vitesse twin plenum

[sax player]

a bit nerves of over reving my engine. What is a safe limit for a rover v8? i some times hit 6500 when the red mist comes down, should i fit a rev limiter?

[GreenV8S]

Depends on the mechanical spec. If you're running hydraulic lifters they're likely to pump up if you hold it over about 6000 rpm for. The stock 4.6 bottom end is reputedly best kept below 6500 rpm; the earlier ones would probably appreciate being a good way below that. If you're running a preserpentine front end then the oil pump drive gear wear is going to start going through the roof as you head towards 6000 rpm. The benefits of taking the engine that far will depend on the cam, but most road cams will be over and done well before then and taking them that far would just be creating noise and wear.

In any case you should definitely have a rev limiter to protect again the stuck throttle scenario, the ECU has a rev limiter built in but unless you know what it's set to you can't rely on it; some are set so high they provide no protection at all.

[sax player]

standard 3.5 sd1 vitesse with fast road cam what do you recomend for this engine

[GreenV8S]

sax player said:

standard 3.5 sd1 vitesse with fast road cam what do you recomend for this engine

Depends on the cam, but I would have thought that the optimum shift point for absolutely maximum performance was in the region of 6000 rpm, I'd put the rev line at about 6200 and try not to spend much time anywhere near that. You won't lose much performance by shifting a few hundred rpm lower and the engine will thank you for it.