My engine seemed to be making some strange noise when I hit higher RPM, so I pulled over and put the car in neutral and applied the parking brake. To my surprise I could not rev the engine past 5K RPM. It seems to cut out as if the rev limiter is being applied. The strange thing is that while driving the engines goes right up to the red line no problem, whether the clutch is engaged or while coasting with the clutch in neutral. It seems as if the car will not rev higher if the wheels are not in motion. Is the engine computer programmed to limit revs during standstill?
Any insight would be appreciated.

 

yup.
there is a rev limiter, and it looks like you've discovered
that it is 5k.

 

You can rev the car in neutral past 5k, if you are in motion, but at a stop it hits rev limited at 5k.

 

Thanks for the reply. Is it there to keep you from hitting the Vtec straight after launch? I've never driven a car with this restriction.

 

Freely reving the hell out of an engine is bad for it. That's why you can't do it..

 

why would you do that in the first place?

 

Agreed that it is not recommended and is something I do rarely, but if you are familiar with your engine note and something doesn't sound right, you may want to listen to the engine without road noise.

 

It is there to keep you from throwing engine parts all over the payment. And, it is a bad idea to be racing the engine with the clutch disengaged, or in neutral (while coasting), beyond the RPM's needed to synchronize the gears. An engine without a load has a different set of internal stresses than one with a load. It will generally break something, or fly apart, at a lower RPM. And, time is a factor. For example, you might be able to take an engine to 20,000 RPM's for a few milliseconds dozens of times and have it stay together. But, take it to 20,000 RPM's and hold it for 20 seconds and it might fly apart (generally by slinging a rod).

 

What? 20,000 RPMs... is that possible?

 

It was intended to be a fictitious number, but F1 engines can approach that number and I would imagine that some of the engines used in superbikes can be pushed to close to 20,000 -- as well as some of the small two-cycle engines. The limit on how fast an engine can turn has yet to be reached; it is just a matter of keeping the inertia, stresses, and vibrations, under control. We may one day see carbon-fiber connecting rods and pistons containing some portion of carbon-fiber.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_car

I quote, "...modern F1 engines have revved up to over 18,000 rpm since approximately the 2000 season. Almost each year the FIA has enforced material and design restrictions to limit power, otherwise the 3.0L V10 engines would easily have exceeded 22,000 rpm[citation needed] and well over 1,000 hp (745 kW)[citation needed]..."

Small, gas turbines, as used in Radio Controlled aircraft commonly run at 50,000 RPM's -- and some of them can apparently approach 300,000 RPM's (you get the change the bearings often).

 

I am getting too far off topic, but here is one high revving engine. In theory, the faster an engine can turn, the more power it can produce.

Honda CBR 600 at over 16,000 RPM's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6A2L1U9b5Y

Honda CBR 600 at 153 MPH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsM2gcFZ1Vg

These things are fast (2007 Honda CBR600RR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfybEo6UGA

 

Although I did enjoy the video clips, but yeah, it's a little off-topic.

 

everything is normal.