At the end of the day if you are worried about hitting a rev limiter and the engine letting go you shouldn't be driving it on a track, you should put it in a garage and wrap it in cotton wool... No offence intended.....
All depends on how the engine holds onto its power past peak...can be an advantage at times My car revs to 7600 with peak at 6800, gives the advantage of being able to hold 4th along the main straight at Combe for instance
My old bus revved to 7800 with the crystal modded. Any more and a solid head is required.....loads of dosh [:^(] It was far from a standard lumps and was well balanced. Power held well over 7000 I found the 1800 was better suited to high rpm over the 2 litre but ultimately 1900 has the best (squarer) dimensions All depends on idividual engines but for track high RPM does help Ian
Gave it a blast on way home tonight (2L16v corrado) and as much fun as it was power was gone by the time i was into 7. best to change at about 6800 if not before. However i doubt that a fer red line events is anything to worry about. Edited by: Sciroccotune
I worry about my gearbox more than the engine My point is,if you didn't get it the first time. No point running an engine to the limiter if it doesn't make the power, it just sounds like you're going faster, or might blow some flames out of the back On my engine at least,you can feel it does'nt pull over 6500, so no point holding on to a gear otherwise. Edited by: GVK
You'd go just as fast changing up to 5th, but it wouldn't sound as good imo. Before we all get carried away though, poster of the thread has a high mileage standard KR not a tuned engine and I still maintain he should stick to 6500rpm Edited by: GVK
MannyA, Nobody is saying on this thread to take it to the limiter all day every day, but hitting it occaisonally isn't going to hurt. With that sort of mileage your engine should be nice and loose and quite free reving so just go out there on the track, give it some and enjoy!! At least you are actually going to take it on a track and not just talk about it! No offence intended.....
I allways belived the whole point of taking a KR to 7200 (or near as damn it) was to get in the best rev range in the next gear, yeah it drops off a bit after 6800 (well my old one did) but it would bog down a little if I changed up before 7k. But my old KR wasn;t in the best of health before I changed it.
Fair point, but the fact that the car would only just pull 5th through Folly or just after, justified extending the rev range a touch further, as 5th made it feel like it stagnated.... Not sure what difference the cams/bodies make, as it still peaks @ 6800 on paper, but seems to rev out quite freely to the limiter IMO!
Bear in mind a "standard" 9A Corrado, has a different cam set up to a 16v Golf (very mild Inlet cam to help emmissions IIRC) so assuming you havent gone for KR cams, it will be more torquey but run out of power sooner in comparison. Id stick to 6500 in this instance
"At the end of the day if you are worried about hitting a rev limiter and the engine letting go you shouldn't be driving it on a track, you should put it in a garage and wrap it in cotton wool... " Its not a case of wrapping it in cotton wool -This summer my subaru cost me 1K indiscs and padsand3K for abig end failure at the nurburgring (understeering, no steering feel, fragile jap crap, steer well clear of subarus ) I just cant afford to keep spending that sort of money, plus the missus is starting to get the bottom and wondering whywe arealways skint. I bought the golf because I have had loads before and other than gearboxes are the only cars ive owned thatcan takesome real track abuse, plus they handle beautifully and can leave most things this side of a 911 for dead at the ring. I think 6500 sensible limit, particularly as that corresponds with max BHPbut at least I know I canrev to 7000occassionaly at the end of a straight, or round a corner where changing gear would be an bottom. Cheers for advice, will be at Bedford on the 19th Nov, black f reg16v, if any one else is there and wants to say hello.
I just noticed, in my post above were it says bottom, i wrote a*se, and someone changed it, I didnt realise big bro was censoring!!
Remember also that 16v engines can be picked up fairly cheap if you are unfortunate enough to suffer a failure... Rare, but not unheard of, if the car is tracked regularly or has not been cared for earlier in its life.. Id rev it as far as it feels sweet & safe, you can fairly easily tell if you are over extending it, & nowadays a lot of it comes down to the way its set up!, given these cars are 15+ years old. A goodun will pull sweetly just about all the way, whereas a bad 'un will feel flat..
Nothings cheap, if engine goes pop, it would be foolish of me not to go the 2L route, then while the engines out, would also be foolish not to carry out some other choice mods... Im going to take up smoking crack, I hear its a cheaper habit than trackdays.
GVK, just looking at your website, looks cool, cool car. I noticed you dont have a cage, do you not feel the need for one at the ring? Having heard in graphic detail what happened to the poor chapin the M3 atschwedenX this summer, im getting one installed before next years season.
I *should* have a cage, but for the past year when I'm in a position to buy one I have suffered 3 gearbox failures, currently spent 1500 on it! I was at the 'ring when the M3 crashed this year (end July), car was a mess to say the least, they had to replace the armco on the Monday so that gives you an idea how bad it was. Edited by: GVK
Sadly there are a few people who do a lot of talking, I think this is the first month since March where I haven't done a track day Cadwell on Nov 19th for me Edited by: GVK
