Is the engine protected against high revs ?

[Vwvolvo]

I have a question, yesterday I was a little bit '' pushed'' by a little Honda wich was approximately 2 inches from my bumper on the highway. I lost my patience and floored it. Holly molly does that car fly ! My car down shifted and I lost him as if he had put the brakes.
One thing I noticed this time was how high the RPM went (barely touching the red zone) before shifting on a higher gear. Maybe I never noticed before, maybe it's fine but my question was is if the engine was protected somehow against '' over reving ''.

Thanks again for info.

Luc
Montreal, Canada

[AWD*V70XC]

You will find most engines are protected to withstand this sort of punishment, they have been designed to take you and the car to the limit, although you will not drive it like that all the time, as long as you keep your oil etc topped up to cope with the extra stress, you should have no problems.

[gibbons]

They are absolutely protected, by a rev limiter in the engine control unit. If you floor the motor in Park, it will rev up and kinda "flutter" at the limit. Some cars have two limits, one in Park and Neutral, the other one is higher by the redline in gear. I think I played with this in a rental car S80 with a T5, but I don't recall where the limit(s) was.

[philosophicaldreamer]

Originally Posted by Vwvolvo

I have a question, yesterday I was a little bit '' pushed'' by a little Honda wich was approximately 2 inches from my bumper on the highway. I lost my patience and floored it. Holly molly does that car fly ! My car down shifted and I lost him as if he had put the brakes.
One thing I noticed this time was how high the RPM went (barely touching the red zone) before shifting on a higher gear. Maybe I never noticed before, maybe it's fine but my question was is if the engine was protected somehow against '' over reving ''.

Thanks again for info.

Luc
Montreal, Canada

Luc,

When I have someone who sits on my bamper, I engage in an educational process, I must shamefully admit. The first thing I do is that I tap my brake pedal lightly, which freaks out the guy behind me because he sees my brake lights come on, and then I do what you did, namely, floor the gas pedal and watch him disappear in a state of aggrivation. I have very little patience for bumper riders. Usually I try to stay on the right lane, but if someone takes upon himself to show off his car prowess, I have no problems edifying him. And no one expects to be taught a lesson by a Volvo. Are we not all soccer moms driving cars that cannot keep up with accessorised Hondas

Ta-ta, janusz