is it okay to go into the redline before shifting to the next gear?

Question

my friend does it all the time and says its fine. he has a modified 93 civic hatch, with a gsr motor. He shifts that thing at 8500 rpm. is that okay, or will that damage the engine

Answer 1

He's modified it right? Maybe it's modified to handle a higher RPM than the tach says. (ergo the redline is marked wrong on the tach.) Or maybe he's gonna blow up his engine!

He'll definitely wear it out much sooner by driving that way. And that's why YOU shouldn't drive that way. Or buy his car! LOL

Anyway I cannot imagine a driving situation on public roads that would call for pushing your engine to redline on a regular basis. It sounds like he drives like a psychotic freak who's trying to compensate for something, or a 16 year old kid. Either way, I'd say don't ride with him anymore, he's going to get somebody killed.

(that's ASIDE from the people who are dying in the middle east to defend the supply of that fuel he's wasting.)

Now if he's driving that way on the track or dragstrip, that's different. Race cars are meant to be driven hard, and nobody expects to get 200,000 miles on the odometer.

Answer 2

The redline is the point at which the engine would be under severe stress.

In motorcycles particularly you shift close to the redline because thats when the engine is providing the most power.

My little car shifts way before the redline . In fact if it would rev to the redline I think my car would do about 160MPH ...lol

I would be careful about driving with him . He is needlessly working the engine and gearbox.