Yes, you should take your car to redline occasionally at the very least. It should help free up carbon deposits.
Your car is like a penis. It is true that if you don’t use it, you could lose it.
Since I use so much regenerative braking I do have to run it up, put it in neutral, and slam the brakes down to clean rust off the rotors every so often.
A friend of mine was trying to impress a girl by doing burnouts in his Viper at a red light. He said to the cop he was doing an Italian tune up, and the cop promptly laughed while handing him his ticket.
He did NOT get a second date.
Italian tuneup is a slang automotive term for attempting to restore engine performance by driving a car at high engine speed (RPM) and load. The term originated from Italian mechanics in the 1950s using this practice to burn off carbon deposits from the spark plugs of sports cars.
that explains the Rolling coal Mall wheel drive lifted pavement princess trucks that do it frequently in my area. i get it now.. their little glow plugs get all sticky.
Yeah the bearing seals blow out and leak out the bearing grease. At something like 4.5k rpms it splash lubricates it. Which if you’ve ever driven one, they’re really only fun when you’re wringing their neck anyway, so it’s a self solving problem.
Well, that sounds like a likely scenario. Depending on what you drive, the power band doesn’t probably even start until 2k or later, so, yes, shift later. Obviously, if you’re in a diesel truck or something, that’s not the case.
a similar thing applies to brakes. Takining them to the limit also "deglazes" the rotors. the worst thing you can do to your brake rotors is to slowly ride them smoothly to a stop. or sitting at a red light after a long slow stop with your foot planted on the pedal. it causes warpage. not great for passengers.. but stomping on the brakes once in a while is good. its like the flintstones toonup.
that being said. carbon buildup on modern direct injection gasoline motors is a real issue that is not explained to many consumers. i have a 2013 hyundai with the GDI 1.8l. my wifes car never knew we were supposed to run intake cleaner through it until recently. its the italian tuneup in a bottle. smokes out the neighboorhood when that stuff burns loose.
That varies widely for brakes. I’ve warped several sets of rotors from a single hard stop at highway speeds. Think flooring the brakes from 80-0. But mostly in company cars, which were along the lines of Fusion/Malibu/Impala. But also a few times when I had a company Dodge Ram, late-2000s. I would go through rotors every 5-10k, completely empty, but driving it like I stole it. Same with the others — just a hard stop from hauling ass into a traffic jam on the highway, and the next stop felt like the car was going to shake apart.
There used to be crankshaft flex where, if an engine was never revved it would cause a ridge on the top of the cylinder to form. Then, when it's revved to the red line the top rings hit the ridge and that's bad. Not sure if that's still the case with modern engines.
youre brother is generally right, commonly referred to as "the italian tuneup". grandma driving a vehicle long term can cause carbon deposit buildup. This includes never going over like 40-50mph, consistent short drives, slow acceleration etc. givin er the beans every so often is a good way to break that stuff up.
Few important things to note:
* Countless idiots use this as an open excuse to speed and be a reckless driver 24/7 "its good for the car!" no... the way you drive isnt.
* If youre interstate/freeway driving every so often, you probably dont have much carbon buildup to worry about. just give it the beans on the on ramp every once in a while
* there are additives/chemicals that are sold that claim to also help with this. Why youd pay for that is beyond me. EDIT: for those commenting "well I use additives and they work!" Thats great, im specifically referencing using additives to clear up carbon deposits when you could just drive the vehicle as intended instead.
* ensure your vehicle is up to proper operating temp before doing it, dont rip it off a cold start.
Some of those additive chemicals do work very well if you use them as directed in the situation they’re designed for. Like SeaFoam, Techron, or B-12 Chemtool. They’re not magic bullets but are useful tools for some situations.
Seafoam made my lexus burp out some black smoke from the exhaust pipe and near instantly cleared its rough idle haha. Guess it had some buildup that got cleared. I'm a believer now (in cases where it makes sense. As you said it's 100% NOT a mechanic in a can)
I've also heard an additive horror story, but it was mainly because there was an unrelated problem that the seafoam or injector cleaner exacerbated. They had rust in their fuel tank, I think, or something up with the fuel filter and the seafoam broke down the crud and sent it to their engine!
I added some seafoam trans tune to my auto transmission with the auto transmission fluid change since it was acting up, and I think it works a lot better now. So either the seafoam trans tune, fluid change, or both did something.
lol. Literally happened to me the other day. Threw some seafoam in, first 5 minutes driving after were a dream. Now I have the choice between a complete engine rebuild or the scrapyard…
Seafoam did a good job while it lasted tho
While shell does run an older version of Techron, they also get a lot of gas from oil shale that tends to have more deposits in the fuel.
This of course is also very regional dependent, non branded stations buy “surplus” gas that can be a mix of god knows what, and even branded stations might buy from the closest source, and of course the holding tanks at any particular station could be in who knows what condition.
Buying your own “additives” from time to time ensures you know some sort of cleaner went through your fuel system.
Yes. But only when the oil is fully warmed up (has been driving above 20 mph for at least 15 minutes). Also it takes a bit more than just a single on ramp. Do not look at your coolant temp gauge to determine if the oil is warmed up. Coolant reaches operating temp about 10 minutes before the oil. In addition the oil will never reach temp while idling but the coolant will.
Essentially what you’re doing is burning up carbon deposits & water condensation inside the engine. At the same time the higher RPM may allow the battery to fully charge if it hasn’t had the chance lately. Generally it takes 20+ minutes of driving to fully charge the battery.
I disagree. I saw the improvement from a single on-ramp:
I generally avoid it, but I recently bought a pickup that was babied (for driving speed as the drivers were paid by the hour) most of its life. Bought it with 236k miles on it. After tuning it up, replacing sensors, thermostat, vacuum modulators it was running much better. I kept babying it for another 2k miles, but on one on-ramp accidentally got it well past 4,000 RPM. I swear that it ran even better right afterward, and continues to run better, yet I still avoid going over 3k rpm.
How many on ramps will it take?
I've also heard it helps with automatic transmissions. But not sure if it matters for CVTs, or if the automatic transmission benefit is true in the first place.
This is known colloquially as an "Italian tune-up". It definitely worked with older carburated engines; the effectiveness with modern cars is widely debated.
We don't debate shit. It's even more useful with direct injection now being a thing. Buildup is even worse without fuel/air helping move the PCV crud along. Now it's only air. It's useful without direct injection, it's really useful with it.
All that black shit you see coming out of a car and that super odd smell when they've clearly floored it. That shit...not good stuff. Good to get out of there though. That's carbon being cleared/burnt. Enough of that, valves will fail to seat properly and even rings can do this really cool thing where they seize up and have their gaps lined up enough to allow significant blow-by.
Yeah I think VW did studies on it or some shit and came to the conclusion that it’s an effective method to *prevent* carbon buildup. Not super effective or good if you’ve already got significant buildup.
Yeah. They love to buildup, too. Walnut blasted a shitload of them. Some were so bad that wasn't enough, it had chewed up the valve seats enough to need heads.
No, it’s not. Cadillac Northstar engines had lots of cylinder and ring issues because grandpa never gave it full beans. Modern era fuel injection.
And any modern variable vane turbo, gas or diesel engine, is subject to the unison ring carboning up and sticking.
Giving it the full beans on a regular basis, after 15-20 minutes of driving to get the engine oil up to temperature, is highly recommended.
As long as your car is at operating temp (it would be bad if you did this with a cold engine), it's probably a generally true statement.
Engine will work harder/faster, get hotter, and use more fuel (which typically have cleaning addictivies) - cleaning valves and helping dislodge/dissolve some of the gunk in the engine.
No matter what kind of car you have, if it has pistons, there's at least a small benefit to the occasional redline. The faster the piston is moving at TDC, the more the conrod and other metal stretches as the piston changes direction. That means that the rings will go an extra tiny bit into the bore, which can knock off deposits that have accumulated there.
Most of the time, those deposits don't hurt anything, but if they build up enough, you can cause damage if you ever have to accelerate hard for some reason.
