Technical 1.2 8V Revs

[lamboboss67]

Hi everyone, I'm wondering about the revs on my 1.2. So basically as I'm sure most GP owners here know, the way the gear ratios are set on these machines, the revs tend to be what most would consider "high" for the speed you're travelling at, especially due to the lack of a 6th gear. So at 100km/hr (62pmh) I'm at just over 3,000rpm in 5th gear; at 120km/hr (75mph or motorway speed) I'm at almost 4,000rpm. When I'm in a rush and I'm travelling at speed (say 150km/hr or like 95mph mph on a motorway - I've only done this 3 times), I'm at almost 5,000rpm. The car feels quite comfortable at these revs, I haven't had any problems. I have heard that using the full extent of the rev range on a small, free revving engine is perfectly fine so long as the engine is at operating temp. and therefore the oil is able to flow properly around the engine, and obviously so long as your radiator is in order and can cool the engine as it should. I've also heard that engines are tested at full rpm in the factory for many hours at a time. Bearing in mind the 1.2 is meant to redline at 6,500rpm, while max power is at 5,500. So am I OK travelling at these revvs or do I need to drive like a granny in this car if I want to preserve my engine? Theoretically I'd be looking at travelling at 62mph on motorways if this is the case, which would be very lousy. I'd imagine personally that if this were the case it would be impossibe to drive it on German autobahns seeing as driving below the advisory limit of 120km/hr is illegal there due to the speed of traffic being generally around 140-150km/hr. Thanks in advance

 

[lamboboss67]

I'd like to get some personal input here, I'm assuming most of you in this subform are GP drivers and I doubt you all drive at 80-100km/hr and I'd also imagine that some of the more petrol headed among you would stretch it to 150 on motorways if in a hurry to get somewhere. Would like to know what your driving habits are in this regard and how your motors are faring, mine is on 60-something thousand miles so I can't really say much about the reliability of the motor just yet but some of you must have 1.2 GPs with 200k on them.

 

[GrandePunto PL]

Due to lack of 6th gear it's not advisable to drive more then 120-ish km/h very long.
Engines are happy somewhere in the middle RPM range (not to low, not to high).
So let's say for Grande it's 3000-4000 RPM range (not 2000-3000 and not 5000-6000 for sure).
If I remember right, optimum (economy) is at peak torque value (something about 2500-3500 in 8V engines, exact number don't matter here now).

If you want to drive at german highway speeds, buy different car (or do the gearbox swap).

 

[eeeno]

I agree with the previous post.


One real life example are the second-hand german imported cars to Finland which have a little over 100k km on clock but too many have worn out engines. The result is a costly engine repair on a car on which the buyer had already spent 10k euro thinking it was a bargain. Engines don't wear out that fast in Finland because we usually have 100 - 120 km max speed on the highways.


So basically driving it like a granny and occasionally driving it fast is going to keep the engine and catalyst clean and remember to keep the engine oil at max and car appropriately serviced. Usually more load on the engine means more wear and tear on the engine and transmission as well.