Richard, you have a rare gift for explaining things clearly, in simple terms, without childish simplification, and with a backing in personal experience. Keep up the great job! Really grateful for this bit of very informative and pleasant to watch video.
I wish that was true. Anyone can explain everything in 30 minutes. Rather find a video that tells it to you in 3 minutes and gets straight to the point
@@svg_pikachu5816 Haha! You're so very wrong. On so many levels. Even putting aside the strict nonsense of what you said -- which can be ascribed to your inability to use grammar (See, how could you possibly explain _anything_ in 30 minutes if you're unable to compose even one written sentence that would carry the meaning across exactly as you wanted it to?) -- you took a very weird assumption that: a) everybody watching videos on RUclips is always in a dreadful hurry (... Well, duh, obviously -- why would they be doing it if they weren't, right? ;) ) b) listening to a good lecture canot bring joy (alongside information) c) the little timer in the bottom of the video is invisible, and nobody can judge beforehand if they're ready/happy to spend 30 minutes of their time on the video. Now, I was going to ask you to explain in a few sentences what inspired you to write your useless comment, but I'm not going to. And only part of the reason is that I'm fully convinced you wouldn't be able to. I'm just not interested.
I flor my 12 year old 1.2l Corsa with about 100k miles on the clock on the Autobahn for years now, also regularly reaching the red line. It still manages it like a boss. You just need to get it serviced regularly and wait for it to heat up before you do that.
1:00: Letting the engine idle for 10 seconds -- SECONDS!!!! -- is "prohibited in Germany?" Because of emissions? But blasting down the Autobahn at 200km/h is perfectly fine? This is one of those things just bonkers about my native home, and one of the reasons I'm glad I no longer live there. Here in the US, I can warm up my Subaru for a couple of minute with no one harassing me.
Yes, it is forbidden to let the motor run for no proper cause in Germany because of pollution. But in reality no one will bother you when you do it for just ten seconds to get your cars motor a healthy start. Doing this all the time with my old Seat because it has a bit rough cold start. Have done it while standing next to police. They didn't bother eather.
I've owned a humble Peugot 206 with only 60hp and I redlined that car all the time. Regardless of my "abuse" it was still very reliable, because I took care of the engine and only hooned it, when the temperatures allowed me to do so. Honestly, people really don't have to worry too much about pushing the RPMs, especially when they drive a n/a car. Those in particular are designed to be revved, the power is at high RPMs, not pushing the engine is quite a waste of the engines potential IMO.
Great advice. I owned a Porsche 996 GT3 for many years with a redline of 8200rpm and maximum power was close to the redline so you really had to rev the engine for maximum performance. I used to hit the redline frequently on track days and had a few second gear blasts on the road and never had any issues. Always made sure the engine had warmed up before I extended it and the car was regularly serviced and had frequent oil changes. Too many drivers thrash their cars from cold and the results can be a trashed engine and big bills.
@@shanefowler9443 I get 7500 with my Toyota 86. I'm still getting used to the boxer 4 driving sensation. All the way through the rev range there's no feeling. So without the sound or shift light on the dash you wouldn't know the rpm is up there
This video very approachably touches on subjects that those of us blessed with mechanical sympathy understand on a spiritual level: the engine in your car, although it be a machine, is still constrained by laws of nature and the properties of matter; and when a driver dimly pushes it beyond its tolerances, the results are inconvenient and expensive. What a great watch m8, honestly. Love this channel.
The level of precision that you have at all times makes this one of the best videos about engines/cars I have ever watched. I can truely say you are well educated about engineering nd mechanics and that you have an outstanding communication level. Brilliant video
I'm glad you mentioned valve float at the end. One of the biggest killers of tuned engines is this. People absolutely underestimate the importance of timing and high quality valvetrain components.
This is probably one of your better videos. This information is good for drivers across the entire experience spectrum. Most of your videos are made for learners, I get that. You're a trustworthy guy, keep it the heck up.
Just passed my driving test after a couple months of driving, first time with 1 minor fault. I really appreciate your great quality content and it definitely made a hugeee difference in my driving/confidence, ur vids are a blessing to anyone trying to learn. Thanks! 🙏
Hey Richard, wanted to let you know your videos have been a massive help in learning and understanding manual transmission, as an American who has only used automatic. I'm now daily driving a manual super smoothly and having plenty of fun with it! Thanks for all you do!
As a guy who owns for around 3 years or so a fairly modern, manual turbo charged engine I gotta say this was very informative. I already did used some of these tips even before watching the video but its always nice to see someone who knows what he is talking about tell you why you should do so. It's probably easier to keep revs lower with a manual car than automatic altho modern automatic cars will keep the revs low when the engine temp is low so its all good either way.
Man, I love how informative your channel is, so many great tips to learn for daily drivers or new car fans! Keep up the great work and know it is much appreciated 🙏🏼💙
My primary car is a 2008 R230 SL 350, and the age vs mileage debate mentioned here is a very good one. The metal components of the engine, after 40000 miles, are perfect. The plastic components, after 15 years, are all reaching the end of their lives (looking at you, variable length intake manifold). The engine's been tuned so that after a certain temperature has been reached, the redline increases by about 500RPM (this is a stock feature on lots of new cars too) which kind of takes some of the worry away. When you're buying a car, remember that depreciation, although really harsh in the first few years, does occur for a reason. That Ferrari 360 with *only* 50000 miles might be £25k now, and that might seem like a great deal... until you buy the thing. Counterintuitive though it may seem, oftentimes the more expensive the car, the less the manafacturer actually expect you to drive it. A super highly strung engine categorically will not last as long as one tuned for long journeys, NA, turbo, diesel or otherwise. Remember that any car is as good as its weakest point, if that's the shoddy £200 handbrake on a £2,500 Hyundai Coupe, so be it, if that's the £5,000 air suspension on a £5,000 S-Class... you can see where I'm going with this. Do your research on the model of car, and the model of engine for the year you're looking to buy; if there's one glaring problem that costs twice what the car's worth to fix, make sure it's already been fixed/replaced/sorted before even getting excited. Nice cars get cheaper quicker for a reason and while there are plenty of diamonds in the rough, they scarcely get the care Richard gives his cars throughout their lives. On that topic, the approach to maintenance Richard takes on the Leon is exactly what everyone should aspire to do, yes it's more expensive than waiting for something to go wrong in the short term but works out so much cheaper in the long run. I've had the timing belt changed and every rubber and plastic component short of the head gasket replaced and other than a coil pack giving me a misfire on cylinder 6, the engine has been running super smoothly ever since. Service your car regularly, at least to what your manafacturer suggest or even more if it's financially feasible for you to do (especially if you do lots of slower miles, or traffic light racing). Your car will reward you by not suddenly dying on those particularly hot, or cold, days. Never ignore a check engine light too, you can buy cheap OBDII readers online which will (most of the time) be able to point you in the right direction for a fix, especially if you go to a garage who charge additional diagnostic fees for doing essentially the same thing, bear in mind this is only true of universal codes, some manafacturer specific ones will require specialist equipment (looking at you, again, Mercedes Star diagnostics!) Also, change your spark plugs! Often overlooked by servicing schedules, but they're often one of those tangible renewal feelings you might not get from a standard filter change. That's my two pence, sorry it's so long. :) TL:DR - Old nice car bad, new slow car good. Research car and engine before buying. Servicing cars good, waiting for problems bad. This video good.
I started watching your videos when I was teaching my 17yr old nephew about a year ago. He passed his test,1st time, last November and I'm still watching your channel? I've been driving for over 35 years...I drive for a living, actually. and I still find myself learning something new (every day is a school day). Part of my job is mentoring new PCV drivers, so I know...well, I think I know, a lot about safe driving. You're not just helping new drivers, you've made me remember a lot of what I've forgotten over the years (it's an age thing) . I even bought a SEAT Leon because of watching your videos. Keep it up!
I've been driving for 30-something years and am not really watching these to learn anything - but they're just good, solid, quality videos. Well done :)
Excellent tutorial.I’ve been driving for 40 years and know a lot about car mechanics but I still found this video very comprehensive and learnt a few new things too.
Hi Richard. I'd already passed my test by the time I stumbled across your channel, but I've found your videos extremely helpful as a new driver. Thank you!
@Thawne1338 if you have driven enough and properly that you are a confident driver, then you won't have any trouble. Say if you weren't feeling confident and you scheduled your test soon, you really set yourself up to fail.
@Thawne I didn't! I passed the second time, after I made a stupid mistake on my first. It's very stressful, but try your best to stay calm. For example, I engaged my examiner in a bit of a chat during the test, just to distract myself from how nervous I was. The other piece of advice I'd have is to not get too blinkered, so you can keep your head up and be aware of your surroundings. I failed my first test because I came off a roundabout into a bus-only road, because I was too focused on my gear change and my mirrors to see the sign. It is not easy, but you'll definitely get there.
@Thawne1338 but test nerves are a normal thing to experience, so don't feel down from that, you just need more time to refine your driving so you become comfortable.