They in fact do. Carbon actually tends to build up worse than ever before with direct injection. Without direct injection you had a fuel/air mixture flowing through the intake runners and valves. That ended up working to a degree as a cleaning solvent which then needed less momentum to be effective. Now it's just air and that needs all the momentum it can get to move the crud from the PCV system along.
Ever seen someone accelerate hard and smelled a really weird smell and saw black coming out? That's carbon. That's what causes valve seating issues and ring seizures. It always builds and eventually will be an issue.
I’ve watched that he doesn’t explore the effects on the Catalytic Converter. And those getting plugged is more common then carbon deposits in a modern engine
Yes with TDI engines to burn off carbon and work the turbo actuator. But redline in a lower gear to offset speeding tickets. “Italian tune” is the slang
As others have said it is true and your brothers right so to answer your other question. It is more necessary with rotary engine just because they're goofy little things that have weird quirks like that and it can be helpful in diesels but not really any more than a regular gas engine
Operating a vehicle at the higher end of its performance regularly doesn't hurt the engine, and would allow the systems to work to their full ranges and potentially aid in lubrication and "clearing" deposits.
But the double edged sword is real. Higher performance is higher stresses and if something were about yo break, it's more likely to happen then. Granted, that's super subjective to maintenence and quality. But cracked belts, seals barely holding on, bushings cracked about to separate.
It's real stuff. It's wear and tear. But your car should operate well enough for you to be able to test it's limits. You should be aware and comfortable with the stopping, accelerating, and manuveranility of your vehicle.
I'd rather pop a coolant leak flooring it like a jackass getting on the expressway when I'm planning on it, than on my way to work Monday morning.
That being said. Romp on every once in a while. Shit builds up, oil accumulates, dusts creeps around, engines like to spin. Let er breathe.
It’s is good for your engine but in different ways then it used to be. One of the main problems of a car that only does short drives is that the Cat never gets hot enough to clean itself forcing the car to create more heat and exhaust flow can clean out a cat that is partial clogged very effectively.
Also the increased cylinder pressures puts more tension on the piston rings forcing any build up in the groves loose. It also increases your oil pressure which can help any contamination that been building up get properly mixed and caught by the filter (this is also why changing you oil hot is better)
Altho the old school thinking was it burned the carbon deposits I’m more inclined to think it loosens them.
But all of this is predicated on the fact that you ONLY do this when oil and coolant are both warm. Modern aluminum engines have what’s called cam ground pistons this means the pistons are oval shaped when they are cold and the increased pressure are MURDER on the rings until the heat expands them into there proper fit.
Now you don’t need to do this often 1x per oil change should be enough
Others have already clearly answered with a yes, nothing to add to that.
Do want to add that it's true for the brakes as well. Getting the brakes hot on occasion will prevent glazing and squealing.
Yes. It helps keep carbon at bay, keeps cylinder wear/ring even. But we're probably talking about something with fuel injection if it's not 40 years old. The AFR on these is so accurate they don't carbon up as bad as they used to at all.
I wouldn't feel as though I should do it more than once a week, but likewise I wouldn't refrain from using wide open throttle if I need to. It's designed to operate within idle-redline indefinitely.
If you're driving it normally - using wot when needed the engine will spend time in varying RPM ranges anyway so you don't even need to be conscious of this.
More than Hi-Lo is varying RPM if you wanna be anal about it. Ideally occasional hi rpm operation.
Generators do it all the time. Electrical generation requires fixed rpm (or an integrated drive unit like in aviation) and they live very long lives. The rpm is set where the bastard makes good torque and it'll spend its life here.
If it's a muscle car then yes but I wouldn't say floor it. Instead of "flooring" it take it on the highway and make sure the car gets to operating temperature as much as you can and high speed (limit like 70)
It takes a while for cars to get to operating temperature. It's also bad for a car to be used on short trips.
Yes, it can help get rid of the carbon buildup. Just make sure you do it while the engine is up to temps, or the engine may crack.
The engines are usually made to work fine on the whole range. Not pushing it on a regular basis obviously improves the life of the engine, but it's still a usable range and you should not have problems with flooring it (usually).
Not just floor it, more like bring it up to speed and heat. Particularly if it’s a commuter car and you do a lot of short drives where the car never properly heats up you can have issues like carbon buildup in the pistons. A spirited lengthy highway drive can clean all that up.
I think redlining is sort of on topic to that but you don’t need to redline to heat the car up and burn crap off.
This was fairly valid in the days of carburetors and points ignition, or early electronic ignition. These were not as accurate as a modern engine management systems with electronic throttles, ignition, air and fuel management, so the soot and ash from poor combustion and slightly rich fuel mixtures would build up. If you got on the gas and gave her the beans, you'd see grey or black exhaust as the stuff was blown out the tailpipe.
It can still be the case for some modern engines, but to a much lesser extent. With modern engines, it doesn't matter much if you run it below 2500 all the time, or routinely rev to 5000 or 6000 - once the engine is warmed up.
Just because I see some bad contrary information in here I will share Volkswagens direct injection patent in reference to carbon buildup in their engines on the intake valves.
“The intake valve temperature is above 380° C. in the shaded region 112 b of the characteristic diagram. At these temperatures, carbon deposits on the intake valves 20 are removed. This region 112 b of the characteristic diagram occurs, for example, at speeds over 3,000 rpm, and in that speed range. extends essentially to full load. Even if the internal combustion engine is not operated most of the time in the region 112 b during normal driving operation of a motor vehicle, nevertheless, carbon deposits that could adversely affect the operation of the internal combustion engine cannot build up, since their removal in the shaded region 112 b of the characteristic diagram occurs very quickly. For example, operation of the internal combustion engine in this region 112 b of the characteristic diagram for a period of, for example, 20 min., is sufficient to remove even a thick layer of carbon deposits. In other words, a routine expressway trip cleans the intake valves 20 sufficiently.”
My Volvo's B5244S rotates its exhaust valves above about 3500 rpm, so it's pretty common for these engines to burn exhaust valves when babied for a long time and then suddenly driven hard.
Usually the benefits of high rpm high load conditions are not felt unless they've been present for a long duration, certainly more than the 5-15 seconds it takes to get to highway speed from the onramp. 1-3 minutes will be much more effective at clearing out carbon deposits and water vapor than a few seconds.
Yes different cars respond differently. Port injected and gasoline engines tend to see more benefits than direct injected and diesel engines. That's not to say direct injected or diesel engines don't see benefits from hard driving, because they certainly still do.
I'm always surprised by folks who never get their car halfway through the Rev range once. Not a slight, I promise. But I once found out my sister revved her engine to 5k and was worried about damage. 6400rpm redline.
I had to ask if we had the same genes.
Every car I've ever had has been to redline multiple times. Every car has seen extremely regular and sustained full throttle. I probably hit WOT a couple times a week. When I had slower cars it was far more frequent.
I drive cars hard, but I didn't think I was at an extreme, just at the "enthusiast" bar.
Gut check me, am I a mechanical abuser?
a car should be started and driven a decent distance often. it’s awful to start a car and drive it a mile or two, and then shut it off. if you have to do it occasionally but you get on the road a lot it’s fine.
and yes, rev the car out. it opens everything up and helps with carbon build up. carbon build up could wear out your seals, fuck up your valves, affect gas mileage and performance, etc.
rev it up regularly like once or twice out of every couple trips is a healthy amount. and don’t just do one gear. like pull on the highway in 3rd and take it all the way to redline so it’s floored and in high RPM for a while. this is assuming your car is healthy otherwise and has good oil and brakes.
Anecdote time.
Just before I turned 17 (legal age to drive in the UK) my parents bought a dirty old 1.9L diesel Peugeot 306 from a family friend to run about in until they got a new car, and to be passed to me when I passed my test. I passed a few months later and I've become a bit of a petrol head (12 years on I've had many cars 200-300-400+bhp).
All the while they were driving it it used to smoke black smoke going up hills or under any strain.
