Tuned Rev Limit / Engine Health & Safety - When do you shift?

[ciderian]

Did a quick search on this but didn't see much coverage, and thought to include a poll.

I recently went Stage 2 on my 2013 S5 (manual). I had 034 Motorsport Stage 1 which increased the rev limiter - however I always found myself shifting around the OEM redline (IIRC is 6300 RPM). I went Stage 2 with 034's 179mm crank pulley and kept the stock supercharger pulley.

The Stage 2 tune has raised the rev limiter to 7600 RPM (confirmed by 034's tuning team). I knew it was higher, but I was surprised to hear it was that high. I am asking some additional questions of 034 about the safety of their tune at the new limiter.

I wanted to get a sense of where folks with tuned 3.0T's find themselves shifting during sporty driving. Do you always shift at tuned higher redline under WOT? Does this worry you as far as over-working the engine? Are you concerned about catastrophic failure?

I want this car to last a long time, and I don't want to prematurely wear expensive/internal components. Not so worried about having to replace things like spark plugs, coil packs, etc., but very risk adverse to catastrophic failure.

If shifting at or near the new rev limiter at 7600 is safe, please explain your rationale/provide evidence. I am in the camp that these cars were built to be driven hard, but I want to be aware of the risks of operating outside of OEM parameters/stress tolerances.

-Cid

[03TLSinCO]

My car has the DSG and I have an EPL Stage 1 tune at the moment (plan to go Stage 2 Single Pulley and replace the crank pulley, leaving the stock SC pulley at some point). EPL raises the shift point to 7400RPM. I don't drive hard all the time, and like you, I plan to keep the car for quite a while, but I'm comfortable with letting the car shift on it's own at 7499RPM when I'm on it. Since I only have 35k miles on it, no idea how it will hold up over the long haul.

[hahnmgh63]

There's a guy on the S4 Classifieds right now with a nice looking 2014 with a Blown motor, rod through the block. He had/has a IE tune. Not sure how high the IE tune pushes the Redline. I'd say a couple hundred RPM is Ok but you're talking ~1000rpm's, no way with the stock valvetrain and rods. You don't know what Audi set the Redline for? Supercharger, Rods, Valvetrain? There is always a safety factor built-in by the factory, hence a couple hundred rpm leeway but not ~1000rpm's.

[ciderian]

Thanks for the perspective - makes sense. Would be interesting to hear if anyone feels the opposite.

[f1torrents]

Ever since I was running tunes back in the 1.8T days I was of the 7200 RPM limit.

[Izzyz28]

Mine's DSG, tuned by 034 for 7,200 RPM shifts, no problems whatsoever. One would think a big tuning company would err on the edge of safety and shoot for 0 disasters that could ruin their reputation. Also, there is a huge difference between going through the gears at high RPM and driving under sustained load at high RPM. Either way, a DOHC engine is not going to have any valvetrain problems at that speed, the supercharger RPM has been sorted out already, and the only people blowing engines in any way are running ported blowers, big P/R, and or big timing, which all result in very high cylinder pressure. With a TB, 034 will tune for 7,600 RPM shifts if that makes you feel any better.