I rebuilt the engine in an escort I had in the 90’s, new carb (yes, it was that old) and a home tuning kit, it could hit 55 in second ( I have no idea what the rpm was but it was definitely off the end of the gauge) in about 4 to 5 seconds and still 3 more gears to go. It pulled like a train even in 5th. I believe the carb was jetted wrongly Edit, just got to the part where you talk about the cam belt… the reason I had to rebuild the engine was the belt idler broke, shredded the belt, pistons ate the inlet and exhaust valves… bad things happened, but it was all repairable and it was a thirsty demon afterwards
Know you hear this a lot but I passed my first test today with 2 minors! Really appreciate your videos, especially watching loads the night before to get my confidence up. Cheers Richard, will be sticking around for future videos, love videos like these going into detail about cars rather than learning for the test, too :)
Dope stuff! I passed two weeks ago, driving in the same learners car that our fellow RUclips was teaching us on! Him and my instructor were the best help I could want and it paid off listening all the tips 🤙🏼
Once my car (forced induction) shows it's coolant temp up to temp at 90DegC, depending on the ambient temp outside I will still wait another 10 mins or several km of driving before giving it the beans to make sure my oil is at the right temperature and doing it's job lubricating my turbo and the entire power-train system and all of the auxiliary fluids are happy 👍 Great video mate thanks.
The durability of older Honda and Toyota engines baffle me to this day. My friend used to own a 6gen coupe Civic with a B16 (1.6 VTi) with like 380k km’s on it, redline it everyday (only when the oil got up to temp as well though!!) to 8200 and the thing would just keep on going. It just couldn’t die. Sure it consumed a bit of oil (like 1.5 litres or so in 7-8k km’s) but you genuinely could not kill that engine. As Clarkson said, what a machine!
@@adrianridgway4333 Nah the whole point of Top Gear is to watch 3 idiots doing silly things with cars, if they put Richard in it people would call it lame and boring and nobody would watch it
i have a very special golf mk1 from 2005 that has been redlining warm and cold daily for 18 years, 300 000+km. it also races 10 laps a month on my local racetrack. i wish all cars was this bulletproof
For the uninitiated: the cam belt (or chain), A. K. A. timing belt (or chain) is the wearable part that opens and shuts the valves. It connects the crank shaft, which is what the pistons rotate, to the cam shaft, which opens the valves. When the belt snaps (or the chain stretches) the engine gets out of time and, unless allowances were made in design (see "non-interference engine"), a piston WILL collide with a valve, bend said valve, probably warp the head, maybe damage the cam shaft and/or one or more of its bearings. It's NOT worth the risk, just fecking change it.
I bought a 1991 Rover Metro a couple of years ago, and there were no records of it ever having a Cam belt change. We drove it home very carefully, and changed the belt as the first job. It was clearly the original, 30 year old belt, as there were teeth hanging off! I'm certain if I'd revved it hard, it would've snapped.
@@ryanwilliams6526 Yikes! That sort of thins is always a risk with older cars. Hell, I keep finding stuff to do on my bike and she was only 9 months old when I got her! Fortunately none of it could have been catastrophic in my case, but it's still annoying to have to do this much work to a nearly new bike.
My dad and I were on the highway when it broke on his van, still have those rusted bent valves sitting around somewhere, very important part to service
Love your videos. All very informative. It is good to find a driving instructor with an 'older' car as most people who pass their test will generally start with a secondhand car. My wife learned to drive in a modern car. When she bought her secondhand Metro, she had never before come across a choke and I had to show her how to use it as it was a cold day when we picked it up. I was a driving instructor back in the early 80s. I look after all of my cars - ensuring that oil, spark plugs and all filters, cambelts, etc, are changed regularly. My last six cars (Mercedes 280SE W109/ MG Metro 1.3 Mk2/ VW Passat B2/VW Passat B3/BMW 520iSE E34/ Volvo 940 GL Estate first series) had all done in excess of 250,000 miles when I parted company with them and were still running well. My current Jaguar S-type SE 3.0 has only just reached 110,000 at 22 years of age as I don't do so much mileage now - its mechanicals are fine but age is getting to the electrics - as Richard rightly said, age is more an issue with modern cars than mileage. I was driving a VW Passat B3 when the new MOT emissions tests came in. My local VW dealer, Rigby Turner, was amazed that each year it went in, the emissions on my trusty Passat were cleaner with passing time. I can only put it down to meticulous care of the car. I changed the oil with good quality (Castrol Magnatec) on or before time, I used Molyslip for many years before switching to Slick 50, and I used Redex or STP with each petrol fill-up and every two years I did a full de-coke with Redex in the spark plug chambers. This regime works for my track car too which gets thrashed at ARDS for the last 23 years. Look after your cars and they look after you.
I find the secret to getting good life from your engine even if you bounce it off the limiter or boot it down a slip-road occasionally is *ALL* about maintenance. Follow the service guidance in your car's manuals, fix faults and leaks as and when they happen and it'll serve you well. Sometimes it's even a smart idea to go with shorter service intervals on some consumables like oil and coolant if you're able to. Oil especially, as it serves 3 purposes in the engine... 1: Cool the areas that the coolant can't reach (such as the pistons and connecting rods) 2: Lubricate the moving parts 3: keep the moving parts of the engine clean to aid in lubrication and wear prevention And all three of those functions are critical to maximizing engine life - especially in turbocharged or supercharged cars because of that extra heat that the boost produces.
My personal approach to whether or not to redline an engine depends on how the engine feels high up. Some cars love to rev; I know Subarus will easily go above redline. Other cars run out of torque higher up and you don't really gain anything going all the way to the redline, so shifting earlier just makes more sense. My car falls into this latter category, so most of the time, if I take it high up in the revs, I'll shift 500-1000 rpm short of the redline because the engine starts to run out of torque at those rpms.
It makes sense but my car feels good high up, max torque is at about 6200rpm I think, redline being at 6500. But it wasn't built for that, it kept having problems with things like valves or cam followers. So I got it built and now it feels even better and it hasn't failed yet. Just because an engine feels good high up doesn't necessarily mean it'll be reliable if you go there regularly.
@@Randommmmm204 if your redline is at 6500 rpm its probably your max hp at 6200 not your max torque as max torque is usually generated in lower rpms (1500 to 2500)
@@gabrielv.4358 i have my max torque from 1750-3000 revs. that said its a diesel, which really only revs to 4,5-5k , thatfor, max hp is at 4000rpm (ive never revved it to the limiter, latest shift ill do is at 4,5k, it can rev a tad higher, idk how much tho)
With money shifting, typically the most common part to get destroyed is the valves, since they'll float and get slammed into by the pistons. Connecting rod failures can also happen but that's not as common. Most engines nowadays are interference engines, which means that there's an area where both the valves and pistons can be, and the timing of it is such that they never contact. This is done to be able to increase the compression ratio. Many older engines (especially once you get to 80s cars and older) do not have interference engines, so overreving the engine and causing valve float won't destroy your valves. Something else is much more likely to fail.
The American in me kept on getting terrified of the imminent head on collision… then I remembered you drive on the left. This happened several times throughout the video
I have a 13 mazda cx5 with over 255k miles. I drive it hard. But i also maintain it. I hit the limiter daily. Granted its one of the few cars that has a soft limiter set right redline instead of past it. It also depends on the brand. Mazda, honda motors are known for wanting to be revved high. They are designed for that type of driving. Therefore the components are designed for that even after 9 years or over 200k miles. I think it all comes down to maintenance. I do also drive it easy from time to time
i drive since i was 15, yet, each video of yours that i watch brings me enlightenment in something bout driving it must be great to have you as a driving instructor
I've had multiple old rwd volvos, and the handbook for those says you should do an Italian tune-up once in a while. Helps burn up some of the carbon residue.
an 'italian tune up' doesnt actually work unless you are doing back to back laps of the nurburgring or flat out on derestricted autobahn because the combustion chamber does not otherwise get up to a hot enough temperature to burn off carbon
@@oscarzt1652 This is true. Redlining it for few seconds will not do much good. You need to rev it at 5500+ for like 30 minutes continuously in order to heat it up enough so it starts burning carbon deposits. If you blast it for like 2-5 mins you are only making it worse, it builds carbon much more that way.
PS: at the end you talked about downshifting through multiple stages at once. I wanna add that some cars have mechanical safety elements for this (if I try to shift from 6th to 3rd my stick seems to be stuck no matter how hard I push it forward, the stick lets me get into 3rd only after the revs tune down a bit).
My general rule of thumb is if the engine is healthy and well maintained, then FULLY warmed up, go for gold! It's hard to damage an engine from driving it hard once it's fully warmed up, and thermal expansion has played its part. Massive amounts of damage occur from driving too hard before the engine is warmed up because not only are the tolerances and clearance out of spec, but the irons and alloys of the blocks, heads, cylinder sleeves and pistons all expand at different rates. It's possible to seize certain engines by driving them hard before they're warmed up, as for example, the aluminium pistons expand rapidly in comparison to the iron blocks. Some Alfa Romeo engines were notorious for this! Once they're warm could redline them all day... Edit: My 1992 Mercedes with an M104 engine has 230k on the odometer and runs like new. It's never had a single engine component replaced, just fluids, filters and ignition parts (has a distributor and rotor). I idle it for around 60 seconds first start in a morning, sometimes more or less depending on how cold it is outside, then drive like a grandma for the first 15 minutes. After that I often beat on it. Helps to keep the combustion chamber clean too when you hit the redline 😜
Great pointers mate. At 1,100 miles and 17 hours road trips this was crucial. The oldest was a 77 Caprice in 2003 that could barely keep up with traffic. Super smogged 305 woke up and buried the speedometer once the valves and carburetor set and synced. Oil, temperature and tune. Any leak or blow by would be easily noticed at that duration of constant load.