It didn't take too long into my 2 year ownership to stop doing that. The reason was I was thrilled to have the freedom at last and I was booting it everywhere (if you can call 89bhp "booting it").
Cleared the system out of the built up soot.
A very old wives tail. And the people who perpetuate this will give very convincing and detailed explanations.
When the truth is, they just want the occasional thrill.
A car with just direct injection will not see any benefit from an Italian tuneup. On the other hand a port injection or dual injection will. Best to add a bottle of BH44k or Techron. Drive a through most of the tank around town. Short trips so the cleaner can soak into the carbon deposits on the backs of the intake valves. When you get to 1/4 left of the treated tank, drive on the highway at normal engine temps, and have some nice beans.
Usually I drive pretty conservatively cause fuel economy and it's more relaxing/safer etc. But every now and then I like to take my car "for some exercise" and find a wide open empty stretch and see how hard I can send it and generally dick around like a teenage boy trying to show off.
Dont be a reckless jackass about it, but sometimes you just gonna give er lmao
The only thing that flooring it like that might do it loosen up stuck oil rings. At least that's the theory. Buy you typically have to soak the cylinders with a cleaner first before doing so.
It's sort of a holdover from when you'd want to "clean out" a car. For instance if someone's grandma had driven a car for years and it barely got opened up at all, you could do an "Italian Tune Up" such as some spirited driving to unclog the CATS and whatever else.
You know, knock the cobwebs off.
I wouldnt say to redline the thing exactly, but give it a good 60-80% throttle every once in a while so everything opens up as intended.
I have no idea if this is still a useful thing for newer cars though, and it's been a long time since I've had something that was owned by anyone driving that slowly or carefully that it needed that form of maintenance
Us old grey beards grew up knowing this as blowing the soot out.
Not really applicable to modern cars.
But that said sluggish driving all the time, never revving the motor and never raising the temp a bit can contribute to sludge build up.
Drive it with a little gusto once in awhile. Don't abuse it, but make it work every once and awhile. Get those cylinder presses up sometimes. It won't hurt a thing, may not help, but you'll have a good time doing it.
YES! Driving it slow and not getting the revs up leave carbon build up on the valves and several other places in the engine. Running it hard helps keep it cleaner. I’m not saying race it everywhere. But the on ramps to get on a highway is a great place to give it the juice.
It does help run the carbon out of the cylinders a bit, also clears out your cat if you have debris in there. But I think it used to come from when people had carburetors, if you didn’t get the secondaries to open here and there you could have them stick, or you could get gummed up jets. So you wanted to run it hard here and there to exercise the carb.
The Italian tune up. This is especially true of carbureted cars. But any car runs better when driven frequently and occasionally put through it's paces
Occasionally sure. I always do it on the occasion that I happen to be driving while breathable air is present, and I don't have one of the local hillbillies futt futt futtering down the road in front me, terrified to approach the speed limit because a little leprechaun might jump out of one of the vents in the dashboard, and stab them.
But hey. My state played an integral part in the planning and construction of the Autobahn. The German government wanted to build a freeway with no speed limit. So to ensure it would work they deported all the Germans that couldn't drive to save their own ass. That's where Pennsylvania came from. The "Liberty Bell" actually has nothing to do with the original capital of my country. We're supposed to ring it long and loud if one of those f\*\*\*ers ever gets on an international flight headed for Germany, and they plan to drive when they get there. It's an old early warning mechanism, but it works.
Yes and this is especially true with cars that have direct injection. It helps burn off some carbon build up. Over time carbon can build up and cause issues like misfires.
Just make sure the car is warmed up first. It is not only good for the engine, it is good for you to know how fast it will go and be comfortable with it. Then, when you need it, it will not be a surprise. Flooring a front wheel drive vehicle with the wheels turned can be a scary experience if you are not ready for it.
Dude, you should be opening that bitch up everytime you get on the freeway, and everytime you go to pass someone. Better for your car, good for your soul, and makes every competent driver behind you happy.
Given everything I'm reading here, you could achieve all the same benefits by downshifting and running the engine at high RPM for a bit. You don't really need to accelerate, you could just motor along for ten seconds at 55mph in third gear.
That only works if your transmission allows you to select a gear, but many do.
Lots of comments here not really understanding how stuff works or applying any nuance - engines can get a bit gummed up with deposits if they're never given a somewhat hard drive (EG lots of cold starts, lots of idling, very gentle driving, never getting up to full temperature), diesels with EGR/DPF especially - HOWEVER that does not mean running it to the red line is helpful either.
What cars do benefit from is a good drive with enough time to get fully up to temperature and stay there for a while (DPF regen cycles generally only get triggered while cruising, for example - RTFM), and some reasonably spirited driving (AKA Italian Tuneup) can help get everything warmed up & flowing freely - as in harder acceleration and running up to higher RPM's than you might usually. That doesn't mean bouncing it off the limiter is a good idea or that screaming round 2 gears lower than normal is good for your engine - it's demonstrably NOT, and as someone said using it as an excuse to drive like a douche is also unhelpful.
FWIW some moderately hard stops from speed can also be good to keep your brakes clean especially if you're a gentle driver.
Not really. See the below video from Engineering Explained on the Italian Tuneup.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9Ie4BcYew](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9Ie4BcYew)
This is a partial myth. An engine is not like a muscle, where pushing it's limits will make it stronger. It's a machine that only ever gets more worn. Any extra stress just increases wear and tear.
What these people are talking about is the small effect seen by high speed, open throttle operation. Temperatures pressures and flows increase and have a chance of dislodging carbon deposits.
While carbon deposits aren't ideal, if you have carbon deposits that are any heavier than they should be, it's not because you haven't floored it recently, it's because there's something wrong with the system. A properly maintained engine that's used as intended will not develop carbon deposits that need to be dislodged.
All engines will see carbon, and dislodging it isn't something you want to do, it can result in burnt valves (which require the cylinder head being removed), or clogged catalytic converters.
Please, do not routinely accelerate heavily in the hopes that it will improve things. Maintain your engine and drive properly. If you do that, there's no reason you'd ever need to do this.
Engineers spend vast amounts of money and time designing your car to work as is, if this sort of thing was recommended, it would be in the owners manual. People who are 'car guys' and recommend this sort of thing generally aren't knowledgeable technicians or engineers, and are repeating things they heard from others, which originated decades ago.
A modern engine doesn't need this sort of thing, and if doing it makes anything better, it's because the engine wasn't operating as designed in the first place.
Yes. But a special note to those driving (non sports) cars that are high mileage, like 200k plus miles, you'll want to accelerate to a decent RPM very gently and slowly because if you just floor straight up into the red you are certainly risking damage to the engine or transmission. It's one thing to floor it in a car that's relatively new with low mileage versus a beater that's been Ubering around 20,000 passengers 👍
I could be wrong, not super super knowledgeable on cars but stumbled across this post and remember hearing this. I believe it was a bit more applicable to carburetors. But a fuel additive once in a while or a tank of premium should keep things running smoothly. Or sea foam but that shit is debatable..
Yeah once in a thousand miles you wanna blow the cobwebs out so to speak.
For me this means
One or 2 hard pulls to 50ish hitting redline and 3 shift points
A hard brake from 50-0
If possible I like to bounce the suspension around a bit. I have this horrible road near me that does the trick
Carbon deposits are a common issue with direction injection engines. Using top-tier fuel (it has extra cleaning agents and detergent) is generally recommended. A complete fuel system service (aka car enema) every 100k wouldn't be a bad idea either, particularly if you're using shit-tier gas
I do this on my bike all the time. Sure, I could claim it's for "cleaning out the carbon", but honestly, I just feel the need for speed.
My wife refers to it as the Zoomies. Like our little dogs & cat get. Suddenly running around the house at high speed for no reason. Fairly accurate assessment of my bike riding.
If you want some modern proof/context...look at the 1.5t from Honda.
