combustion fades. Plus fuel is restored as soon as the revs drop below a certain threshold. The rev limiter is usually actuated 100-200 rpm above redline. Not sure when it deactivates, but probably right around red-line to prevent hysteresis.

 

I shall be more precise. On auto and wet mode.

 

Not disagreeing, but is the stress much different than upshifting to second or third gear at 8500 rpm? When shifting, the revs have to drop very quickly to match the next gear ratio. When you hit the limiter, the revs don't drop that much, do they? Just trying to understand.

 

I am guessing that the argument is that cutting fuel supply causes a quicker deceleration of the reciprocating parts than simply letting off the throttle. But frankly I don't know what the right answer is and I would like to hear it from someone who has real authoritative knowledge.

 

That's right. By the time you see the 5th LED (8920 RPM) in a lower gear it is too late to shift before the rev limiter cuts in. Even in 3rd gear you are accelerating at about 100 RPM per tenth of a second. I am not fast enough to shift in less than 1/10 second after seeing the 5th LED.

I think that it would be better if the 5th LED were keyed to a lower RPM, maybe around 8600.