@@einar8019 That's b.c. you didn't pay tp get the limiter removed that is standard with german cars. Back in the 80', Audi, BMW, and Mercedes agreed to limit standard cars at 250km/h (little toleranzes are there) for safety reasons. I don't know about today but in the early 2000s, you payed like 2500 bucks to get it removed if you had an M3 and got a driver training with it to be safe. This driver training alone was way more professional and helpfull than the whole us driving "school" XD
This video was great and informative; I'm looking into getting a Polo GTI soon and was wondering how safe it will be to put my foot down, but this gives me confidence that as long as I treat it right all will be fine
First video I've seen on this channel, I was amazed by his knowledge of how things actually work. Loads of youtubers say the same thing, but they miss the details that really shows their knowledge. For example, knowing that the temperature that is shown in the display is not the same as the actual temperature, is something most people dont know about Approved!
videos like this are amazing because i never had an instructor when learning manual, and now i know how to keep my car healthy and to avoid revving and giving too much throttle early.
Well that's interesting, that you've maintained the car so well and still saved so much vs replacing it. Not many cars get new seats, damage to the trim is usually just left alone
Also varies a lot by individual car. A tale of two Toyota engines. The 2ZZ-GE - 8200RPM redline. But if you use it north of 7500 for extended periods the they're prone to oil pump issues which will ultimately destroy the bottom end. So not a great idea to use it right at the top end regularly unless you ugrade the oil pump. -The 1NZ-FE. Factory redline 6400rpm, but has proven to be reliable revving up to 7200rpm with no upgrades. They take endless limiter bashing without complaint 🤣
2ZZs also have a poorly designed sump, meaning, if you rev hard and corner hard at the same time there's a risk of failure due to starvation. Most who take a 2ZZ on track regularly fit a 1ZZ sump.
I think a lot of us have a lot to learn from you in terms of thorough car maintenance and care. It would be interesting to see a video covering the maintenance costs of your Seat Leon over that incredible mileage. I hit the red line for the first time a few weeks ago and got an "Engine overspeed!" warning, which did worry me, but it sounds like it's okay since it was fully up to temperature.
The 'Engine overspeed' warning was probably a safety warning from the manufacturer, in case you hit the redline. If that happens from you simply hitting the gas, then yeah, no problem. But, if you hit the redline through mechanical means (for example, you shift into too low of a gear while going too fast), then that can cause damage, and very serious at that.
My first car was my grandad's honda jazz, that car had almost never gone above 3000rpm in its life. The EGR was quite clogged probably because of this. I also find that turbo actuators can stick on cars that have taken lots of short journeys too I always prefer to buy high mileage diesels.. Most engines can take the mileage just fine. The repair bills from other components are what get you in the end (clutch, suspension, wheel bearings etc). I feel like to kill a modern day engine you'd have to try quite hard.. or just neglect changing the oil
My car doesn't have a temperature gauge but it has the blue lamp. In winter it can take up to 15 min for the lamp to turn off which is sometimes less than my drive so it doesn't even get warm. Also I have only 75 HP so I need more than a quarter of that for reasonable driving. Anyways, the situation is suboptimal, but I drive carefully and so far the car is still going.
You're a very savvy car owner Richard. I just had all the gaskets and belts replaced on my Impreza back in december. I'm at around 100k miles looking to see how long I can make it last I bought it at 93k miles but that was over a year ago. Has several mods, around about 165 ps and weighs just under 3000 American pounds. Not as zippy as your Mazda I'm sure...But that's what my other car, the 2014 WRX Special Edition is for ;) Another great video here from you man.
Very interesting and informational. One additional note: many manual shift cars prevent you from shifting into a gear that is too low. The gear will be locked in a way so that the shift lever does not go into that gear even when you try to move it into that gear. Of course, a lot of force can overcome this, but it will prevent most, if not all, accidental cases.
I've not driven a car that locks you out of gears. Only reverse. Low gears are often stiff when fast as it's hard for it to engage when spinning quickly, but I don't know of any locking mechanism for forward gears.
The synchromesh may make it difficult to slot into the wrong gear but it can still be forced in. Usually happens when people are racing and are shifting quickly.
You explained so many thing a actually always wanted to know, but never asked about. Very informative, very useful. Thank you.
18 дней назад+2
TLDR: - During cold start: wait 20 seconds before driving off - Once revs are at normal idle: drive off and drive gently (until 3000RPM in petrol cars, 2500 in diesels) to allow the coolant to warm up - When coolant reaches operating temperature: lower end of power band is available - When oil reaches operating temperature (90 degrees): all RPM range is unlocked, feel free to use the entire power band
So y’all think it’s okay to bang my 96 civic on the red line. It’s got like 180,000 miles on it. (I promise I won’t do it at 3 am in a residential neighborhood lol)
Thank you for this information! You had me thinking, I drive a British car, a German car, a Japanese car, and fly an American airplane. They are all different. It's not easy to keep it all straight, lol
I like to drive my 1.5 golf mk7 as if it was your mx5 😂😂 its got 130bhp which is severely underpowered for what it actually could produce, even the version prior to mine had 150bhp with the same engine. A remap mechanic told me they usually can get the engines to 175bhp, and I'm thinking about it, but bit worried about reliability. Have you ever remapped one of your cars? Cheers for the video!
I would ask around on VW forums. What you want is a good range of people to have ran a power level for a long time and not encountered an excess of problems. On my engine many push 225hp (up from 143) with stock internals and that's generally considered the limit of reasonable. If many people run 175hp without issue, you probably won't have an issue either.
I'd be more worried about the clutch than the engine tbh. Just make sure all the usual vw gremlins like plugs, coils and coolant are in good shape before you do it. Changing the oil more frequently than vw specifies is probably advisable too, especially given the 1.5 has a chain
Asking this is like asking "Is it bad to go through potholes with your car" Well.. it depends! Some cars go through potholes without an issue. They're actually designer to go through terrain like that. Other cars might need to go to the maintenance shop after one pothole. It's the same with revving your car and going into the red. If you are driving a small, cheap city car - no it's not okay to rev it like that:) If you paid way more money for a performance vehicle that was meant for this - it's totally fine.
Great video Richard, well explained without being patronising. I am a retired engineer with a lot of car experience, and I was taught never to rev a cold engine and never when the engine is not under load. I have always stuck to this manta and have had cars that have topped 300k on the same engine and clutch.
For anyone at 1:00 wondering why its illegal in Germany. § Section 30 (1) of the StVO: When using vehicles, unnecessary noise and avoidable exhaust nuisance are prohibited. In particular, it is prohibited to run vehicle engines unnecessarily [...]. In practice probably nobody would care if you do it for 10s tho.
Is it actually illegal to idle your car for 10 seconds in Germany? @1:00 That is clown world levels of Stop Oil and green virtue signalling nonsense. Do they recommend drivers just drive straight off in winter without demisting the windows? I guess it will help with depopulation which is the eco-nutters goal.
I didn’t believe it myself but according to Google its true. It’s a 10 euro fine apparently. Germany really is a paradoxical country. Sometimes they are so logical and matter of fact and then other times they come up with this kind of worthless crap. You’re right though it is purely for virtue signalling purposes since it will have no impact of emissions.
5:00 I think it would be good to explain *why* you should take it gently to the operating temperature. Historically the reason was that engine oil didn't work well enough until the temperature was high enough and you could damage the engine with high load without the optimally working oil (because oil being too cold). Modern fully synthetic oils are good enough to allow proper lubrication even when cold but the thermal expansion of the engine parts (different parts made out different metals have different rates) is still the reason to avoid heavy loads until the engine has acquired proper temperature. I think nowadays the biggest issue is piston ring blowby which causes extra sooth into the engine oil and reduces quality of the oil if you keep loading the engine too high when cold. Plus if you heat one part of the engine really rapidly with high loads while the other nearby part is still cold, thermal expansion rate between those parts causes a lot of stress to the parts.
lol, I'm autistic / disabled and either you were being dry or you didn't realise how literally he was using the word. In this case, the ignition timing is literally retarded (slowed down). Some buses and trucks have retarders that provide retardation (slowing down), meaning the normal brakes don't have to be relied on for slowing down as much as on buses and trucks without retarders. Fire retardant sofas/settees/couches and fire retardant tents are coated with a fire retardant coating that retards (slows down) the spread of fire. etc, etc.
Thanks for the good tips on driving. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is possible to delay that degradation of non-metallic parts, like gaskets and seals, in the engine by not allowing dirty and contaminated fluids from remaining in contact with these parts for long periods of time, hence the benefit of frequent fluid flushes whenever these fluids start getting dirty.
Excellent video, very technical. Something to add: the engine is designed to go redline acutely, that means if you need or want to accelerate aggressively, use all the power, there is no problem if that is going to be brief, just a few seconds it won't harm the engine at all. What it does harm the engine, is to be constantly at a higher rev range, because theoretically, the engine wear is determined by the average piston speed, the higher, the more wear, this is the reason race cars don't last too long (also cylinder pressures at those rotation speeds). That at least is the theory, i know germans keep their engines revving high in the autobahn, for long periods of time.