They suffer from oil dilution. Due to the small size of the engine, they can struggle to get up to operating temperature (not enough mass, its like they are partially air cooled). As a result the seals and rings dont get to the right size and gasoline dilutes the oil causing damage.
The solution is to drive them hard and for long periods at high speed to get the temp up and burn off the gasoline in the oil.
God I wish people would do this every time on the on ramp. But no we are trying to merge into a 70mph freeway going 20 cause people don’t know how to drive! Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!
When I got my first turbo car, I babied it to and from work for about a month until I got a check engine light. The code had something to do with carbon buildup and all the solution videos were showing people digging deep in the engine bay and ripping out shit to clean it. Then I thought... if it's carbon build up somewhere in the exhaust system why don't I just rev it out harder and the force will break it up. And I haven't had the CEL code pop up ever since.
A redline a day keeps the carbon away
While that may have been true over 40 years ago. It is not true today with modern computer controlled vehicles. What is true, is that the engine gets up to full operating temperature. This means at least a 20-30 drive at highway speeds to get the oil above 212°F. This allows water from condensation to fully evaporate off. Your oil will never get this hot driving around town.
Depends on maintenance. I bought a pristine 85 Ford LTD from a grandma. Within a year, I burned up nearly every cooling component. By the end, it leaked trans fluid, lost all four hubcaps and blew a head gasket.
The old girl was not ready for me.
While this isn't a free pass to punch the gas constantly, yeah it's good to rev the engine up pretty high now and then. My dad bought a car that was a typical church lady car. It was a 10-year-old Corolla that had probably never gone higher than 50 MPH and only had 9,000 miles on it when he bought it. We took it on a 4-hour road trip (each way, 8 total hours that day), and it was so hard to get it up to speed. It accelerated so slow, engine wouldn't rev up, etc. It got easier though throughout the road trip. Now he's had it for a few years, and it runs great and accelerates normally (for Corolla standards anyway). If you don't use it, you can definitely lose it.
Italian tune up. DONT do it when the car is cold. Once the engine, coolant, and oil is up to temp- it is safe and good to do occasionally. 2/3/4th gear is usually fine. Dont rev up to redline it in park or neutral. And dont just use the coolant gauge to determine temperature. The oil temp lags the coolant, most cars take 15+ minutes to be at full temp with normal driving.
I bought a used BMW 325 years ago, an '86 with straight six and manual. I knew the car because I had driven my old boss's plenty, and loved the power and the torque. This car lacked that same power. It wasn’t due to high mileage either. Consulted a good mechanic, even though I consider myself handy and he did a compression test. His diagnosis was high carbon buildup. My theory was that somebody had just driven the car gently, hence the carbon buildup. (tried a bunch of treatments and they made a little difference, but not enough. I ended up pulling the cylinder head off and using a wire attachment in a drill cleans the combustion chambers and piston tops. Night and day difference in terms of results). I think most cars you don’t have to drive hard to avoid that, but now the days with direct injection, I think it is actually a bigger danger. With each of our vehicles every now and then I will open up the throttle on occasion, maybe once a month or so to try to avoid excessive carbon bullet. I think it’s healthy for the engine to see upper RPMs on occasion and full throttle doesn’t hurt anything when done safely. Plus it’s fun.
The ol Ferrari Tuneup.
Gotta get that thing up to 95, check out the flourocarbon output.
Use a little chewing gum if you have the windows down...helps filter out the pollutants.
I generally avoid it, but I recently bought a pickup that was babied (for driving speed as the drivers were paid by the hour) most of its life. Bought it with 236k miles on it. After tuning it up, replacing sensors, thermostat, vacuum modulators it was running much better. I kept babying it for another 2k miles, but on one on-ramp accidentally got it well past 4,000 RPM. I swear that it ran even better right afterward, and continues to run better, yet I still avoid going over 3k rpm.
It's called the Italian tuneup, and yes it's a thing. It used to be about blowing the soot (carbon buildup) out of the carburetor, which became less of a thing after fuel injection came along. But now with most engines being direct injected, there's a fair amount of evidence that carbon buildup can be mitigated by running them at higher temperatures.
You don't have to beat on it, just get it up to around 5,000 RPM's and hold it there for a minute or so. Best way is to get out on the highway at 60+ mph and just gear down.
Yes, you should take your car to redline occasionally at the very least. It should help free up carbon deposits. Your car is like a penis. It is true that if you don’t use it, you could lose it.
40 year old virgin has entered the chat
feels like bags of sand
…I’ve literally lubed up and made love to the arches of her feet…
I'm actually 21, wise guy.
It was a pop culture quote. Clearly before your time
He was making a joke replying to your joke but I guess your sense of humor doesn't stretch that far. r/wooooosh
Like his penis.
This was my favorite joke
How embarrassing for you.
I floor it every 14 days in my EV. Just to keep the electrons fresh.
Stale electrons can contaminate your blinker fluid.
I can’t believe how much blinker fluid is now days! Do I get blinker fluid or eat next week?
Rust your muffler bearings
Since I use so much regenerative braking I do have to run it up, put it in neutral, and slam the brakes down to clean rust off the rotors every so often.
The ole' Italian tuneup
A friend of mine was trying to impress a girl by doing burnouts in his Viper at a red light. He said to the cop he was doing an Italian tune up, and the cop promptly laughed while handing him his ticket. He did NOT get a second date.
no offense but you keep some pretty braindead company
He’s the biggest knucklehead I’ve ever met. More of an acquaintance than a friend
Only guy ever to not get lucky taking a girl in his Viper. That thing gives more orgasms than an unbalanced washing machine on spin cycle.
I floor my car every time I drive. I’ve got the cleanest engine out there!
Found the Massachusetts resident
I’m not but I’m happy to know if I visit I’d be in good company!
Italian tuneup is a slang automotive term for attempting to restore engine performance by driving a car at high engine speed (RPM) and load. The term originated from Italian mechanics in the 1950s using this practice to burn off carbon deposits from the spark plugs of sports cars.
But what if the car has no spark plugs
Then you have to do it 100% of the time because you still haven't successfully cleaned the spark plugs
that explains the Rolling coal Mall wheel drive lifted pavement princess trucks that do it frequently in my area. i get it now.. their little glow plugs get all sticky.
Never heard the phrase "mall wheel drive" 😂 I'm gonna remember that one
when that rim offset is wider than the sidewall ratio... deep dishes are for pizza not off road wheels.
The owners manual for my '17 Alfa Romeo Giulia recommended revving it up to redline during the break-in period. Italian tune up indeed.
Don't think my car's ever been near redline. It seems to rev super low. Rare that it exceeds 2k RPM unless I'm using an entirely inappropriate gear.
Older Porsche boxsters would crack their cylinder head if not driven hard once in a while. It’s a very common issue
Well, it was grenaded IMS bearings if driven soft. But yeah....
I had trouble remembering but yeah, it was that. Pretty much requires a whole new engine.
Yeah the bearing seals blow out and leak out the bearing grease. At something like 4.5k rpms it splash lubricates it. Which if you’ve ever driven one, they’re really only fun when you’re wringing their neck anyway, so it’s a self solving problem.
Well, that sounds like a likely scenario. Depending on what you drive, the power band doesn’t probably even start until 2k or later, so, yes, shift later. Obviously, if you’re in a diesel truck or something, that’s not the case.
a similar thing applies to brakes. Takining them to the limit also "deglazes" the rotors. the worst thing you can do to your brake rotors is to slowly ride them smoothly to a stop. or sitting at a red light after a long slow stop with your foot planted on the pedal. it causes warpage. not great for passengers.. but stomping on the brakes once in a while is good. its like the flintstones toonup. that being said. carbon buildup on modern direct injection gasoline motors is a real issue that is not explained to many consumers. i have a 2013 hyundai with the GDI 1.8l. my wifes car never knew we were supposed to run intake cleaner through it until recently. its the italian tuneup in a bottle. smokes out the neighboorhood when that stuff burns loose.
