I do that to all three of my cars. Oil temperature at proper level? Buckle up!
Is Redline Good For Your Car's Engine? Italian Tune Up
- Thread starter mosaud1998
- Start date
The Italian Tuneup predates DI 
Isn't it mostly for spark plugs? That's where the low speed deposits would happen that could be cured by the ITU.
If I had a VTEC Honda, I'd run to redline once a month.
Isn't it mostly for spark plugs? That's where the low speed deposits would happen that could be cured by the ITU.
If I had a VTEC Honda, I'd run to redline once a month.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I sure hope so. If so, my Genesis will run forever
That doesn't blow up when you floor it.
Or like they say in these parts, mat the pedal.
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- Dec 30, 2006
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I've got the pedal to the metal and the thing to the floor
not necessarily. When I was young I revved the nuts of my first cars engine. All day every day. When I was done with it my sister drove it and after she was done with it the dealer she part exchanged it to sold it again. I put over 100k miles on it with revs above 4k and up to 6.5k (redline)
But modern engines are too powerful for their own good, Don't think a 500 hp monster can take it as well.
The handbook in my first car said this about redline: "during the run-in period, don't spend too much time in the redline zone" or words to that affect. Thought it was funny as hell, especially as the rev limiter cut in right at red line.
Only problem that little car ever had was a leaky RMS, coincidentally after I started using Mobil1 0W40 in it.. This was mid-nineties.
I think it depends on the car truthfully. I’ve noticed with DI and TGDI engines they build their torque a lot lower in the RPM band than most port injected engines. In my Sonata I rarely have to exceed 2K rpm when keeping up with traffic. Highway merging I occasionally hit 3K rpm, I’ve only hit 4K a few times. The only time I’ve hit 5K rpm was when I was deliberately running it hard to see how fast the car was. I’ve never hit redline in this car, with 6 speed transmissions, GDI/TGDI engines, downright flooring a car to redline can put you in a dangerous situation much faster than you realize. I occasionally still redline my port injected vehicles. Mind you those are all 3 and 4 speed automatics.
The TDI gets quite a bit of redline love when tooling around on the freeway, the Sportwagen is a pretty portly car and the TDI is no barn burner so foot to the floor is necessitated in quite a number of situations.
Whether harmful or beneficial who knows - all I know is it does not require any oil top ups between annual services and we have not had any powertrain issues with it in 2 year/20k miles.
Whether harmful or beneficial who knows - all I know is it does not require any oil top ups between annual services and we have not had any powertrain issues with it in 2 year/20k miles.
A lot of dirt tracks have opened up a class called Hot Shots or similar. It’s all FWD cars, 2.4L and below, mostly Toyota’s and Honda’s as expected but a mix of Neons and such.
Anyway, these aren’t built cars/engines and they probably run near redline for 10-12 laps every week and the same cars are always out there.
bottom line- car engines today are more durable than most think
Anyway, these aren’t built cars/engines and they probably run near redline for 10-12 laps every week and the same cars are always out there.
bottom line- car engines today are more durable than most think
I think using a quality oil, filter, intervals and gasoline helps avoid majority these issues. Couple it in with some fuel cleaner every oil change and you should be good.
I don’t like to push my cars to redline. I’ll most likely push them 2,000 rpm away from it instead. This too, around once or twice a month just to keep the “blood flowing”.
I don’t like to push my cars to redline. I’ll most likely push them 2,000 rpm away from it instead. This too, around once or twice a month just to keep the “blood flowing”.
Depends how well the engine is cared for. The guy I sold my Expedition to has a lead foot, and that 4.6L 2V sees WOT countless times daily. But he's put almost 100,000 miles on it since he bought it, and has zero problems. He also changes oil every month, or if he exceeds 2,000 miles, using Motorcraft Syn Blend 10W-30, and it also gets a new Motorcraft air filter every second oil change and a new Motorcraft fuel filter every six months along with ATF. No issues with oil consumption. He also replaces spark plugs and the PCV valve (both Motorcraft) annually regardless of mileage. Truck's got 324,000 miles on it last I saw it. Only "repair" he did was a new OE thermostat and coolant flush with Motorcraft Gold coolant.