I've done over 2000 track miles in my MX5 and the engine doesn't seem to be any different from new. I think race engines don't last long because of how they're set up, road engines are built to last. There should be no metal on metal contact if the rpm is within the set limtis. Apparently oil does degrade more quickly with track use, I've been told not to allow more than 1000 miles of track use before an oil change. But I don't know how accurate that is, I've not tested it. I'm guessing whether or not the engine has a turbo makes a difference to oil degradation during hard use.
@@ConquerDriving yes, probably. I have read guys using ITBs with no air filter also saying there is no problem with accelerated wear as long as you change the oil more often. Certainly, i have just read that about average piston speed (i have no experience racing my car), there are other factors to consider such as working cylinder pressures in race cars, as the compression and volumetric efficiency have been upgraded. It makes sense in my head the cylinder walls will take more abuse as the pistons are being pushed more violently. I know how you can test the wear if there is any: make a compression test periodically. It will only tell you the cylinder condition over time.
Thank you for the great video. As a Honda owner it was good to peek in to some other car brand. Realized that will stay Honda owner and will not be peeking again to other car brands as it gave me quite a bit of shock, what is and how is failing and how it’s reving and so on. Thank you and all the best.
last car i had was a 2017 Avalon (bought in 2021) that only had 19k miles when I purchased it, and the Italian tune up worked absolute wonders. I did 1 tank of shell vpower which has the best detergents in my opinion (not recommended more than once as the engine will pull timing and be slower if it is made for 87 octane) and drove as fast as safely possible for a few days. whole different car after just a few pulls. Toyota knows what they are doing so they have a port and direct injection come to find out so maybe that is why
It really does depend on the car.... I have a 2017 Fiesta ST, and although it is only a 4 cylinder 1.6 Turbo, it was designed to be run hard when warm. I have it modded and remapped to add another 100bhp onto it, but this is still within the capabilities of the car. For me, using a good quality oil and regular changes will mean the engine should go on for ages.... it will be things like springs, joints, brakes etc that will be the items to keep an eye on
nice video. I drive a 1994 Dodge Dakota as a daily driver. 300k miles on the clock and still running like new. I don't think I've ever hit the rev limiter and rarely ever rev past 4k rpm. It's red line is at 5k with caution at 4500.
I have a 38 year old car which I sometimes redline and even surpass the speed limit by the manufacturer and has almost half a million kilometers. Still not a single problem to report. It's a mercedes-benz 190D. Top speed 160km/h but reached 170km/h.
Id have loved to have you as driving instructor. We couldve talked so much about cars, wear, repair, ideas, and whatsoever 😂 Such a cool driving instructor!
A few years ago I installed a k-type thermocouple (they have rapid response and are very accurate) in the oil pan of my Renault Modus 1.4 16v to see how the oil temperature follows coolant teperature after startup... The oil temp lags quite behing coolant temperature, up to 30C... For instance, coolant will be up to temp (90C) after some 2 out of 9 kilometers of morning traffick to work, but oil will be at some 60C, and will require 5 more kilometers to reach 90C... That being said, coolant temp isn't what I would use as decisive parameter to floor it or not, but oil temperature... Or - when coolant gets to operating temperature, do a few more miles for engine oil to get up to speed... Cheers!
Excellent videos 😄 I’m really enjoying all of them. Been driving for many years now, but I’ve been learning new things of interest in every single one of your videos
Lol I had a 92 Camry V6 and I threw a rod bringing it to redline. That thing was actually fun for what it was but I was too young and dumb to realize I should take it easy on such an old car. It's such a trip watching you drive on the left side of the road and use Celsius for the coolant temp since I'm from America. I do know metric however from working on cars and 3d printing. Although I have no concept of scale for something like meters or kilometers only the small measurements lol.
21:25 2007 Astra van 2.0cdti 2012 90k I brought it… Didn’t think the engine was lacking power.. Pal borrowed it to drive to northfolk 1hr there 1hr back.. knowing him probably doing 70-90 on motorway.. When I got back in it the acceleration I’d say was 50% better than before felt like a new engine compared to what I’d been use to..
YT just suggested one of your videos and I went straight into another! Very helpful info on things the average driver/owner is never told really. I was wondering what you mean when you talk about 'old' and 'new' cars. I realise this depends on the age, the use, the mileage and the make/quality of the car, but some indication would be helpful. If that is possible at all. I drive a 16 y.o. Daihatsu Sirion 2 (I believe the Sirion is going by 'Boon' in the UK) and it has a little under 170,000 kms on it. I bought it when it was 10 with a mileage of 100,000 km. Although it is still an absolute delight to drive and in good condition, I realise there is no way of not calling it an old car. It's not fast and I had a tendency to floor it even though it really doesn't make a difference. It was a bit of a subconscious thing, but I have woken up and will NEVER do this again. I wonder how much I have unnecessarily worn it since I bought it. It's being maintained at regular intervals by a certified garage, but still. PS: I'm happy to receive an informed comment on this by a viewer btw! You have a new subscriber!
It might be important to say that the coolant only takes longer to heat up when you're using the heater. On a cold day, you don't necessarily have to use the heater. While it will be more comfortable, it will also make your cooling system take a bit longer to get up to temperature, as you said. Many people recommend not using the heater until it's closer to operating temperature, above 70 centigrade maybe; it should only take a few more minutes.
In my experience the windows will start fogging up really badly from the air you’re breathing out within less than a minute if you don’t use the heater and full fan speed from the start. Especially once you start going below -5 or so and even more if there’s more than one person in the car. But yeah then it also takes like 5-10 minutes before that needle starts moving 😀
Honda Civic owners at 3 AM:
Horror 😮😮😮😮😮
Top 5 loudest objects:
5. Motorcycle (100 db)
4. Concert (120 db)
3. Jet engine (150 db)
2. Shotgun (190 db)
1. Honda Civic at 3 AM (653 db)
@@TheRealEnglishTeacher 😂😂
All that noise while barely going 20mph
@@2seep Jokes aside, you'd be surprised how fast they accelerate, and how well they handle. They corner so well, as if it's planted.
Richard, you have a rare gift for explaining things clearly, in simple terms, without childish simplification, and with a backing in personal experience. Keep up the great job! Really grateful for this bit of very informative and pleasant to watch video.
100 percent hes the goat😭
Did you see the length of the video for a no? Lol
I wish that was true. Anyone can explain everything in 30 minutes. Rather find a video that tells it to you in 3 minutes and gets straight to the point
@@svg_pikachu5816 Haha! You're so very wrong. On so many levels. Even putting aside the strict nonsense of what you said -- which can be ascribed to your inability to use grammar (See, how could you possibly explain _anything_ in 30 minutes if you're unable to compose even one written sentence that would carry the meaning across exactly as you wanted it to?) -- you took a very weird assumption that:
a) everybody watching videos on RUclips is always in a dreadful hurry (... Well, duh, obviously -- why would they be doing it if they weren't, right? ;) )
b) listening to a good lecture canot bring joy (alongside information)
c) the little timer in the bottom of the video is invisible, and nobody can judge beforehand if they're ready/happy to spend 30 minutes of their time on the video.
Now, I was going to ask you to explain in a few sentences what inspired you to write your useless comment, but I'm not going to. And only part of the reason is that I'm fully convinced you wouldn't be able to. I'm just not interested.
@@barsorrro if u werent interested then u just wasted time sweating your ass off writing that because I can care less about your comment 🤣🤣🤣
I flor my 12 year old 1.2l Corsa with about 100k miles on the clock on the Autobahn for years now, also regularly reaching the red line. It still manages it like a boss. You just need to get it serviced regularly and wait for it to heat up before you do that.
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
Ok
1:00: Letting the engine idle for 10 seconds -- SECONDS!!!! -- is "prohibited in Germany?" Because of emissions? But blasting down the Autobahn at 200km/h is perfectly fine? This is one of those things just bonkers about my native home, and one of the reasons I'm glad I no longer live there. Here in the US, I can warm up my Subaru for a couple of minute with no one harassing me.
If that is one of the reasons then you moved to the US. my condolences. Hope you recover!
@@micha1870 Hahaha, that's funny! :-)
Yes, it is forbidden to let the motor run for no proper cause in Germany because of pollution. But in reality no one will bother you when you do it for just ten seconds to get your cars motor a healthy start. Doing this all the time with my old Seat because it has a bit rough cold start. Have done it while standing next to police. They didn't bother eather.
In Poland we have similar rule but here it's reasonable 1 minute.
I've owned a humble Peugot 206 with only 60hp and I redlined that car all the time. Regardless of my "abuse" it was still very reliable, because I took care of the engine and only hooned it, when the temperatures allowed me to do so. Honestly, people really don't have to worry too much about pushing the RPMs, especially when they drive a n/a car. Those in particular are designed to be revved, the power is at high RPMs, not pushing the engine is quite a waste of the engines potential IMO.
Yep NA are awesome for high revs
1.1 with like 63hp, insane car, mine had a really playful rear axle, my fav light, underpowered, cheap shtbox
A redline a day keeps the mechanics away!
Great advice. I owned a Porsche 996 GT3 for many years with a redline of 8200rpm and maximum power was close to the redline so you really had to rev the engine for maximum performance. I used to hit the redline frequently on track days and had a few second gear blasts on the road and never had any issues. Always made sure the engine had warmed up before I extended it and the car was regularly serviced and had frequent oil changes. Too many drivers thrash their cars from cold and the results can be a trashed engine and big bills.