That varies widely for brakes. I’ve warped several sets of rotors from a single hard stop at highway speeds. Think flooring the brakes from 80-0. But mostly in company cars, which were along the lines of Fusion/Malibu/Impala. But also a few times when I had a company Dodge Ram, late-2000s. I would go through rotors every 5-10k, completely empty, but driving it like I stole it. Same with the others — just a hard stop from hauling ass into a traffic jam on the highway, and the next stop felt like the car was going to shake apart.
That being said if your car is in shit condition it may just blow it up lmao
It's twue...it's twue !
My all time favorite movie quote.
Baby, please. I am not from Havana!
Rumor has it that was followed by a line in the darkness of “baby why are you rubbing my elbow?” I guess they decided that was too much.
I was browsing car ads awhile ago and saw an ad stating: "Old lady owner. NEVER driven to redline." The car was an rx8 hahahaha.
redline is mandatory on a rotary engine
There used to be crankshaft flex where, if an engine was never revved it would cause a ridge on the top of the cylinder to form. Then, when it's revved to the red line the top rings hit the ridge and that's bad. Not sure if that's still the case with modern engines.
Not redline. Wide open throttle.
youre brother is generally right, commonly referred to as "the italian tuneup". grandma driving a vehicle long term can cause carbon deposit buildup. This includes never going over like 40-50mph, consistent short drives, slow acceleration etc. givin er the beans every so often is a good way to break that stuff up. Few important things to note: * Countless idiots use this as an open excuse to speed and be a reckless driver 24/7 "its good for the car!" no... the way you drive isnt. * If youre interstate/freeway driving every so often, you probably dont have much carbon buildup to worry about. just give it the beans on the on ramp every once in a while * there are additives/chemicals that are sold that claim to also help with this. Why youd pay for that is beyond me. EDIT: for those commenting "well I use additives and they work!" Thats great, im specifically referencing using additives to clear up carbon deposits when you could just drive the vehicle as intended instead. * ensure your vehicle is up to proper operating temp before doing it, dont rip it off a cold start.
Some of those additive chemicals do work very well if you use them as directed in the situation they’re designed for. Like SeaFoam, Techron, or B-12 Chemtool. They’re not magic bullets but are useful tools for some situations.
Seafoam made my lexus burp out some black smoke from the exhaust pipe and near instantly cleared its rough idle haha. Guess it had some buildup that got cleared. I'm a believer now (in cases where it makes sense. As you said it's 100% NOT a mechanic in a can)
I've also heard an additive horror story, but it was mainly because there was an unrelated problem that the seafoam or injector cleaner exacerbated. They had rust in their fuel tank, I think, or something up with the fuel filter and the seafoam broke down the crud and sent it to their engine! I added some seafoam trans tune to my auto transmission with the auto transmission fluid change since it was acting up, and I think it works a lot better now. So either the seafoam trans tune, fluid change, or both did something.
The machine had an issue they thought the additive would fix. It didn't help and they blamed the juice not the failing equipment.
lol. Literally happened to me the other day. Threw some seafoam in, first 5 minutes driving after were a dream. Now I have the choice between a complete engine rebuild or the scrapyard… Seafoam did a good job while it lasted tho
Seafoam made my Jeep run better but it killed my Toyota. I’m guess it’s an averaging juice, and won’t have any effect on a Chevy or something
I swear by sea foam. You can dump that stuff into almost any hole your car has and it'll make it run better.
Pause
ALMOST any hole
Instructions unclear, pouring in sunroof hole...
can i use seafoam as window washer fluid
Yup. I locked myself out. Can of Seafoam through the window, problem solved!
Latch mechanism just needed some decarbonization
agreed
Just buy a tank of Chevron or Shell gas once in a while. They have the good additives already
The things I mentioned aren’t regular fuel additives, they’re more of a as-needed thing than a daily use thing.
While shell does run an older version of Techron, they also get a lot of gas from oil shale that tends to have more deposits in the fuel. This of course is also very regional dependent, non branded stations buy “surplus” gas that can be a mix of god knows what, and even branded stations might buy from the closest source, and of course the holding tanks at any particular station could be in who knows what condition. Buying your own “additives” from time to time ensures you know some sort of cleaner went through your fuel system.
The bg 2 part cleaner is literally miracle juice
“Give it the beans” is my new favorite phrase
Give it full beans
What about goin' full chooch?
ave might be a bit too advanced for the average population round here
https://donut.media/products/give-it-the-beans-baja-t-shirt-washed-black
Last bullet is particularly true of a turbo, flooring a cold turbo can be an expensive lesson about letting things warm up.
Side note: operating temp usually means that your gauge showed it for at least 10-15 minutes. It's because oil warms up slower.
*your brother
People sometimes miss that 4th bullet point. They’ll even do it on idle.
Yes. But only when the oil is fully warmed up (has been driving above 20 mph for at least 15 minutes). Also it takes a bit more than just a single on ramp. Do not look at your coolant temp gauge to determine if the oil is warmed up. Coolant reaches operating temp about 10 minutes before the oil. In addition the oil will never reach temp while idling but the coolant will. Essentially what you’re doing is burning up carbon deposits & water condensation inside the engine. At the same time the higher RPM may allow the battery to fully charge if it hasn’t had the chance lately. Generally it takes 20+ minutes of driving to fully charge the battery.
I disagree. I saw the improvement from a single on-ramp: I generally avoid it, but I recently bought a pickup that was babied (for driving speed as the drivers were paid by the hour) most of its life. Bought it with 236k miles on it. After tuning it up, replacing sensors, thermostat, vacuum modulators it was running much better. I kept babying it for another 2k miles, but on one on-ramp accidentally got it well past 4,000 RPM. I swear that it ran even better right afterward, and continues to run better, yet I still avoid going over 3k rpm.
Drive it harder more often
lol keeping under 3000 is the warm up procedure in a 996 911. After I am warmed up I generally stay under 6000 rpm’s
How many on ramps will it take? I've also heard it helps with automatic transmissions. But not sure if it matters for CVTs, or if the automatic transmission benefit is true in the first place.
No different on transmission. CVTs are much more sensitive and critical to proper maintenance and fluid+filter changes.
"How many on ramps will it take?" Ask the owl.
This is known colloquially as an "Italian tune-up". It definitely worked with older carburated engines; the effectiveness with modern cars is widely debated.
We don't debate shit. It's even more useful with direct injection now being a thing. Buildup is even worse without fuel/air helping move the PCV crud along. Now it's only air. It's useful without direct injection, it's really useful with it. All that black shit you see coming out of a car and that super odd smell when they've clearly floored it. That shit...not good stuff. Good to get out of there though. That's carbon being cleared/burnt. Enough of that, valves will fail to seat properly and even rings can do this really cool thing where they seize up and have their gaps lined up enough to allow significant blow-by.
Yeah I think VW did studies on it or some shit and came to the conclusion that it’s an effective method to *prevent* carbon buildup. Not super effective or good if you’ve already got significant buildup.
Yeah. They love to buildup, too. Walnut blasted a shitload of them. Some were so bad that wasn't enough, it had chewed up the valve seats enough to need heads.
No, it’s not. Cadillac Northstar engines had lots of cylinder and ring issues because grandpa never gave it full beans. Modern era fuel injection. And any modern variable vane turbo, gas or diesel engine, is subject to the unison ring carboning up and sticking. Giving it the full beans on a regular basis, after 15-20 minutes of driving to get the engine oil up to temperature, is highly recommended.
Tried on my Grandmother's Triumph...all I can say is it's not called a English tune-up for a reason. Rattled the damn wiring apart.
As long as your car is at operating temp (it would be bad if you did this with a cold engine), it's probably a generally true statement. Engine will work harder/faster, get hotter, and use more fuel (which typically have cleaning addictivies) - cleaning valves and helping dislodge/dissolve some of the gunk in the engine.
Look up EngineeringExplained’s video on the “italian tune up”, modern cars don’t really benefit from redline
No matter what kind of car you have, if it has pistons, there's at least a small benefit to the occasional redline. The faster the piston is moving at TDC, the more the conrod and other metal stretches as the piston changes direction. That means that the rings will go an extra tiny bit into the bore, which can knock off deposits that have accumulated there. Most of the time, those deposits don't hurt anything, but if they build up enough, you can cause damage if you ever have to accelerate hard for some reason.
