The Driver

Shaguar47

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I thought this is a neat subject and so here it is.

Friend of mine has been driving hondas for a little while now. 3 years with his 98 civic ex. He came up to me the other day and wanted to talk to me. Wanted to know when i shifted, how hard i am on my car and how much abuse it can take. I really couldn't answer since i basically told him what i normally drive at. He said that over the years, since his debut with his honda since his last ford explorer, he felt sometimes as if he was hurting his honda.

Now i'm coming to you guys about this straight up. His story goes like this. To keep up with traffic or some friends in there v6 explorers, he has to rev the car up. Like up too 3.5 - 4k rpms. He usually shifts normally around 2.5k in all gears, unless going up a hill. Gets great fuel economy but when he push's it, it makes him feel like the car is whinning, which it is, but it makes him feel bad because he's so used to having torque in those lower gears. Thinks that doing it alot will do something to the motor. Will loosen belts, run down valve timing, greater chance of burning oil in the future.

He also wanted to know if it was okay to drive the civic in low rpms almost monthly with not revving it up much. He knows that these engines can rev, but will it effect long term engine durability over time if he continues to shift at 2.5k rpms all the time?

I can see where he's coming from, being used to all that domestic torque, but answer with honesty here. How much revving can these engines take in a day or week? How much can the engine take if shifting in low revs constantly?
 

Slick_99

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I've always known stick cars to need a good rev'ing from time to time. However, excessive borderline redlining or hard driving will deminish not only the life of your clutch, but your tranny and engine

Good example, my buddy has a 98 EX and I have 99 DX, we both got the cars at the exact same time with roughly the same amount of mileage (20k) but Ive never really pushed the car over the 6k RPM mark, my friend has countless times and hes a normal rice boy he loves to hear the sound of his intake and VTEC so he puts the pedal to the floor all the time.

So this past week he calls me and asks if I know of anyone selling a transmission and I asked why and he told me his clutch and tranny gave out, that he had bad compression in one cylinder and the car was finally giving up on him.

My car is in perferct mechanical condition (knocks on wood) and besides a few sensors needing replacement my car is fine. We have a serious mileage difference which attributes to alot, I currently have 55k he has upwards of 80k but driving style does make a difference in the life of your car.

Like I said, anything over the 6K mark in a civic is emergency RPMs unless your racing and have an engine to do so. Just my .02

EDIT: My normal driving shifting conditions are between 2.5 to 4k.
 


needanew1

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depends on the motor honestly... but a stock ex engine, id say aroun 3.2k would be good... but then again i dropped an itr engine in my car and the damn vtec on it is so addicting its going to cost me an arm and a leg in the future when something breaks...
 

Shaguar47

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Slick_99 said:
I've always known stick cars to need a good rev'ing from time to time. However, excessive borderline redlining or hard driving will deminish not only the life of your clutch, but your tranny and engine

Good example, my buddy has a 98 EX and I have 99 DX, we both got the cars at the exact same time with roughly the same amount of mileage (20k) but Ive never really pushed the car over the 6k RPM mark, my friend has countless times and hes a normal rice boy he loves to hear the sound of his intake and VTEC so he puts the pedal to the floor all the time.

So this past week he calls me and asks if I know of anyone selling a transmission and I asked why and he told me his clutch and tranny gave out, that he had bad compression in one cylinder and the car was finally giving up on him.

My car is in perferct mechanical condition (knocks on wood) and besides a few sensors needing replacement my car is fine. We have a serious mileage difference which attributes to alot, I currently have 55k he has upwards of 80k but driving style does make a difference in the life of your car.

Like I said, anything over the 6K mark in a civic is emergency RPMs unless your racing and have an engine to do so. Just my .02

EDIT: My normal driving shifting conditions are between 2.5 to 4k.
I believe his car is almost at the border of 100k miles. So this is just my question, but would be a safe, normal driving shifting point to get around town and to work everyday?
 


nitebeest

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I have a 98 ex that I got in Feb. I just hit 102k miles a couple weeks ago and still no problems. The owner before me took care of the car and I can not vouch for when they shifted at, though they did live in San Francisco so a lot of hill and city driving so I'm assuming they had to rev it a little bit.

As for myself though I normally shift around 3k-4k rpms. Usually around 3.5k is the norm for me though. Yes on occasion I'll push the engine a little higher to pass people or to hear the sound of my intake but no problems so far with anything.
 

JohnS.

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i got my car at 141k from my brother and ive beaten the s**t out of it til the recent 168,200 mark. but i went to college last late august so the car was garaged and only used when i was home on holidays/vacations/etc.

now that ive been back from college, i beat on it ATLEAST once a day. hit redline atleast once everyday. and yes i drive like a maniac. its just a must for me. i seriously can't drive normal. but i beat on my car and other than normal things fallin apart at 168k miles, its in great condition (knocks on wood). the only 1 big problem is that my valve cover gasket is cracked at the corners so it slowly leaks oil out the corners of the head at the same time of the engine burning a little oil.

as for normal driving, i shift b/t 2.5 and 4k. and spirited driving, i actually take it just under the revlimiter and just past the redline (7.1ish). lately ive been behaving on that and shifting a few hundred before redline.

but really...its a honda. they're meant for being beat on. have u seen the videos of crazy idiots that abuse em worse than just shifting at high rpms?
 

Revolver

Oct 10th
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Why the hell are people so afraid to rev to like 4k? Don't ever give them an RX8 or an S2k :lol:
 

jak

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when i first got my 99 ex i would only rev to like 3000ish, and i was never hittin my power band. not that SOHC vtec engines really have a power band. :lol: but now i normally shift at around 4000, and if i need to go a little fast between 4000 and a little over vtec.
 

postal21

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I almost NEVER drive my car hard. Ive got scratching in 3rd gear, and i dont shift it over 3500 rpms into 3rd to save her from destroying the transmission more then it already is messed up.
 


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