It's a Porsche, they WANT you to rev it!
That's where the fun is.
Then they bring out a 991 and 992 and add another 800rpm
9000rpm is crazy
@AJS86 damn I thought my 8250rpm redline on my shelby gt350 was high...9k is WILD
@@shanefowler9443 I get 7500 with my Toyota 86. I'm still getting used to the boxer 4 driving sensation.
All the way through the rev range there's no feeling. So without the sound or shift light on the dash you wouldn't know the rpm is up there
@@shanefowler9443 it's that smooth. My old V6 Commodore you'd know you were near the redline lol
I'm so glad I discovered this channel. It's quickly becoming my favorite. It answers so many questions I didn't know I wanted to ask!
This video very approachably touches on subjects that those of us blessed with mechanical sympathy understand on a spiritual level: the engine in your car, although it be a machine, is still constrained by laws of nature and the properties of matter; and when a driver dimly pushes it beyond its tolerances, the results are inconvenient and expensive. What a great watch m8, honestly. Love this channel.
Had a thesaurus open for this for this comment did you mate
It's not that deep.
The level of precision that you have at all times makes this one of the best videos about engines/cars I have ever watched.
I can truely say you are well educated about engineering nd mechanics and that you have an outstanding communication level.
Brilliant video
I'm glad you mentioned valve float at the end. One of the biggest killers of tuned engines is this. People absolutely underestimate the importance of timing and high quality valvetrain components.
i was drive and i dont got a rev limiter on stock engine and it when to 7500, and the red line is 6500 but the engine was chilling
@@Ambrose4k that has nothing to do with timing
This is probably one of your better videos. This information is good for drivers across the entire experience spectrum. Most of your videos are made for learners, I get that. You're a trustworthy guy, keep it the heck up.
Just passed my driving test after a couple months of driving, first time with 1 minor fault. I really appreciate your great quality content and it definitely made a hugeee difference in my driving/confidence, ur vids are a blessing to anyone trying to learn. Thanks! 🙏
That's great news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
I got my license during covid in Georgia and never went back to take it but they never cancelled my license so ive been driving for 3 years now lol
Hey Richard, wanted to let you know your videos have been a massive help in learning and understanding manual transmission, as an American who has only used automatic. I'm now daily driving a manual super smoothly and having plenty of fun with it! Thanks for all you do!
technically it's not that bad to red line how ever it is very bad to disable the red line limiter and go past the red line🤣🤣🤣
As a guy who owns for around 3 years or so a fairly modern, manual turbo charged engine I gotta say this was very informative. I already did used some of these tips even before watching the video but its always nice to see someone who knows what he is talking about tell you why you should do so. It's probably easier to keep revs lower with a manual car than automatic altho modern automatic cars will keep the revs low when the engine temp is low so its all good either way.
i absolutely love the pedal camera along with the rev and speed camera, this is super helpful man!
Man, I love how informative your channel is, so many great tips to learn for daily drivers or new car fans! Keep up the great work and know it is much appreciated 🙏🏼💙
My primary car is a 2008 R230 SL 350, and the age vs mileage debate mentioned here is a very good one. The metal components of the engine, after 40000 miles, are perfect. The plastic components, after 15 years, are all reaching the end of their lives (looking at you, variable length intake manifold). The engine's been tuned so that after a certain temperature has been reached, the redline increases by about 500RPM (this is a stock feature on lots of new cars too) which kind of takes some of the worry away. When you're buying a car, remember that depreciation, although really harsh in the first few years, does occur for a reason. That Ferrari 360 with *only* 50000 miles might be £25k now, and that might seem like a great deal... until you buy the thing. Counterintuitive though it may seem, oftentimes the more expensive the car, the less the manafacturer actually expect you to drive it. A super highly strung engine categorically will not last as long as one tuned for long journeys, NA, turbo, diesel or otherwise. Remember that any car is as good as its weakest point, if that's the shoddy £200 handbrake on a £2,500 Hyundai Coupe, so be it, if that's the £5,000 air suspension on a £5,000 S-Class... you can see where I'm going with this. Do your research on the model of car, and the model of engine for the year you're looking to buy; if there's one glaring problem that costs twice what the car's worth to fix, make sure it's already been fixed/replaced/sorted before even getting excited. Nice cars get cheaper quicker for a reason and while there are plenty of diamonds in the rough, they scarcely get the care Richard gives his cars throughout their lives.
On that topic, the approach to maintenance Richard takes on the Leon is exactly what everyone should aspire to do, yes it's more expensive than waiting for something to go wrong in the short term but works out so much cheaper in the long run. I've had the timing belt changed and every rubber and plastic component short of the head gasket replaced and other than a coil pack giving me a misfire on cylinder 6, the engine has been running super smoothly ever since.
Service your car regularly, at least to what your manafacturer suggest or even more if it's financially feasible for you to do (especially if you do lots of slower miles, or traffic light racing). Your car will reward you by not suddenly dying on those particularly hot, or cold, days. Never ignore a check engine light too, you can buy cheap OBDII readers online which will (most of the time) be able to point you in the right direction for a fix, especially if you go to a garage who charge additional diagnostic fees for doing essentially the same thing, bear in mind this is only true of universal codes, some manafacturer specific ones will require specialist equipment (looking at you, again, Mercedes Star diagnostics!)
Also, change your spark plugs! Often overlooked by servicing schedules, but they're often one of those tangible renewal feelings you might not get from a standard filter change.
That's my two pence, sorry it's so long. :)
TL:DR - Old nice car bad, new slow car good. Research car and engine before buying. Servicing cars good, waiting for problems bad. This video good.
A like for thoroughness, otherwise, tl/dr.
@100% COK Come to think of it a tl/dr would probably be a good idea
old corolla will live forever
TLDR Good. Above it bad.
Old S-Class airmatic has entered the chat. Damn right😅
I started watching your videos when I was teaching my 17yr old nephew about a year ago. He passed his test,1st time, last November and I'm still watching your channel?
I've been driving for over 35 years...I drive for a living, actually. and I still find myself learning something new (every day is a school day). Part of my job is mentoring new PCV drivers, so I know...well, I think I know, a lot about safe driving. You're not just helping new drivers, you've made me remember a lot of what I've forgotten over the years (it's an age thing) . I even bought a SEAT Leon because of watching your videos.
Keep it up!
is the red line good or bad to hit?
@@raven4k998 it's bad to hit It ALL the time. You can hit It in case you want or need, but don't keep the revs high too much
I've been driving for 30-something years and am not really watching these to learn anything - but they're just good, solid, quality videos. Well done :)
Excellent tutorial.I’ve been driving for 40 years and know a lot about car mechanics but I still found this video very comprehensive and learnt a few new things too.
Hi Richard. I'd already passed my test by the time I stumbled across your channel, but I've found your videos extremely helpful as a new driver. Thank you!
@Thawne1338 if you have driven enough and properly that you are a confident driver, then you won't have any trouble. Say if you weren't feeling confident and you scheduled your test soon, you really set yourself up to fail.
@Thawne I didn't! I passed the second time, after I made a stupid mistake on my first. It's very stressful, but try your best to stay calm. For example, I engaged my examiner in a bit of a chat during the test, just to distract myself from how nervous I was. The other piece of advice I'd have is to not get too blinkered, so you can keep your head up and be aware of your surroundings. I failed my first test because I came off a roundabout into a bus-only road, because I was too focused on my gear change and my mirrors to see the sign. It is not easy, but you'll definitely get there.
@Thawne1338 but test nerves are a normal thing to experience, so don't feel down from that, you just need more time to refine your driving so you become comfortable.
@Thawne He didn't let his nerves get the best of him
@Thawne lesson hour before test sorted mine out
I rebuilt the engine in an escort I had in the 90’s, new carb (yes, it was that old) and a home tuning kit, it could hit 55 in second ( I have no idea what the rpm was but it was definitely off the end of the gauge) in about 4 to 5 seconds and still 3 more gears to go. It pulled like a train even in 5th. I believe the carb was jetted wrongly
Edit, just got to the part where you talk about the cam belt… the reason I had to rebuild the engine was the belt idler broke, shredded the belt, pistons ate the inlet and exhaust valves… bad things happened, but it was all repairable and it was a thirsty demon afterwards
Awesome LOL, if its escort its 7k redline at the gauge, it could have been at 7500 ou 7700!
Know you hear this a lot but I passed my first test today with 2 minors! Really appreciate your videos, especially watching loads the night before to get my confidence up. Cheers Richard, will be sticking around for future videos, love videos like these going into detail about cars rather than learning for the test, too :)
That's really great news! Thank you for watching and congratulations on passing!
Wholesome af. Congratulations!
@@sadface thanks man
Dope stuff! I passed two weeks ago, driving in the same learners car that our fellow RUclips was teaching us on! Him and my instructor were the best help I could want and it paid off listening all the tips 🤙🏼
@@nightwolf9951 happy to hear that my friend
Once my car (forced induction) shows it's coolant temp up to temp at 90DegC, depending on the ambient temp outside I will still wait another 10 mins or several km of driving before giving it the beans to make sure my oil is at the right temperature and doing it's job lubricating my turbo and the entire power-train system and all of the auxiliary fluids are happy 👍 Great video mate thanks.