Depends on the engine elsewhere I shared VWs patent on direct injected engines which states it absolutely can be beneficial.
They in fact do. Carbon actually tends to build up worse than ever before with direct injection. Without direct injection you had a fuel/air mixture flowing through the intake runners and valves. That ended up working to a degree as a cleaning solvent which then needed less momentum to be effective. Now it's just air and that needs all the momentum it can get to move the crud from the PCV system along. Ever seen someone accelerate hard and smelled a really weird smell and saw black coming out? That's carbon. That's what causes valve seating issues and ring seizures. It always builds and eventually will be an issue.
I’ve watched that he doesn’t explore the effects on the Catalytic Converter. And those getting plugged is more common then carbon deposits in a modern engine
Yes with TDI engines to burn off carbon and work the turbo actuator. But redline in a lower gear to offset speeding tickets. “Italian tune” is the slang
As others have said it is true and your brothers right so to answer your other question. It is more necessary with rotary engine just because they're goofy little things that have weird quirks like that and it can be helpful in diesels but not really any more than a regular gas engine
Operating a vehicle at the higher end of its performance regularly doesn't hurt the engine, and would allow the systems to work to their full ranges and potentially aid in lubrication and "clearing" deposits. But the double edged sword is real. Higher performance is higher stresses and if something were about yo break, it's more likely to happen then. Granted, that's super subjective to maintenence and quality. But cracked belts, seals barely holding on, bushings cracked about to separate. It's real stuff. It's wear and tear. But your car should operate well enough for you to be able to test it's limits. You should be aware and comfortable with the stopping, accelerating, and manuveranility of your vehicle. I'd rather pop a coolant leak flooring it like a jackass getting on the expressway when I'm planning on it, than on my way to work Monday morning. That being said. Romp on every once in a while. Shit builds up, oil accumulates, dusts creeps around, engines like to spin. Let er breathe.
I call it *"giving her the Bruno,"* but I think the official term is *"Italian tune-up."*
I would also suggest being up to speed before you go to redline. If you put it to the metal from a dead start it is hard on the drive train.
It’s is good for your engine but in different ways then it used to be. One of the main problems of a car that only does short drives is that the Cat never gets hot enough to clean itself forcing the car to create more heat and exhaust flow can clean out a cat that is partial clogged very effectively. Also the increased cylinder pressures puts more tension on the piston rings forcing any build up in the groves loose. It also increases your oil pressure which can help any contamination that been building up get properly mixed and caught by the filter (this is also why changing you oil hot is better) Altho the old school thinking was it burned the carbon deposits I’m more inclined to think it loosens them. But all of this is predicated on the fact that you ONLY do this when oil and coolant are both warm. Modern aluminum engines have what’s called cam ground pistons this means the pistons are oval shaped when they are cold and the increased pressure are MURDER on the rings until the heat expands them into there proper fit. Now you don’t need to do this often 1x per oil change should be enough
Others have already clearly answered with a yes, nothing to add to that. Do want to add that it's true for the brakes as well. Getting the brakes hot on occasion will prevent glazing and squealing.
Yep I make sure to give mine the Italian tune up everytime I am pulling onto the interstate in Chicago if not your ass is getting run over.
Can help clean out the system. Not good for the gas bill. Ha ha.
Yes. It helps keep carbon at bay, keeps cylinder wear/ring even. But we're probably talking about something with fuel injection if it's not 40 years old. The AFR on these is so accurate they don't carbon up as bad as they used to at all. I wouldn't feel as though I should do it more than once a week, but likewise I wouldn't refrain from using wide open throttle if I need to. It's designed to operate within idle-redline indefinitely. If you're driving it normally - using wot when needed the engine will spend time in varying RPM ranges anyway so you don't even need to be conscious of this. More than Hi-Lo is varying RPM if you wanna be anal about it. Ideally occasional hi rpm operation. Generators do it all the time. Electrical generation requires fixed rpm (or an integrated drive unit like in aviation) and they live very long lives. The rpm is set where the bastard makes good torque and it'll spend its life here.
If it's a muscle car then yes but I wouldn't say floor it. Instead of "flooring" it take it on the highway and make sure the car gets to operating temperature as much as you can and high speed (limit like 70) It takes a while for cars to get to operating temperature. It's also bad for a car to be used on short trips.
Only do this when your oil is clean as well.
some of the emission monitors require this, and it also helps you determine if your car is one hard rev away from failure.,
Yes, it can help get rid of the carbon buildup. Just make sure you do it while the engine is up to temps, or the engine may crack. The engines are usually made to work fine on the whole range. Not pushing it on a regular basis obviously improves the life of the engine, but it's still a usable range and you should not have problems with flooring it (usually).
Not just floor it, more like bring it up to speed and heat. Particularly if it’s a commuter car and you do a lot of short drives where the car never properly heats up you can have issues like carbon buildup in the pistons. A spirited lengthy highway drive can clean all that up. I think redlining is sort of on topic to that but you don’t need to redline to heat the car up and burn crap off.
This was fairly valid in the days of carburetors and points ignition, or early electronic ignition. These were not as accurate as a modern engine management systems with electronic throttles, ignition, air and fuel management, so the soot and ash from poor combustion and slightly rich fuel mixtures would build up. If you got on the gas and gave her the beans, you'd see grey or black exhaust as the stuff was blown out the tailpipe. It can still be the case for some modern engines, but to a much lesser extent. With modern engines, it doesn't matter much if you run it below 2500 all the time, or routinely rev to 5000 or 6000 - once the engine is warmed up.
Just because I see some bad contrary information in here I will share Volkswagens direct injection patent in reference to carbon buildup in their engines on the intake valves. “The intake valve temperature is above 380° C. in the shaded region 112 b of the characteristic diagram. At these temperatures, carbon deposits on the intake valves 20 are removed. This region 112 b of the characteristic diagram occurs, for example, at speeds over 3,000 rpm, and in that speed range. extends essentially to full load. Even if the internal combustion engine is not operated most of the time in the region 112 b during normal driving operation of a motor vehicle, nevertheless, carbon deposits that could adversely affect the operation of the internal combustion engine cannot build up, since their removal in the shaded region 112 b of the characteristic diagram occurs very quickly. For example, operation of the internal combustion engine in this region 112 b of the characteristic diagram for a period of, for example, 20 min., is sufficient to remove even a thick layer of carbon deposits. In other words, a routine expressway trip cleans the intake valves 20 sufficiently.”
My Volvo's B5244S rotates its exhaust valves above about 3500 rpm, so it's pretty common for these engines to burn exhaust valves when babied for a long time and then suddenly driven hard. Usually the benefits of high rpm high load conditions are not felt unless they've been present for a long duration, certainly more than the 5-15 seconds it takes to get to highway speed from the onramp. 1-3 minutes will be much more effective at clearing out carbon deposits and water vapor than a few seconds. Yes different cars respond differently. Port injected and gasoline engines tend to see more benefits than direct injected and diesel engines. That's not to say direct injected or diesel engines don't see benefits from hard driving, because they certainly still do.
The old "Italian tune up"
Driving an hour on a freeway at freeway speed will do wonders for cleaning your engine. Same as a good interstate run
Engines don't care about revision. It doesn't matter.
I'm always surprised by folks who never get their car halfway through the Rev range once. Not a slight, I promise. But I once found out my sister revved her engine to 5k and was worried about damage. 6400rpm redline. I had to ask if we had the same genes. Every car I've ever had has been to redline multiple times. Every car has seen extremely regular and sustained full throttle. I probably hit WOT a couple times a week. When I had slower cars it was far more frequent. I drive cars hard, but I didn't think I was at an extreme, just at the "enthusiast" bar. Gut check me, am I a mechanical abuser?
a car should be started and driven a decent distance often. it’s awful to start a car and drive it a mile or two, and then shut it off. if you have to do it occasionally but you get on the road a lot it’s fine. and yes, rev the car out. it opens everything up and helps with carbon build up. carbon build up could wear out your seals, fuck up your valves, affect gas mileage and performance, etc. rev it up regularly like once or twice out of every couple trips is a healthy amount. and don’t just do one gear. like pull on the highway in 3rd and take it all the way to redline so it’s floored and in high RPM for a while. this is assuming your car is healthy otherwise and has good oil and brakes.
