[A Quiet Boom]

FWIW I beleive it. I've taken my 3.0 to 7000 in 5th (911 box) and an indicated 145. My 911 box is short geared as well, at least 1-4 anyway. If I calculate my speed vs. RPM to his speed vs. RPM he only needs 8000 to go 165.

Now if that is a massaged 2.4S it would likely make max HP way up in the RPMs, right where he needs it for speeds that fast. Let's say the motor's putting out 250-275, naturally aspirated with short gears, it would likely kill a 4spd 930 0-90 MPH. Thevery best drag cars reach max HP at the redline in high gear just before going through the lights, this is similar, he needs max HP at the target MPH and he likely has it. Example my internally stock 3.0 maxes out in HP right around 6000 RPM, if I had the heads and cams the motor would happily make power at 7000 and even higher with modified internals which may or may not be required as I'm not sure what the limiting factor is. I do know this, you can't drive and american V8 around all day at the redline and not blow it up but you can drive a 911 around at the factory redline on the autobahn as well as racetracks all over the world and it lasts. In fact that's one of the 911's strong points, reliability. Given that fact I believe that the factory redline is conservative and remember we are talking 2.4S with a 7300 RPM factory redline.

One important side note, my factory tach leads my engine by at least a few hundred RPM when mashing it in the lower gears. It'll swing well past 7000 before the 7000 pill in my MSD kicks in. I got to the point that I used to shift at an indicated 7200 when thrashing my car without hitting the limiter. With the short gears I never felt the car nose over as indicated by my dyno runs. I now shift at 6500, just after it noses over (according to the dyno) and I'll bet my 0-60 is faster than before.

Besides all that a flat six is naturally balanced and far smoother than say a V8 or I4, I'm not at all surprised by their willingness to rev. Most people know how out of balance a V8 is naturally and thus the need for added weight to the crank yet with good internals these motors will happliy turn 8000 RPM. I should know, I drag raced a 4" stroke 410CI 351W Ford engine and shifted it above 8000 all the time. The only times I ever grenaded that motor it was related to detonation caused by me getting too greedy with the AF or timing and it was always a rod or main bearing that failed. In comparison the 911 motor is well balanced, has a strong crank, strong rods, 7 main bearings vs. 5 for a V8 for a well supported crank, lighter valvetrain with over head cams, better out of the box port design than most cars I've seen and was designed to be driven in the upper RPM range for extended periods, so no I don't think 15-20% safety factor is out of line with the rated redline.

Remember the late 80's early 90's Mustang GT, top speed 145 with 225 HP and that's a heavy box of a car compared to a 911. Knowing what I know about engines and straight line racing I have little doubt a well massaged S engine can push a 911 to 165, how long it takes to get there is another story.