Engines have an operating range: idle to redline. An engine that pukes its guts in that range is of no use to me.
I'm a firm believer in the Italian tune up. It gets the VTEC solenoid moving in Hondas and gets the waste gates moving in turbos. Plus we've all seen and smelled a car that finally gets floored after being putted around forever.
I'm a firm believer in the Italian tune up. It gets the VTEC solenoid moving in Hondas and gets the waste gates moving in turbos. Plus we've all seen and smelled a car that finally gets floored after being putted around forever.
I had a low mileage 1971 Plymouth Duster 340 in 1973 and drag raced the car all the time at the local strip. I also drove it every day and beat it like a rented mule and the engine never did burn oil or have any problems. I throughly beat on that 340 engine and it never did blow. It also had 4:56 rear end gears and I ran it all the time at 3,000 rpms on the highway. I don't think a heavy foot really does much harm to engines and if anything it makes them go a little faster.
With new cars, it must be hard to put a load on them for any period of time. With my older cars, they get run to redline regularly at WOT. The only actual damage I've had was from foreign object damage from factory throttle plate screws getting ingested. That car is still running fine, almost 20K miles later at about 200K.
One of the things that is noteworthy of Nissan/Infinitis of previous generations was low overall gearing, when combined with the high speed limits and even faster drivers, cruising on the highway with traffic is usually 3,600 RPM+ with a big V6 or small V8. But, unlike previous cars that I could literally drive wide open for 20-30 minutes at a time near redline, these cars I can't put a significant load on without exceeding legal speed limits in a hurry.
The newer cars with more power that go zero to 60 in 3-5 seconds, unless you are on a track, you can't hold them wide open for more than a few seconds at a time. I think Italian tune-ups are becoming a thing of the past.
One of the things that is noteworthy of Nissan/Infinitis of previous generations was low overall gearing, when combined with the high speed limits and even faster drivers, cruising on the highway with traffic is usually 3,600 RPM+ with a big V6 or small V8. But, unlike previous cars that I could literally drive wide open for 20-30 minutes at a time near redline, these cars I can't put a significant load on without exceeding legal speed limits in a hurry.
The newer cars with more power that go zero to 60 in 3-5 seconds, unless you are on a track, you can't hold them wide open for more than a few seconds at a time. I think Italian tune-ups are becoming a thing of the past.
dont have or want a DI engine + its carbon issues BUT its noted to raise RPM in a lower gear to be speed legal + drive it for a while say 1/2 hour as the heat is said to soften + remove deposits. my traded port injected 2001 jetta 1.8T ran great at trade in 200 thou + 20 on the boost vac gauge!!
The newer vehicles don't really need the Italian tune up. The older carbonated vehicles with loose clearances really benefited with the Italian tune up. When you push the hammer to the floor and black smoke and oil come flying out of the exhaust you knew it was overdue for the tune up. A few gallons of gas later your are good to go for another 100 miles. The big block cars really loved the tune up because they were often babied and not driven hard enough. LOL!
You can't burn off carbon on the backside of the valves by performing an "Italian Tuneup" because the valves never get hot enough.
IIRC it was done to remedy carbon deposits within the combustion chamber, rings, exhaust port, on the old carbureted which were constantly driven at low city speeds. These cars ran so rich in the city that you could smell gasoline coming out of the exhaust.The Italian Tuneup predates DI
Isn't it mostly for spark plugs? That's where the low speed deposits would happen that could be cured by the ITU.
If I had a VTEC Honda, I'd run to redline once a month.
With the introduction of fuel injection and engine programming I imagine the "italian tune up" is no longer needed and the benefits that people feel is placebo.