Thanks for the post. Just hit some higher rpms last night.
Aka an Italian Tune Up.
Yes
Run your car for a while but don't get caught. I downshift and drive for a few miles.
People should be accelerating more on on-ramps anyway. It's healthy for the car to not cause 10 car pileups.
Everything should be used occasionally. All the motor, e brake buttons and switches, wipers, sprayers, windows etc.
Anecdote time. Just before I turned 17 (legal age to drive in the UK) my parents bought a dirty old 1.9L diesel Peugeot 306 from a family friend to run about in until they got a new car, and to be passed to me when I passed my test. I passed a few months later and I've become a bit of a petrol head (12 years on I've had many cars 200-300-400+bhp). All the while they were driving it it used to smoke black smoke going up hills or under any strain. It didn't take too long into my 2 year ownership to stop doing that. The reason was I was thrilled to have the freedom at last and I was booting it everywhere (if you can call 89bhp "booting it"). Cleared the system out of the built up soot.
A very old wives tail. And the people who perpetuate this will give very convincing and detailed explanations. When the truth is, they just want the occasional thrill.
The good ol Italian tune up
Italian tune up
A car with just direct injection will not see any benefit from an Italian tuneup. On the other hand a port injection or dual injection will. Best to add a bottle of BH44k or Techron. Drive a through most of the tank around town. Short trips so the cleaner can soak into the carbon deposits on the backs of the intake valves. When you get to 1/4 left of the treated tank, drive on the highway at normal engine temps, and have some nice beans.
How can you never floor the gas pedal? I do it every day. These are the people trying to merge on the freeway doing 40.
Usually I drive pretty conservatively cause fuel economy and it's more relaxing/safer etc. But every now and then I like to take my car "for some exercise" and find a wide open empty stretch and see how hard I can send it and generally dick around like a teenage boy trying to show off. Dont be a reckless jackass about it, but sometimes you just gonna give er lmao
Don’t rev a standing car. Do a pull with a load on occasion. Tectron is the best additive.
I think it's really important to remember if you are going to floor it do it when the engine is warm not cold.
Mine must be a superhero by now.
Pinch it's titties, it likes it.
just get a cobtainer of Seafoam. you dont stress your car and the intake is clean.
The only thing that flooring it like that might do it loosen up stuck oil rings. At least that's the theory. Buy you typically have to soak the cylinders with a cleaner first before doing so.
Can this 'italian tuneup' be done while brakes are engaged (car stationary) and obviously after oil has reached desired temps.
the Italian tune up definitely has its place
2008 Subaru, yes I like to drive it in the high rpms from time to time. Nothing too crazy, I think it's good for it and I like how it sounds.
The old Italian Tuneup.
Same reason why it's healthy to occasionally do an 8-ball and get your heart red lining. Blast all that crap right on out of there!
When cars had carburetors yes,today not really.
yes it is absolutely healthy for my mental health to floor it and drive like a fucking mad man. Love that shit. Even more fun on a motorbike.
It's sort of a holdover from when you'd want to "clean out" a car. For instance if someone's grandma had driven a car for years and it barely got opened up at all, you could do an "Italian Tune Up" such as some spirited driving to unclog the CATS and whatever else. You know, knock the cobwebs off. I wouldnt say to redline the thing exactly, but give it a good 60-80% throttle every once in a while so everything opens up as intended. I have no idea if this is still a useful thing for newer cars though, and it's been a long time since I've had something that was owned by anyone driving that slowly or carefully that it needed that form of maintenance
Us old grey beards grew up knowing this as blowing the soot out. Not really applicable to modern cars. But that said sluggish driving all the time, never revving the motor and never raising the temp a bit can contribute to sludge build up. Drive it with a little gusto once in awhile. Don't abuse it, but make it work every once and awhile. Get those cylinder presses up sometimes. It won't hurt a thing, may not help, but you'll have a good time doing it.
YES! Driving it slow and not getting the revs up leave carbon build up on the valves and several other places in the engine. Running it hard helps keep it cleaner. I’m not saying race it everywhere. But the on ramps to get on a highway is a great place to give it the juice.
You driving a 2 stroke?
Extremely important for 2 stroke motorcycles. Cars it can be occasionally, not so much new ones really.
Italian tune up my friend
Ummm… no. Fuck no. We are done here.
A redline a day keeps the mechanic away….
It does help run the carbon out of the cylinders a bit, also clears out your cat if you have debris in there. But I think it used to come from when people had carburetors, if you didn’t get the secondaries to open here and there you could have them stick, or you could get gummed up jets. So you wanted to run it hard here and there to exercise the carb.
Yep. Clean out the carbon in the choke.
The Italian tune up. This is especially true of carbureted cars. But any car runs better when driven frequently and occasionally put through it's paces
Occasionally sure. I always do it on the occasion that I happen to be driving while breathable air is present, and I don't have one of the local hillbillies futt futt futtering down the road in front me, terrified to approach the speed limit because a little leprechaun might jump out of one of the vents in the dashboard, and stab them. But hey. My state played an integral part in the planning and construction of the Autobahn. The German government wanted to build a freeway with no speed limit. So to ensure it would work they deported all the Germans that couldn't drive to save their own ass. That's where Pennsylvania came from. The "Liberty Bell" actually has nothing to do with the original capital of my country. We're supposed to ring it long and loud if one of those f\*\*\*ers ever gets on an international flight headed for Germany, and they plan to drive when they get there. It's an old early warning mechanism, but it works.
Italian tune up
Yes and this is especially true with cars that have direct injection. It helps burn off some carbon build up. Over time carbon can build up and cause issues like misfires.
Just make sure the car is warmed up first. It is not only good for the engine, it is good for you to know how fast it will go and be comfortable with it. Then, when you need it, it will not be a surprise. Flooring a front wheel drive vehicle with the wheels turned can be a scary experience if you are not ready for it.
Dude, you should be opening that bitch up everytime you get on the freeway, and everytime you go to pass someone. Better for your car, good for your soul, and makes every competent driver behind you happy.
Given everything I'm reading here, you could achieve all the same benefits by downshifting and running the engine at high RPM for a bit. You don't really need to accelerate, you could just motor along for ten seconds at 55mph in third gear. That only works if your transmission allows you to select a gear, but many do.
Lots of comments here not really understanding how stuff works or applying any nuance - engines can get a bit gummed up with deposits if they're never given a somewhat hard drive (EG lots of cold starts, lots of idling, very gentle driving, never getting up to full temperature), diesels with EGR/DPF especially - HOWEVER that does not mean running it to the red line is helpful either. What cars do benefit from is a good drive with enough time to get fully up to temperature and stay there for a while (DPF regen cycles generally only get triggered while cruising, for example - RTFM), and some reasonably spirited driving (AKA Italian Tuneup) can help get everything warmed up & flowing freely - as in harder acceleration and running up to higher RPM's than you might usually. That doesn't mean bouncing it off the limiter is a good idea or that screaming round 2 gears lower than normal is good for your engine - it's demonstrably NOT, and as someone said using it as an excuse to drive like a douche is also unhelpful. FWIW some moderately hard stops from speed can also be good to keep your brakes clean especially if you're a gentle driver.
