Howdy,

Ive just got back from a bit of a blast in my Coupe, and as soon as I turned the engine off I felt a little guilty. I gave her a bit of a pasting tonight (.....and the Coupe)

Don't get me wrong, I didn't thrash the balls off her. I just went down the a500 nailing it, accelerating quite hard up to 70-80 between roundabouts. I never redlined it or anything like that. I just love the feeling the cars gives me when you put your foot down (and I hardly ever do it, which is perhaps is why I felt guilty)
But it made me think, how long and hard can you push the Coupe before stuff starts breaking? I'm sure many of you will have experience of this

No doubt I'll go out tomorrow to find my car in perfect working order just as I left her, but it plays on my miiiinnnd! Paranoid maybe?

Lol, Cheers chaps.

That doesn't sound like much punishment tbh.

As long as your maintainance is keep up to date, good oil, tyres & brakes the coop will handle this no probs

Watch for the overheating brakes though!

And the cameras and police

The poor thing will be straining at the leash! Give it some proper stick

Just make sure the car is mechanically sound with belts etc changed when they should be and as said above make sure you check oil (make sure you are using decent stuff for your needs) and water regulary.

Also worthwhile to change the plugs and filter quite often and make sure you run on decent petrol (ie optimax esp when blasting or if car is modded.)

Apart from that make sure the car is warmed up b4 blasting and make sure you give it a chance to cool down

Why not? As long as the car is maintained properly, regular oil changes with decent oil etc. it was designed to be driven hard. Pointless buying a 20VT if you just potter around in it, might as well have bought a 20v and had better economy!

My Civic VTi now has 142k on the clock and it sees 8k RPM pretty much every day on my 60 mile commute to work and back. It was designed to be driven hard and so far it has been an absolute model of reliability, though I am going to take the head off soon and replace valves and retainers as I've heard of several B series engines that have dropped a valve simply through fatgue failures around this mileage.

kenno makes a list of who not to buy cars from.

Never rag it from cold, that is simply the worse punishment for any car. I'd say as long as you check the oil/fluids and warm it up ok then it can take a decent amount of punishment. depends how hard you drive really, also try and avoid going near the limiter, i.e hitting it alot.

Some coupe engines are strong (frags etc), some aren't.

lol at Kenno

That's what they're for though. Mine sees a little three figure action everyday with 6.5k rev changes.

Best keeping that for the parts section bumpers,bonnets etc

Mine gets fastiduously maintained @ All Italia's in Wrexham - new Agip oil & filter every 2.5k, and get's driven fairly hard - but I ALWAYS warm her up & don't tend to go to the red line that often - no need as most of the power/torque has arrived by then.

However, mine was bought with 81k (now 91k) miles and full history, but I did find things breaking after this mileage when pushed hard i.e. I've blown my turbo [post-GTEC], fried the clutch etc - and I have uprated many of the parts i.e. new 3GP discs & Pagid pads, to cope with my engine mods. The car was designed to be driven hard, I agree - that's why I bought it, but a bit of mechanical sympathy goes a long way - and over time these bits WILL break, dependant on the condition of your Coupe!

Yeah, mine has had a clutch. exhaust, radiator, manifold. But these parts would break at this age/mileage anyway. If you just pottered to the shops in it once a week it would probably be worse!!

(And an oil & filter change every 2.5k some of you are nuts )

Oh my god, you’re supposed to change the oil?

A good old Italian tune does wonders every now and again. In fact I do believe my brakes are booked in for just such an event on the way home.

You know, read the above paragraph changing the word CAR to WOMAN. I think you'd agree shabba that it is still a true and valid statement yes?

Depends on the 'car'.

My coop's never been above 5,000 rpm.

hahahahahaha, PMSL!

really? I just KNEW that it wasnt happy when I turned Citizen Erased by Muse up to full blast the other day. Anyone recommend any good Opera singers?

Some of those oil changes admittedly were done because the car was in All Italia's anyway, so it was a case of 'Yeah, why not?' as the large bill for all the replacement parts would barely be dented by an oil & filter change added on top - and it doesn't hurt to change it often either! I did leave it in for 6k after I first got the car!

Has anyone played the how much oil is in the sump game i.e. waiting for 10 mins after a run on a level surface & you get ONE opportunity to gauge it correctly on the dipstick with your first attempt!?

Ha ha yes very true!

Interstingly, the Monaro has a gear-change buzzer that goes off at 4k rpm until the engine is up to full temperature, to warn you against doing just that.

How do you know?

If a Coupe is well-maintained and in good health, it will take a suprising level of abuse.

I regularly run mine into the rev limiter (increased - now 7,300rpm)

I regularly use full throttle at 1.5+ bar

I regularly corner it to the point of sliding

I occasionally do full-bore launches

I occasionally cruise it at speeds I shouldn't

I NEVER go past 3,000 rpm until its fully warm

I NEVER turn it off as soon as I stop - always give it 30 seconds to a minute at tickover

I never use cheap parts, fuel or oil

Its now done over 168,000

'nuf said?

It was an accident, honest guv!

Havent you had like 3x engines/rebuilds!? Come on - you can't say your coupe is exactly standard either, cost a fortune for that engine.

Took the words outta my mouth.

U have had a couple of engines in the car.

U do have forged pistons.

U have had LOADS of remaps costing thousands.

U have spent loads on aftermarket handling mods.

Nuff said?

Ross

OK - good point - lets take my first Coupe.

All the above items still applied - I thrashed it silly (even hillclimbed it about half a dozen times a year)

The ONLY performance or handling mods were a replacement turbo (not even a hybrid - just a better quality GT28), a cat-back SuperSprint and a strut brace.

it had done 123,000 when I crashed it

Dont get me wrong, if properlly maintained they will take a lot of punishment. So i do agree!

Ross

And I haven't been though that many engines

First one had oil control ring problems at about 110,000, so I fitted Mavric's old engine rather than rebuild it.

Mavric's engine got rebuilt when I overheated it and lost the compression of two cylinders - my fault, certainly not down to abuse.

Lol my coupe aint exactly an engine virgin.

The coupe is on its 3rd engine.

First one went because the nugget that owned it used to drop it into 2nd at 80mph. Crank through the block.

Second one was a recon engine from fiat which had numerous oil leaks and the fact that the guy that installed it into the car didnt connect the oil cooler and the rear crankshaft seal was leaking. Once that was sorted too many other oil leaks caused problems. Engine let go (supposedly).

Third engine came from barbz on a pallet fully built (as much as he could). Been reliable so far. (Touches lots of trees)

Ross

I think vinno might have got the message by now ! Take it to a day long thrash around a track, and you can realise just how much you can push these cars if they are properly maintained .

Phil