at drivers

[maherbaz]

here's a question for some of you auto transmission drivers:
My last car was an escort w/ 220k, on its third rebuilt tranny and it burned as much oil as gas. RIP baby. I used to have to baby that car, I couldn't push it hard. Anyway, now I've got my TI w/ 48k miles and I still have the same damn fearful driving habits, but I want to know what it can do. I hear about max horses at 6.4k rpm, but is that bad for the car? Thats the redline. I pushed the pedel down past the catch point the other day, and my rpm shoots up to 6k, and I nearly ****. That would have blown my dying escort. How hard is too hard on these TIs? I want to have some fun with it.

Also, one other tranny related question- In the morning i drive about a mile to work. When I get there and I put it in park, I hear a little "tink." If the car is all warmed up, this tink doesn't happen, and the car shifts out silently. anyone else w/ this noise?

[Tyler]

You can hold it there at high rpm's for a bit,but i wouldn't leave it there to long,it's never a good idea to keep your rpm's @ 6k +. Plus once u get up around redline it changes gears so it doesn't stay there too long. I mean you kind of need to use your own judgement. Once you have the car for awhile you will know what you can and can't do with her. The only time i accelerate that hard is when i'm pulling onto the highway or if i'm trying to go around someone.
I'm not to sure about that sound,i'll try and pay attention to that tomorrow morning.

[aceyx]

if my morning commute were one mile, i'd walk, ride a bike, or my favorite--longboard.

when you don't give your car adequate time to heat up, a slew of problems can arise over time. (catalytic converter failure, low compression, etc).


as far as how hard you can push it, pretty hard. remember that with bimmers, at the very least the motor and the drivetrain are built like tanks (the rest of the car may fall apart around you). the M44 motor has rocker cams, so wear is reduced.

my 97 (manual) is at 150k, mostly highway miles. i run it at 4k rpms for hours at a time, and still get close to original gas mileage. as long as you do oil changes and basic maintenance, you'll be golden for a long while.


cheers on the upgrade.

[maherbaz]

I'm really really fat so I don't like to walk. (maybe instead of "so" I should have put "because").

[aceyx]

if you drive your car that 1 mi, you lose both ways (bad for car, could be losing weight).
if you start walking, you win both ways (better for the car, start getting active).

edit: hope i'm not coming off as preachy. but in the interest of your car--as this is a car forum, this is the best advice.

walk one day a week for a month, then two days a week for a month, then do it every other day. that will do quite a bit for the longevity of your car.

[DustenT]

You can beat the hell out of it. And don't ever compare your Ti to a damn escort, shame on you! :icon_poke

Seriously, if you drive it hard all the time, you just have to fix things when they break. If you don't mind fixing it, go ahead and hammer on it. Keep good oil in it and do routine maintenance and you'll and it will be fine.

BTW...I used to drive to work and I only lived 5 blocks from work. To each their own, I love driving.

[socal318ti]

I wouldn't say that the all of the drivetrain is built like a tank. My diff just about exploded right around 90K miles. However I had only owned it for about 10K miles when that happened. Other than that the Ti has been the best car that I've owned. After warming up, I'll put it to redline at least a few times in a day.

[Dredder]

when you don't give your car adequate time to heat up, a slew of problems can arise over time. (catalytic converter failure, low compression, etc).

this is a myth. when i had my 4cyl on my ti since 1995, i had never waited for my engine to warm up. i never had the above problem. I dont know if synth oil was the solution but thats was what i used since two oil change after her birth. now that i have M3 motor, i am still not warming the car. knock on wood........

[DustenT]

this is a myth. when i had my 4cyl on my ti since 1995, i had never waited for my engine to warm up. i never had the above problem. I dont know if synth oil was the solution but thats was what i used since two oil change after her birth. now that i have M3 motor, i am still not warming the car. knock on wood........

Correct, read your owner's manual. It specifically states that you should NOT let your car warm up before you drive it, even in cold weather. The ECU has enough safe-guards built into it to stop most damage from agressive driving.

[moku]

Just make sure you're not running your tranny so hot that it overheats the transmission fluid. Doing so can warp the impellers on the torque converter and also cause premature wear of your internal gears and clutches.

So, while running the car to redline is possible and shouldn't damage your tranny, keeping it there can cause your tranny fluid to overheat and cause the aforementioned problems.