02 Celica GTS 6spd manual here with over 400k miles original engine, original owner and still redlines all day. VVTLi just kicked yo! 💪
The durability of older Honda and Toyota engines baffle me to this day. My friend used to own a 6gen coupe Civic with a B16 (1.6 VTi) with like 380k km’s on it, redline it everyday (only when the oil got up to temp as well though!!) to 8200 and the thing would just keep on going. It just couldn’t die. Sure it consumed a bit of oil (like 1.5 litres or so in 7-8k km’s) but you genuinely could not kill that engine. As Clarkson said, what a machine!
Really eye opening. I'm guilty of lugging my engine and it shows with head gasket leaks. Never knew what I was doing was wrong so many thanks.
I started watching it and realised my car doesnt show temperature at all. Exept from the one outside.
Richard would be perfect on Top Gear
Init
No way. He is far too professional to bother which such an infantile programme.
@@cactusbase3088 That's why he would be so good, help the show be taken seriously again!
@@adrianridgway4333 Nah the whole point of Top Gear is to watch 3 idiots doing silly things with cars, if they put Richard in it people would call it lame and boring and nobody would watch it
@@RAYSGT I think he acts professionally just for videos, he could probably be entertaining in top gear.
I have an S2000 and I would be doing it an injustice not redlining it in every gear! 👌
The way you articulate, express and elaborate has been critical for me. Great video, I am very impressed!
This month did my first IAM observed run, They encouraged me to rev my mx-5 out. I think you explained it well.
Love how an instructor is telling us it’s okay to ping it off the limiter 🤣 (dependent on vehicle and temp obviously)
i have a very special golf mk1 from 2005 that has been redlining warm and cold daily for 18 years, 300 000+km. it also races 10 laps a month on my local racetrack. i wish all cars was this bulletproof
Old ls are the same I have a 02 ls430 and I drive it fairly hard and have no issues
Professional opinion: give it the beans
@@samuelsmith6776 when you gonna upload some videos of this gem?
My GT86 loves to rev high. 7500rpm
Sorry still think it's better than an MX5
For the uninitiated: the cam belt (or chain), A. K. A. timing belt (or chain) is the wearable part that opens and shuts the valves. It connects the crank shaft, which is what the pistons rotate, to the cam shaft, which opens the valves.
When the belt snaps (or the chain stretches) the engine gets out of time and, unless allowances were made in design (see "non-interference engine"), a piston WILL collide with a valve, bend said valve, probably warp the head, maybe damage the cam shaft and/or one or more of its bearings.
It's NOT worth the risk, just fecking change it.
I bought a 1991 Rover Metro a couple of years ago, and there were no records of it ever having a Cam belt change.
We drove it home very carefully, and changed the belt as the first job.
It was clearly the original, 30 year old belt, as there were teeth hanging off! I'm certain if I'd revved it hard, it would've snapped.
@@ryanwilliams6526 Yikes!
That sort of thins is always a risk with older cars. Hell, I keep finding stuff to do on my bike and she was only 9 months old when I got her! Fortunately none of it could have been catastrophic in my case, but it's still annoying to have to do this much work to a nearly new bike.
My dad and I were on the highway when it broke on his van, still have those rusted bent valves sitting around somewhere, very important part to service
Love your videos. All very informative.
It is good to find a driving instructor with an 'older' car as most people who pass their test will generally start with a secondhand car. My wife learned to drive in a modern car. When she bought her secondhand Metro, she had never before come across a choke and I had to show her how to use it as it was a cold day when we picked it up.
I was a driving instructor back in the early 80s. I look after all of my cars - ensuring that oil, spark plugs and all filters, cambelts, etc, are changed regularly. My last six cars (Mercedes 280SE W109/ MG Metro 1.3 Mk2/ VW Passat B2/VW Passat B3/BMW 520iSE E34/ Volvo 940 GL Estate first series) had all done in excess of 250,000 miles when I parted company with them and were still running well. My current Jaguar S-type SE 3.0 has only just reached 110,000 at 22 years of age as I don't do so much mileage now - its mechanicals are fine but age is getting to the electrics - as Richard rightly said, age is more an issue with modern cars than mileage.
I was driving a VW Passat B3 when the new MOT emissions tests came in. My local VW dealer, Rigby Turner, was amazed that each year it went in, the emissions on my trusty Passat were cleaner with passing time. I can only put it down to meticulous care of the car. I changed the oil with good quality (Castrol Magnatec) on or before time, I used Molyslip for many years before switching to Slick 50, and I used Redex or STP with each petrol fill-up and every two years I did a full de-coke with Redex in the spark plug chambers. This regime works for my track car too which gets thrashed at ARDS for the last 23 years.
Look after your cars and they look after you.
I find the secret to getting good life from your engine even if you bounce it off the limiter or boot it down a slip-road occasionally is *ALL* about maintenance. Follow the service guidance in your car's manuals, fix faults and leaks as and when they happen and it'll serve you well. Sometimes it's even a smart idea to go with shorter service intervals on some consumables like oil and coolant if you're able to. Oil especially, as it serves 3 purposes in the engine...
1: Cool the areas that the coolant can't reach (such as the pistons and connecting rods)
2: Lubricate the moving parts
3: keep the moving parts of the engine clean to aid in lubrication and wear prevention
And all three of those functions are critical to maximizing engine life - especially in turbocharged or supercharged cars because of that extra heat that the boost produces.
My personal approach to whether or not to redline an engine depends on how the engine feels high up. Some cars love to rev; I know Subarus will easily go above redline. Other cars run out of torque higher up and you don't really gain anything going all the way to the redline, so shifting earlier just makes more sense. My car falls into this latter category, so most of the time, if I take it high up in the revs, I'll shift 500-1000 rpm short of the redline because the engine starts to run out of torque at those rpms.
It makes sense but my car feels good high up, max torque is at about 6200rpm I think, redline being at 6500. But it wasn't built for that, it kept having problems with things like valves or cam followers. So I got it built and now it feels even better and it hasn't failed yet. Just because an engine feels good high up doesn't necessarily mean it'll be reliable if you go there regularly.
@@Randommmmm204 if your redline is at 6500 rpm its probably your max hp at 6200 not your max torque as max torque is usually generated in lower rpms (1500 to 2500)
@@micimaco9509 not really. Max torque can be all the way up to 4300rpm's
@@gabrielv.4358 i have my max torque from 1750-3000 revs. that said its a diesel, which really only revs to 4,5-5k , thatfor, max hp is at 4000rpm (ive never revved it to the limiter, latest shift ill do is at 4,5k, it can rev a tad higher, idk how much tho)
@@drivein8055diesels are low rev high torque, that's their whole point
With money shifting, typically the most common part to get destroyed is the valves, since they'll float and get slammed into by the pistons. Connecting rod failures can also happen but that's not as common. Most engines nowadays are interference engines, which means that there's an area where both the valves and pistons can be, and the timing of it is such that they never contact. This is done to be able to increase the compression ratio. Many older engines (especially once you get to 80s cars and older) do not have interference engines, so overreving the engine and causing valve float won't destroy your valves. Something else is much more likely to fail.
The American in me kept on getting terrified of the imminent head on collision… then I remembered you drive on the left. This happened several times throughout the video
I have a 13 mazda cx5 with over 255k miles. I drive it hard. But i also maintain it. I hit the limiter daily. Granted its one of the few cars that has a soft limiter set right redline instead of past it. It also depends on the brand. Mazda, honda motors are known for wanting to be revved high. They are designed for that type of driving. Therefore the components are designed for that even after 9 years or over 200k miles. I think it all comes down to maintenance. I do also drive it easy from time to time
i drive since i was 15, yet, each video of yours that i watch brings me enlightenment in something bout driving
it must be great to have you as a driving instructor
I've had multiple old rwd volvos, and the handbook for those says you should do an Italian tune-up once in a while. Helps burn up some of the carbon residue.
an 'italian tune up' doesnt actually work unless you are doing back to back laps of the nurburgring or flat out on derestricted autobahn because the combustion chamber does not otherwise get up to a hot enough temperature to burn off carbon
@@oscarzt1652 This is true. Redlining it for few seconds will not do much good. You need to rev it at 5500+ for like 30 minutes continuously in order to heat it up enough so it starts burning carbon deposits. If you blast it for like 2-5 mins you are only making it worse, it builds carbon much more that way.
there you said it.. it was an old car and therefore makes sense
BMW M5 handbook also said after repeated low engine speed urban driving to extend engine when warm where possible to red line.
PS: at the end you talked about downshifting through multiple stages at once. I wanna add that some cars have mechanical safety elements for this (if I try to shift from 6th to 3rd my stick seems to be stuck no matter how hard I push it forward, the stick lets me get into 3rd only after the revs tune down a bit).
My general rule of thumb is if the engine is healthy and well maintained, then FULLY warmed up, go for gold! It's hard to damage an engine from driving it hard once it's fully warmed up, and thermal expansion has played its part.
Massive amounts of damage occur from driving too hard before the engine is warmed up because not only are the tolerances and clearance out of spec, but the irons and alloys of the blocks, heads, cylinder sleeves and pistons all expand at different rates. It's possible to seize certain engines by driving them hard before they're warmed up, as for example, the aluminium pistons expand rapidly in comparison to the iron blocks. Some Alfa Romeo engines were notorious for this! Once they're warm could redline them all day...
