Okay, I've read lots of posts talking about acceleration and rpm versus mpg, but my concern is potential wear and tear on the engine from extended highway speed motoring. If I'm on a long stretch of straight highway and wanting to go 75-80 mph, the Getrag top (i.e., 5th) gear in my 05 MC translates to something on the order of 3800-4400 rpm. I know this is no big deal for short period of time, but what about straight through an 8-hour driving day? ...over multiple days?

Is the engine designed to handle these higher continuous rpms? I would rather back off a little, save the engine, and enjoy the better mpg rather than end up in the shop prematurely. BTW, I'm past the break-in mileage.

From a wear and tear standpoint, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. The engine is designed to easily exceed that from everything I've read. In fact, I'll bet that highway load is still easier on it than city driving...

On the other hand, if you said you were trailering a load at the same time, I would probably be more concerned (for an 8 hour trip)...

So an MC pulls ~4400 rpm at 80, huh? I didn't know that (I have an MCS 6spd)...still not concerned tho...

IMO - don't worry about it. Will it last longer at lower RPMs? Sure. It will also last longer if you park it and don't drive it anywhere. The Miata has similar gearing, and they go 120K+ regularly.

You could install a vacuum gauge. It will give you an indication of how hard the engine is working at a given RPM. But my guess is that you'll be fine running the engine at those RPM's for an extended period.

If you're really worried about it, think about changing to a larger rim/tire setup to change your gearing / lower your RPM's on the freeway. But that will hurt the "get-up-and-go" of the car around town.

too high is when you start hearing strange noises coming from the engine bay.

Drive it to the ends of the world dude!!!

If it’s meant to die it will. Other than that you’re on your own.

02 MCS, drive it like I stole it and not ONE problem yet.

I've driven "everything" and this MINI is no exception, to the limits of its and my abilities and never had an engine problem. Clutches yes, brakes, tires, all the "disposable" items, today's engines are built to be durable. Past the break in period, as long as you keep all fluids clean and full, you'll be fine. This post is for entertainment value only, no warranties expressed or implied! ;-)

consistent speeds, i wouldn't worry about it.

its when you change speeds dramatically where you see the most wear.

Thanks mitch...I've thought about the impact of changing the wheels, but probably will stick with stock for the "local" performance. Plus, I've heard from several sources that the ride suffers with the larger wheels...

It's actually about 4000 rpm at 80.

I don't know if the engine works really hard or not, but I just did a 4 hour trip averaging about 80mph and I got 26mpg.

Just as a comparison, I averaged 33mpg in the CITY for a whole year...

I wouldn't worry about high rpm usage on the highway, or anywhere else for that matter. The Neons I used to own had basically the same engines as our Minis (with larger displacement and a few other relatively minor differences), and they were very durable engines. On my '96 Neon, I took it on several long trips, including one from Montana to Pennsylvania where we drove 2200 miles straight through in 32 hours, and we averaged 75-80 mph (near 4000 rpm) for practically all the trip. I had an aftermarket computer and cams in that car as well, and it saw 8000 rpm practically every day I drove it. I sold it with 116k miles on it and it is still running strong today.

-Keith

I've done lots of long interstate road trips with as few pee stops as I could stand, going 80 mph, no problems. My 03 Cooper has 85+k miles, mostly highway, and the rest are high revving city miles.

Like sndwave said, drive it dude, thats what it's for

Mark

on lng trips I often cruse at 5000-5500... cause well... that's where I am in 5th....still get 25-30 mpg :D

I've driven a MC for 24 hours straight two days in a row (10 hour break between them) at 80+ mph and it never had any problems.

Too high would be surpassing the redline. You should have nothing to worry about.

where is the rev limiter anyway...

Stock for me it sits about 6.5k or 6.75k (not sure its been a long time since I've tempted that, I usually just shot when the torque falls off just past 6k in sprited driving, 3.5-4k around town) rumor has it you begin to out do the valves at 8k. I've done 25 hours stopping only for fuel (used facilities while there but not more than 10 minutes was wasted standing still. No signs of damage.

THE BIG IMPORTANT THING is keep up with oil, air filter, coolant maintenance, it will protect the inside, and don't be playing in the high revs on a cold engine, past that expect it to last a long time, and its an iron block so worst case you're replacing head and internals, even then only cases I've heard of that so far is over boosting on NOS or TC'd cars.

Aside from that it was desgined to take the high revs in stride, be kind to it and enjoy it.

My 03 bounces at about 6900-7000rpms.

I NEVER take it over 3000rpms before it is warmed up. Then I tend to run at 4000-5500 while running around town

Oil and coolant are always topped up. I tend to shift at high revs, but don't slam the gearbox.

Mark

Cooper (non-s) is right...I checked on the ride home from work tonight, and my 05 MC in 5th runs at about 4000 rpm at 80 mph.

What rpm does the S turn at 80 mph in 6th for comparison?

The '05+ MCS @80 MPH in 6th gear should be running around 3,800-4,000 RPM.

My wife's '02 Cooper CVT (In Normal tranny mode) runs @3,000 RPM doing 70MPH.

These engines are virtually bulletproof. Don't worry about it.

This is why MINI has added a 6th gear to the '07 Cooper, to improve both, highway cruising and fuel economy.

I duno if anyone has thought about this, but say, a motorcycle is normally at 3500+ for around town, and goes up past 9000 rpm on certain bikes without damage. What I am saying is that certain engines so long as they arent being strained with a pull or acceleration, can be built for very high rpms and live a long time.

My Cooper has 107,000 miles. Daily driving, I shift at around 3,000-4,000 RPM. I highway drive at 70mph, so I don't run monster revs on the highway.

But, I autocross once a month which usually sees me bounce off the rev limiter in first gear at least a couple of times. And I've got 20-something track days on the car in the last two years (so some with over 100,000 miles on the engine). At the track, the RPMs never drop below 3,000 (hopefully they stay above 4,000) and run up to redline as often as possible. So, for 80-90 minutes a day, it runs between 4,000 and redline constantly. Even some downshifting from third to second, rev matching so that it goes into second and 5,000 rpm +

No engine problems yet...

i say, when you start thinking the rerun on comedy central just couldn't be any funnier, and the pizza just couldn't taste any better... that's too high.