6000 RPM redline?

[veedub_cabbie]

My Cabbie is a bone-stock 5-speed 2.0. Usually when I get up to about 70-80mph on the interstate (the flow of traffic is between 75-90 on I-78) it feels like I'm beating the p1ss out of the car. At 70-80 my tach is at about 3k-4k. I've never gotten it up to 6k, cause i'm worried about blowing the engine eventually from driving it too hard. Am I right for keeping it below 4500 or am I worrying too much? Someone please shed some light on this for me! :-|

[Mr_Diesel]

WHat is your transmission code? ( look under the car... it's stamped into the bell housing... 3 letter code like "AUG" or "CHE".

At 75mph you should be between 3,000 and 3,500 rpm. Anything more than that and I would suspect that you have the incorrect tire sizes or that your speedo is terribly off. Do you have a GPS that you could test the speed with?

If you beat the crap out of it all the time, it will wear out faster... but I can promise you that the 2.0L ABA engine is designed to take a few beatings. Don't worry about rapping it out to redline... I think it's probably good for it to do it a few times here and there. I beat the ever living piss out of my 94 Jetta 2.0 (same engine) and mine made it to 220k before the headgasket failed. (engine still good).

Your car isn't some cheap Ford Escort or an old oil burning Honda. Even though it's an economy car it's still GERMAN. It's built to handle extended autobahn speeds. Your car has an oil cooler, a HUGE radiator and a 14amp dual fan. (it BEGS to be beat on!) Just make sure you give it the maintenance it needs and it will never steer you wrong. German cars are meant to be ENJOYED not babied and sheltered. :)