Edit: My 1992 Mercedes with an M104 engine has 230k on the odometer and runs like new. It's never had a single engine component replaced, just fluids, filters and ignition parts (has a distributor and rotor). I idle it for around 60 seconds first start in a morning, sometimes more or less depending on how cold it is outside, then drive like a grandma for the first 15 minutes. After that I often beat on it. Helps to keep the combustion chamber clean too when you hit the redline 😜
Great pointers mate. At 1,100 miles and 17 hours road trips this was crucial. The oldest was a 77 Caprice in 2003 that could barely keep up with traffic. Super smogged 305 woke up and buried the speedometer once the valves and carburetor set and synced. Oil, temperature and tune. Any leak or blow by would be easily noticed at that duration of constant load.
Me as a german knows: The red line in highest gear, is what prevents you from going faster.
The redline is what sorts people into different lanes on the Autobahn
idk my m235i at 260kmh has hundreds of rpm left and its the ECU that electronically limits the top speed to 260kmh
@@einar8019 That's b.c. you didn't pay tp get the limiter removed that is standard with german cars. Back in the 80', Audi, BMW, and Mercedes agreed to limit standard cars at 250km/h (little toleranzes are there) for safety reasons. I don't know about today but in the early 2000s, you payed like 2500 bucks to get it removed if you had an M3 and got a driver training with it to be safe. This driver training alone was way more professional and helpfull than the whole us driving "school" XD
@@friendlyreptile9931 kinda hard to option a car i bought used when it was 6 years old
I like how it says "Prohibited in Germany" in the manual.
This video was great and informative; I'm looking into getting a Polo GTI soon and was wondering how safe it will be to put my foot down, but this gives me confidence that as long as I treat it right all will be fine
First video I've seen on this channel, I was amazed by his knowledge of how things actually work.
Loads of youtubers say the same thing, but they miss the details that really shows their knowledge.
For example, knowing that the temperature that is shown in the display is not the same as the actual temperature, is something most people dont know about
Approved!
videos like this are amazing because i never had an instructor when learning manual, and now i know how to keep my car healthy and to avoid revving and giving too much throttle early.
Well that's interesting, that you've maintained the car so well and still saved so much vs replacing it. Not many cars get new seats, damage to the trim is usually just left alone
Also varies a lot by individual car. A tale of two Toyota engines.
The 2ZZ-GE - 8200RPM redline. But if you use it north of 7500 for extended periods the they're prone to oil pump issues which will ultimately destroy the bottom end. So not a great idea to use it right at the top end regularly unless you ugrade the oil pump.
-The 1NZ-FE. Factory redline 6400rpm, but has proven to be reliable revving up to 7200rpm with no upgrades. They take endless limiter bashing without complaint 🤣
2ZZ-GE have to be taken all the way up to redline to reach full power
@@ruaraidhwatson indeed it does. Whereas my 1NZ starts noticably losing torque past about 5.2k rpm
2ZZs also have a poorly designed sump, meaning, if you rev hard and corner hard at the same time there's a risk of failure due to starvation.
Most who take a 2ZZ on track regularly fit a 1ZZ sump.
@@B_-.- It‘s better to fit a Moroso Oil sump if you go regularly to the track
@@DeepRacer-zr4yp It is, some people like MWR too, but the 1zz sump is a cheap and available part in comparison.
I think a lot of us have a lot to learn from you in terms of thorough car maintenance and care. It would be interesting to see a video covering the maintenance costs of your Seat Leon over that incredible mileage.
I hit the red line for the first time a few weeks ago and got an "Engine overspeed!" warning, which did worry me, but it sounds like it's okay since it was fully up to temperature.
0
The 'Engine overspeed' warning was probably a safety warning from the manufacturer, in case you hit the redline.
If that happens from you simply hitting the gas, then yeah, no problem.
But, if you hit the redline through mechanical means (for example, you shift into too low of a gear while going too fast), then that can cause damage, and very serious at that.
Ford vehicles will put a that code up if it has shut the injectors off.
@@crazeguy26 which Ford model? Cause i haven't seen a message like that on a 1.0, 1,5 and 1,6 Ecoboosts
@@AsteroSSB mostly on the pickup trucks.
Are you a teacher? Because oh my god you explain the things so clearly, amazing video, you got my like
Thank you. I've been teaching people to drive since 2009.
19:46 - that was interesting too! to hear about investments
26:20 - wow, that is the great visualization!
My first car was my grandad's honda jazz, that car had almost never gone above 3000rpm in its life. The EGR was quite clogged probably because of this.
I also find that turbo actuators can stick on cars that have taken lots of short journeys too
I always prefer to buy high mileage diesels.. Most engines can take the mileage just fine. The repair bills from other components are what get you in the end (clutch, suspension, wheel bearings etc).
I feel like to kill a modern day engine you'd have to try quite hard.. or just neglect changing the oil
My car doesn't have a temperature gauge but it has the blue lamp. In winter it can take up to 15 min for the lamp to turn off which is sometimes less than my drive so it doesn't even get warm. Also I have only 75 HP so I need more than a quarter of that for reasonable driving. Anyways, the situation is suboptimal, but I drive carefully and so far the car is still going.
You're a very savvy car owner Richard. I just had all the gaskets and belts replaced on my Impreza back in december. I'm at around 100k miles looking to see how long I can make it last I bought it at 93k miles but that was over a year ago. Has several mods, around about 165 ps and weighs just under 3000 American pounds. Not as zippy as your Mazda I'm sure...But that's what my other car, the 2014 WRX Special Edition is for ;)
Another great video here from you man.
Very interesting and informational. One additional note: many manual shift cars prevent you from shifting into a gear that is too low. The gear will be locked in a way so that the shift lever does not go into that gear even when you try to move it into that gear. Of course, a lot of force can overcome this, but it will prevent most, if not all, accidental cases.
I've not driven a car that locks you out of gears. Only reverse. Low gears are often stiff when fast as it's hard for it to engage when spinning quickly, but I don't know of any locking mechanism for forward gears.
The synchromesh may make it difficult to slot into the wrong gear but it can still be forced in. Usually happens when people are racing and are shifting quickly.
You explained so many thing a actually always wanted to know, but never asked about.
Very informative, very useful.
Thank you.
TLDR:
- During cold start: wait 20 seconds before driving off
- Once revs are at normal idle: drive off and drive gently (until 3000RPM in petrol cars, 2500 in diesels) to allow the coolant to warm up
- When coolant reaches operating temperature: lower end of power band is available
- When oil reaches operating temperature (90 degrees): all RPM range is unlocked, feel free to use the entire power band
"Redline a day keeps the carbon away!"
So y’all think it’s okay to bang my 96 civic on the red line. It’s got like 180,000 miles on it. (I promise I won’t do it at 3 am in a residential neighborhood lol)
I drive a Honda.......so yes high revs all the time!
I love it that you match the rpm's with the gas pedal when downshifting.
Thank you for this information! You had me thinking, I drive a British car, a German car, a Japanese car, and fly an American airplane. They are all different. It's not easy to keep it all straight, lol
I like to drive my 1.5 golf mk7 as if it was your mx5 😂😂 its got 130bhp which is severely underpowered for what it actually could produce, even the version prior to mine had 150bhp with the same engine. A remap mechanic told me they usually can get the engines to 175bhp, and I'm thinking about it, but bit worried about reliability. Have you ever remapped one of your cars?
Cheers for the video!
I would ask around on VW forums. What you want is a good range of people to have ran a power level for a long time and not encountered an excess of problems.
On my engine many push 225hp (up from 143) with stock internals and that's generally considered the limit of reasonable.
If many people run 175hp without issue, you probably won't have an issue either.
I would be very careful, a lot goes into a factory map.
I'd be more worried about the clutch than the engine tbh. Just make sure all the usual vw gremlins like plugs, coils and coolant are in good shape before you do it. Changing the oil more frequently than vw specifies is probably advisable too, especially given the 1.5 has a chain
underpowered?
1:23 the ignition timing is what now? lmao
Retarded
Retarded, or slowed down compared to where it would be normally. You can either advance or retard timing in a car.
A retard
@@nicholaskemp1287 He was confused cause that word is a no no in the states
Asking this is like asking "Is it bad to go through potholes with your car"
Well.. it depends! Some cars go through potholes without an issue. They're actually designer to go through terrain like that. Other cars might need to go to the maintenance shop after one pothole.
It's the same with revving your car and going into the red. If you are driving a small, cheap city car - no it's not okay to rev it like that:)
If you paid way more money for a performance vehicle that was meant for this - it's totally fine.
Great video Richard, well explained without being patronising. I am a retired engineer with a lot of car experience, and I was taught never to rev a cold engine and never when the engine is not under load. I have always stuck to this manta and have had cars that have topped 300k on the same engine and clutch.
For anyone at 1:00 wondering why its illegal in Germany.
§ Section 30 (1) of the StVO:
When using vehicles, unnecessary noise and avoidable exhaust nuisance are prohibited. In particular, it is prohibited to run vehicle engines unnecessarily [...].
In practice probably nobody would care if you do it for 10s tho.
You must warm it fuck nazis.