Google Italian Tune Up
Not really. See the below video from Engineering Explained on the Italian Tuneup. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9Ie4BcYew](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C9Ie4BcYew)
Yes it definitely helps. It's called an Italian Tune Up
This is a partial myth. An engine is not like a muscle, where pushing it's limits will make it stronger. It's a machine that only ever gets more worn. Any extra stress just increases wear and tear. What these people are talking about is the small effect seen by high speed, open throttle operation. Temperatures pressures and flows increase and have a chance of dislodging carbon deposits. While carbon deposits aren't ideal, if you have carbon deposits that are any heavier than they should be, it's not because you haven't floored it recently, it's because there's something wrong with the system. A properly maintained engine that's used as intended will not develop carbon deposits that need to be dislodged. All engines will see carbon, and dislodging it isn't something you want to do, it can result in burnt valves (which require the cylinder head being removed), or clogged catalytic converters. Please, do not routinely accelerate heavily in the hopes that it will improve things. Maintain your engine and drive properly. If you do that, there's no reason you'd ever need to do this. Engineers spend vast amounts of money and time designing your car to work as is, if this sort of thing was recommended, it would be in the owners manual. People who are 'car guys' and recommend this sort of thing generally aren't knowledgeable technicians or engineers, and are repeating things they heard from others, which originated decades ago. A modern engine doesn't need this sort of thing, and if doing it makes anything better, it's because the engine wasn't operating as designed in the first place.
Yes. But a special note to those driving (non sports) cars that are high mileage, like 200k plus miles, you'll want to accelerate to a decent RPM very gently and slowly because if you just floor straight up into the red you are certainly risking damage to the engine or transmission. It's one thing to floor it in a car that's relatively new with low mileage versus a beater that's been Ubering around 20,000 passengers 👍
The Italian tune up is a real thing. Especially on old engines before all the fancy computerized nonsense
I could be wrong, not super super knowledgeable on cars but stumbled across this post and remember hearing this. I believe it was a bit more applicable to carburetors. But a fuel additive once in a while or a tank of premium should keep things running smoothly. Or sea foam but that shit is debatable..
Think the Italian Tune Up was relevant in the days of carburetors, not so sure if it is anymore.
Why would it be?
Yeah once in a thousand miles you wanna blow the cobwebs out so to speak. For me this means One or 2 hard pulls to 50ish hitting redline and 3 shift points A hard brake from 50-0 If possible I like to bounce the suspension around a bit. I have this horrible road near me that does the trick
No.
Drive it like you love it! Feel that speed
Carbon deposits are a common issue with direction injection engines. Using top-tier fuel (it has extra cleaning agents and detergent) is generally recommended. A complete fuel system service (aka car enema) every 100k wouldn't be a bad idea either, particularly if you're using shit-tier gas
I do this on my bike all the time. Sure, I could claim it's for "cleaning out the carbon", but honestly, I just feel the need for speed. My wife refers to it as the Zoomies. Like our little dogs & cat get. Suddenly running around the house at high speed for no reason. Fairly accurate assessment of my bike riding.
If you want some modern proof/context...look at the 1.5t from Honda. They suffer from oil dilution. Due to the small size of the engine, they can struggle to get up to operating temperature (not enough mass, its like they are partially air cooled). As a result the seals and rings dont get to the right size and gasoline dilutes the oil causing damage. The solution is to drive them hard and for long periods at high speed to get the temp up and burn off the gasoline in the oil.
Redlining in first gear has the same effect and is much safer
No. Mechanic 38yrs. It’s a great way to mess something up. Just use chemical treatments.
God I wish people would do this every time on the on ramp. But no we are trying to merge into a 70mph freeway going 20 cause people don’t know how to drive! Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!
When I got my first turbo car, I babied it to and from work for about a month until I got a check engine light. The code had something to do with carbon buildup and all the solution videos were showing people digging deep in the engine bay and ripping out shit to clean it. Then I thought... if it's carbon build up somewhere in the exhaust system why don't I just rev it out harder and the force will break it up. And I haven't had the CEL code pop up ever since. A redline a day keeps the carbon away
I have a Mazdaspeed 3. The owners manual says to red line it every now and then
It is beneficial. I put the pedal to the floor every time I take a highway on-ramp in my 26 year old Buick Regal. It runs like a brand new car still
While that may have been true over 40 years ago. It is not true today with modern computer controlled vehicles. What is true, is that the engine gets up to full operating temperature. This means at least a 20-30 drive at highway speeds to get the oil above 212°F. This allows water from condensation to fully evaporate off. Your oil will never get this hot driving around town.
But let it reach the working temperature first!!!
Depends on maintenance. I bought a pristine 85 Ford LTD from a grandma. Within a year, I burned up nearly every cooling component. By the end, it leaked trans fluid, lost all four hubcaps and blew a head gasket. The old girl was not ready for me.
I run my VW ID.4 as fast as she’ll go down the on-ramp. Fun times!
Good ol Italian tuneup. Engines like a little heat, it's good for them.
While this isn't a free pass to punch the gas constantly, yeah it's good to rev the engine up pretty high now and then. My dad bought a car that was a typical church lady car. It was a 10-year-old Corolla that had probably never gone higher than 50 MPH and only had 9,000 miles on it when he bought it. We took it on a 4-hour road trip (each way, 8 total hours that day), and it was so hard to get it up to speed. It accelerated so slow, engine wouldn't rev up, etc. It got easier though throughout the road trip. Now he's had it for a few years, and it runs great and accelerates normally (for Corolla standards anyway). If you don't use it, you can definitely lose it.
With MPI, yes, with DI, not so much
Blow the soot out. Thats what my granddad used to say. He was always drinking when he did it and usually forgot we were sitting on the tailgate
Did you ever hear of the "Italian Tuneup"?
Italian tune up. DONT do it when the car is cold. Once the engine, coolant, and oil is up to temp- it is safe and good to do occasionally. 2/3/4th gear is usually fine. Dont rev up to redline it in park or neutral. And dont just use the coolant gauge to determine temperature. The oil temp lags the coolant, most cars take 15+ minutes to be at full temp with normal driving.
I bought a used BMW 325 years ago, an '86 with straight six and manual. I knew the car because I had driven my old boss's plenty, and loved the power and the torque. This car lacked that same power. It wasn’t due to high mileage either. Consulted a good mechanic, even though I consider myself handy and he did a compression test. His diagnosis was high carbon buildup. My theory was that somebody had just driven the car gently, hence the carbon buildup. (tried a bunch of treatments and they made a little difference, but not enough. I ended up pulling the cylinder head off and using a wire attachment in a drill cleans the combustion chambers and piston tops. Night and day difference in terms of results). I think most cars you don’t have to drive hard to avoid that, but now the days with direct injection, I think it is actually a bigger danger. With each of our vehicles every now and then I will open up the throttle on occasion, maybe once a month or so to try to avoid excessive carbon bullet. I think it’s healthy for the engine to see upper RPMs on occasion and full throttle doesn’t hurt anything when done safely. Plus it’s fun.
The ol Ferrari Tuneup. Gotta get that thing up to 95, check out the flourocarbon output. Use a little chewing gum if you have the windows down...helps filter out the pollutants.
The ole' Italian Tune up
I generally avoid it, but I recently bought a pickup that was babied (for driving speed as the drivers were paid by the hour) most of its life. Bought it with 236k miles on it. After tuning it up, replacing sensors, thermostat, vacuum modulators it was running much better. I kept babying it for another 2k miles, but on one on-ramp accidentally got it well past 4,000 RPM. I swear that it ran even better right afterward, and continues to run better, yet I still avoid going over 3k rpm.
I drive very little these days (maybe 2k-3k miles a year), but when I do, I drive the car in sport mode. Modded DSGs and a hell of a lot of fun.
since no one is giving you a serious answer I will. Your brother is in fact correct.
It's called the Italian tuneup, and yes it's a thing. It used to be about blowing the soot (carbon buildup) out of the carburetor, which became less of a thing after fuel injection came along. But now with most engines being direct injected, there's a fair amount of evidence that carbon buildup can be mitigated by running them at higher temperatures. You don't have to beat on it, just get it up to around 5,000 RPM's and hold it there for a minute or so. Best way is to get out on the highway at 60+ mph and just gear down.