Hi, I have a few friends who have classic cars and we were talking about this during the week. One of my friends has no problem red lining his 1980’s 911once the car has been fully warmed up… my other friend doesn’t bring his Testarossa past 3,000 RPM where as I only tend to bring my Testarossa up to 6,000 RPM once the car is fully warmed up. Interested to hear other and probably more experienced (and knowledgeable) owner’s max driving limit and how often you bring it to your max?
when the engine is really warm with my BB and also with my competition on a curvy road or on the autobahn I mostly go to the redline. also we have here in germany now because of the green people/government a lot of main streets and thoroughfares within the city/town/village what are limited to 30 km/h because of "noise protection", there I go always in 1st gear that the people may hear for long time the 12 cylinder symphony
There is definitely a difference in the way I drive my classic Italian car and my newer Ford GT. I don’t think I have ever redlined the older car, and seldom exceed 5k rpms (against a 7,600 redline). But on the FGT, it sees 6k revs (against a 6,500 redline) maybe once or twice on most drives. I would do it more often if not for those pesky speed limits. And since I avoid doing it in first gear and by 3rd gear doing it puts me way past go to jail speed, there just isn’t much opportunity.
I make it a point to bring my 360 Spider to redline at least once every drive. I only do it when the engine is up to temp and the traffic allows. When I picked up my 360, I did it from an indie shop and the tech who went over the car told me to give it an "Italian tuneup" (bring it to redline) every once in a while to keep everything working right. I don't push the car unless the conditions are right. When cruising around, I kind of baby it just because it is a 20 year old race car. No point in breaking things for nothing.
I doubt it would break if you push it once in a while. Ferrari makes a pretty good car. I recently bought a 2015 Porsche 911 turbo that had 12,400 miles. At 15,700 miles a PADM light came on which stands for Porsche Active Dynamic engine mounts. Porsche evidently uses bad parts over and over again without fixing the problem. This can go out at anytime. Two mounts $5,400. Called Porsche USA 5 times and they don’t return your call and won’t pay for it, even though it’s a known problem on several models of theirs. What a pos company and product. My 512tr has never broken down and has more miles. Says a lot to me.
I usualy let the BBI warm up untill there is good water temp, then I drive slowish below 3500-4k rpm untill I get decent oil temp, then I work the speeds up getting erything warmed and in synch. On every drive there are multiple moments when its at or near the redline. On a BB the power seems to be in the 4-6k range so I keep it in the 4-6500 range, for a corner where you dont want to be shifting or when just comming out a bend or just to wind it out down a straight a shorter straight Ill run to redline for the glorious sound avoding an uncecessary shift. other times for redline is to have it drop back into the pwerband from say 3-4th or 4th to 5th. Truth be told most of my driving is backroads so its pretty much higher revs in 3rd and 4th, 5th only gets used on longer straights and the highway. For Highway if im a rollin its redline in 4th and as far as conditions will permit when getting into 5th. Dont think Ive been past the low 6's in 5th due to space restrictions. Theres no reason not to go to the redline these motors are really robust and built for it, thats where they're happiest and where the gearbox shifts well. Mostly though you dotn look at the revs and just surf the car along in its powerband which is from the high 3s to the low 6s. What I never do is what some nitwits do with newer cars. Redline the motor in neutral, which is destructive, drop the clutch etc. 1st gear for me is mostly just to get rolling, so prob never been to redline there, but 2-4 thats where you get to the power and thats what its about, if you wants a cruiser buy something else. These cars are designed and meant to be driven as god and enzo intended, if you dont do that youre missing out on 50% of the fun, no make that 85%. The other thing is an older car, their speeds are comparatively speaking not so huge, so you can use all the power on road and mostly not exceed the speed of sanity, the challenge of drivign fast in them requires much of you and is fully engaging/abdsorbing, makign the experince imo somewhat more than you get in a modern. However you do need the right roads and preferably ones you know well, because in a BB once you go into a corner near the limit, you're comitted, theres no tightenignnthe line or easing off the power unless you wnat to spin, in fact better to be feeding power in all though. On moderns there is so much cushion, and then electronics to sort out errors this si mostly not an issue. But if you know how to drive an old car properly there is no reason you cannot keep up or set the pace with newer cars simply because on road you can only go so fast. Last couple of notes, many old cars drive like crap because the bushings and or shocks are shot. If your suspesion is good theyre a pleasure, I dont think peopel realize how leoose car can get after 30 years or worn busings etc. Fresh rubber is also a good idea, ie 5 years or less. How many older cars meet this spec. Lastly brakes, fresh fluid please, and modern pads can do wonders, Ive nver felt the Bb brakes were lacking for street driving, and in fact they worked just fine for a few laps on track. yes theyre not modern cermaic brakes, but then on road youre not turnign the rotors red with heat either, good pads work just fine. If you have a testarossa use it, thats car that can drive down the highway with ac working, and carve a canyon engine singing at great speed. the only thing that can really break on a flat 12 is the rear diff carrier, and thats not goign to be speed related, the rest is bullet proof, same with the even older cars. Too bad we dont still live in an era where you can crush a continent in a daytona or BB at speed.
My mechanic said not to be shy with taking it to redline—said these engines can handle it if maintained properly. And yes the sound from about 5k rpm up is intoxicating.
Cool, thanks for the insight. It seems most people are not afraid to drive the car hard when the conditions are right… or maybe those who don’t are just staying quite lol. Thanks again for the insight.
I can redline my 911 turbo, or any other 911, til kingdom come... I can redline my testarossa but don’t... waaaay to expensive to fix if something happens... Testarossa gets driven to draw gawkers and have people follow you for miles in your blind spot...
I doubt anyone ever kept their tr or their TR under 3000rpm. That's approaching outright silliness same for not exceeding 6k, what the f did you buy the car for.
I drive under 4k rpms and skip 2nd gear until I have oil temp, then I often shift at redline. I've seen the tach display up to 7200 rpm, not sure if or where the limiter is or how accurate the tach is. Why do people sit right in the blind spot??!!?? It happens all the time. She must look extra pretty from that angle.