1:23 excuse me the ignition timing are what???????? lol
💀💀
i know im immature but 1:23
I thought it was just me 🤣
i don't get it
Is it actually illegal to idle your car for 10 seconds in Germany? @1:00
That is clown world levels of Stop Oil and green virtue signalling nonsense.
Do they recommend drivers just drive straight off in winter without demisting the windows? I guess it will help with depopulation which is the eco-nutters goal.
I didn’t believe it myself but according to Google its true. It’s a 10 euro fine apparently. Germany really is a paradoxical country. Sometimes they are so logical and matter of fact and then other times they come up with this kind of worthless crap. You’re right though it is purely for virtue signalling purposes since it will have no impact of emissions.
this manual is at least 10 year old, its probably something else
Your spot on
5:00 I think it would be good to explain *why* you should take it gently to the operating temperature. Historically the reason was that engine oil didn't work well enough until the temperature was high enough and you could damage the engine with high load without the optimally working oil (because oil being too cold). Modern fully synthetic oils are good enough to allow proper lubrication even when cold but the thermal expansion of the engine parts (different parts made out different metals have different rates) is still the reason to avoid heavy loads until the engine has acquired proper temperature. I think nowadays the biggest issue is piston ring blowby which causes extra sooth into the engine oil and reduces quality of the oil if you keep loading the engine too high when cold. Plus if you heat one part of the engine really rapidly with high loads while the other nearby part is still cold, thermal expansion rate between those parts causes a lot of stress to the parts.
I have an Octavia vrs turbo 2023 i am getting very good advice from your education on the Leon. Thanks.
My mom when I go over 3k RPMS
1:23 - Woah not cool. Dropping the hard R.
lol, I'm autistic / disabled and either you were being dry or you didn't realise how literally he was using the word.
In this case, the ignition timing is literally retarded (slowed down).
Some buses and trucks have retarders that provide retardation (slowing down), meaning the normal brakes don't have to be relied on for slowing down as much as on buses and trucks without retarders.
Fire retardant sofas/settees/couches and fire retardant tents are coated with a fire retardant coating that retards (slows down) the spread of fire.
etc, etc.
hows bro turned a 5 min video into 30 mins
because he'll get to that car later
Thanks for the good tips on driving.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it is possible to delay that degradation of non-metallic parts, like gaskets and seals, in the engine by not allowing dirty and contaminated fluids from remaining in contact with these parts for long periods of time, hence the benefit of frequent fluid flushes whenever these fluids start getting dirty.
Excellent video, very technical. Something to add: the engine is designed to go redline acutely, that means if you need or want to accelerate aggressively, use all the power, there is no problem if that is going to be brief, just a few seconds it won't harm the engine at all. What it does harm the engine, is to be constantly at a higher rev range, because theoretically, the engine wear is determined by the average piston speed, the higher, the more wear, this is the reason race cars don't last too long (also cylinder pressures at those rotation speeds). That at least is the theory, i know germans keep their engines revving high in the autobahn, for long periods of time.
I've done over 2000 track miles in my MX5 and the engine doesn't seem to be any different from new. I think race engines don't last long because of how they're set up, road engines are built to last. There should be no metal on metal contact if the rpm is within the set limtis. Apparently oil does degrade more quickly with track use, I've been told not to allow more than 1000 miles of track use before an oil change. But I don't know how accurate that is, I've not tested it. I'm guessing whether or not the engine has a turbo makes a difference to oil degradation during hard use.
@@ConquerDriving yes, probably. I have read guys using ITBs with no air filter also saying there is no problem with accelerated wear as long as you change the oil more often. Certainly, i have just read that about average piston speed (i have no experience racing my car), there are other factors to consider such as working cylinder pressures in race cars, as the compression and volumetric efficiency have been upgraded. It makes sense in my head the cylinder walls will take more abuse as the pistons are being pushed more violently.
I know how you can test the wear if there is any: make a compression test periodically. It will only tell you the cylinder condition over time.
Thank you for the great video. As a Honda owner it was good to peek in to some other car brand. Realized that will stay Honda owner and will not be peeking again to other car brands as it gave me quite a bit of shock, what is and how is failing and how it’s reving and so on. Thank you and all the best.
last car i had was a 2017 Avalon (bought in 2021) that only had 19k miles when I purchased it, and the Italian tune up worked absolute wonders. I did 1 tank of shell vpower which has the best detergents in my opinion (not recommended more than once as the engine will pull timing and be slower if it is made for 87 octane) and drove as fast as safely possible for a few days. whole different car after just a few pulls. Toyota knows what they are doing so they have a port and direct injection come to find out so maybe that is why
Outstanding video Richard, all of us wished to have a driving instructor like you 😎😎
It really does depend on the car.... I have a 2017 Fiesta ST, and although it is only a 4 cylinder 1.6 Turbo, it was designed to be run hard when warm. I have it modded and remapped to add another 100bhp onto it, but this is still within the capabilities of the car. For me, using a good quality oil and regular changes will mean the engine should go on for ages.... it will be things like springs, joints, brakes etc that will be the items to keep an eye on
nice video. I drive a 1994 Dodge Dakota as a daily driver. 300k miles on the clock and still running like new. I don't think I've ever hit the rev limiter and rarely ever rev past 4k rpm. It's red line is at 5k with caution at 4500.
I have a 38 year old car which I sometimes redline and even surpass the speed limit by the manufacturer and has almost half a million kilometers. Still not a single problem to report. It's a mercedes-benz 190D. Top speed 160km/h but reached 170km/h.
Thanks Richard, it’s always great to understand what’s going on in your car, it helps you be a better driver
Id have loved to have you as driving instructor. We couldve talked so much about cars, wear, repair, ideas, and whatsoever 😂 Such a cool driving instructor!
A few years ago I installed a k-type thermocouple (they have rapid response and are very accurate) in the oil pan of my Renault Modus 1.4 16v to see how the oil temperature follows coolant teperature after startup...
The oil temp lags quite behing coolant temperature, up to 30C... For instance, coolant will be up to temp (90C) after some 2 out of 9 kilometers of morning traffick to work, but oil will be at some 60C, and will require 5 more kilometers to reach 90C...
That being said, coolant temp isn't what I would use as decisive parameter to floor it or not, but oil temperature... Or - when coolant gets to operating temperature, do a few more miles for engine oil to get up to speed...
Cheers!
as someone that doesn't understand a thing about cars this was amazing
One of the best videos I've watched since RUclips is thing. Thank you.
As a getaway driver, I appreciate this advice.
i have a modified speed 3, happy to learn why i burble and pop more while its a lil chily and not fully heated! its running rich! great vid.
my car is opposite, when cold it doesnt really pop but when warm its like a wrc car 🤔
Richard, BRAVO!! Fantastic video sir. Excellent
Excellent videos 😄 I’m really enjoying all of them. Been driving for many years now, but I’ve been learning new things of interest in every single one of your videos
Lol I had a 92 Camry V6 and I threw a rod bringing it to redline. That thing was actually fun for what it was but I was too young and dumb to realize I should take it easy on such an old car. It's such a trip watching you drive on the left side of the road and use Celsius for the coolant temp since I'm from America. I do know metric however from working on cars and 3d printing. Although I have no concept of scale for something like meters or kilometers only the small measurements lol.
You are a sensible guu and explain things clearly. I learned a lot.
21:25 2007 Astra van 2.0cdti 2012 90k I brought it…
Didn’t think the engine was lacking power..
Pal borrowed it to drive to northfolk 1hr there 1hr back.. knowing him probably doing 70-90 on motorway..
When I got back in it the acceleration I’d say was 50% better than before felt like a new engine compared to what I’d been use to..
YT just suggested one of your videos and I went straight into another!
Very helpful info on things the average driver/owner is never told really.
I was wondering what you mean when you talk about 'old' and 'new' cars. I realise this depends on the age, the use, the mileage and the make/quality of the car, but some indication would be helpful. If that is possible at all.
I drive a 16 y.o. Daihatsu Sirion 2 (I believe the Sirion is going by 'Boon' in the UK) and it has a little under 170,000 kms on it. I bought it when it was 10 with a mileage of 100,000 km. Although it is still an absolute delight to drive and in good condition, I realise there is no way of not calling it an old car. It's not fast and I had a tendency to floor it even though it really doesn't make a difference. It was a bit of a subconscious thing, but I have woken up and will NEVER do this again.
I wonder how much I have unnecessarily worn it since I bought it.
It's being maintained at regular intervals by a certified garage, but still.
PS: I'm happy to receive an informed comment on this by a viewer btw!
You have a new subscriber!
It might be important to say that the coolant only takes longer to heat up when you're using the heater. On a cold day, you don't necessarily have to use the heater. While it will be more comfortable, it will also make your cooling system take a bit longer to get up to temperature, as you said. Many people recommend not using the heater until it's closer to operating temperature, above 70 centigrade maybe; it should only take a few more minutes.
That's true, it does heat up a lot faster with the heater off. I think I mentioned that it takes longer to heat up due to the heater in the video.
In my experience the windows will start fogging up really badly from the air you’re breathing out within less than a minute if you don’t use the heater and full fan speed from the start. Especially once you start going below -5 or so and even more if there’s more than one person in the car.
But yeah then it also takes like 5-10 minutes before that needle starts moving 😀
The feeling you have towards your Leon is the same of mine towards my Golf 6 Tsi.I don't know what to buy with the same money.Great content!