Potential benefits of high revving a flat six

livi · 01-15-2007, 05:21 AM

We all know our beloved flat six engines come to life in the upper rev spectrum. There is also a saying that these engines "like to be high revved".

Not being an engineer, I feel the wear on several engine parts must rise with higher revs, although perhaps not significantly.

My question however is whether there would be any potential benefits with high revving ? I am talking about from say 5k and up to the limiter.

Does it help 'cleaning out' combustion by products ? Would it (within reason) actually gain longevity in an engine with regular high revs ?

Is there an ideal rev count for any engine ? A speed where a particular engine is in harmony and the wear is the smallest ?

I know it has been discussed before, I am just not clear on how it would work.

safe · safe's Garage

There probably is. If you look in your manual you'll see recommended MINIMUM shifting RPMs for each gear.

wolf · 01-15-2007, 08:49 AM

you clean up carbon on the valves; italian tune-up
you increase oil pressure
however....?

island911 · 01-15-2007, 08:51 AM

The great thing about these cars is that the engineers were optimizing for reliable performance.

They clearly did a great job. Rev away.

livi · 01-15-2007, 10:26 AM

Maybe that accounts for the many testimonies that their Porsche never runs as well as after a hard day at the track.

BK911 · BK911's Garage

Most of the wear occurs when you first start the engine. Once it's running most of the parts are running on a thin film of oil.

Facey · Facey's Garage

reving is very hard on and engine.

and it gets worse the more you rev.

the force goes up with the square of the increase.

there is no doubt some downsides to not shifting high enough... however racing engine need to be rebuild in hours not miles becuase of the extreme rpms they see.

if your talking 5000-6500 then rev away, but if your talking 7000-8200rpm, your taking life from your engine fast....expecially if it wasn;t built for those rpms....