There is a redline on the tach for the gas engine models. Offhand, without going out to the carport to look, I think it's 6000 or 6500 RPM. I wouldn't go past it myself. I don't know if there is a rev limiter or cut off but I know from YouTube videos that the top speed is limited to 118MPH. There are YouTube videos of guys using the manual shift function and revving to redline in each gear. I have hit the throttle hard in Sport Mode for passing and have been up to 100 MPH and I did not see the tach go much above 5000 to 5500 RPM. As I said, I don't recommend going above redline and I'd avoid approaching close to it regularly. Save it for special occasions.

 

I have the hybrid as well and I was very careful to not push it too hard for the first 1000 miles during the new car break-in period. It's not necessary to wait that long but I just did it out of an abundance of caution.

After the engine is broken in, put it in sport mode and let it rip! You won't cause any damage to the car from revving it too much, just make sure the engine gets a few minutes to warm up before you do so. And might be better to do oil changes a litle before the 10,000 mile mark if you do a lot of spirited driving.

The only real downside of pressing the gas too hard is it takes away the point of a hybrid as your MPG will drop.

 

Power train it equipped with engine speed and vehicle speed limiters. Let her sing!

 

So at what RPM does the gas engine cut off? Is this only on hybrids or gas models also? What is your source for this info about RPM limiter?

 

If you are curious, get the Hybrid Assistant app (android only) or Torque lite (android and IOS) and pair it with a bluetooth enabled OBDII adapter that plugs into the diagnostic port under the dash. That will show actual RPM and much more info. Even more fun than seeing the top end, it is nice to see the RPM at zero frequently.

No harm at all in "reving" it, the hybrid "brain" figures it out.

 

I’m loving my new RAV4 hybrid.

In other cars, I would rarely rev my engine into the redline RPMs because I didn’t want to harm the engine. But in the RAV4, it seems designed to occasionally rev it past the power section as high as it will go. Even the cruise control at high speeds going up hill will push the gauge almost to the top.

Is there a “redline” area for RPMs on the RAV4? Will it harm the engine to push it as high as it will go, on occasion?

Regarding the hybrid models, the power gauge you might be referring to is not a tachometer.

Pressing the gas pedal to the floor will show full power, but that is not the same thing as redlining. Two different things...

And often going full power is safe for your engine, so do not worry, nor do not stay away from full power out of fear for your engine.

 

People: This is the hybrid forum, what gas models do is irrelevant and misleading. Its not possible to "rev" the gas engine in neutral - period.
The hybrid ICE is strictly RPM controlled and limited to somewhere around 5000RPM. Again, its not possible to over-speed the ICE - period.

 

Please, please give me your source on the hybrid ICE engine being "strictly RPM controlled" and limited to about 5000RPM. I would like to read and study this information. If its your owners manual, what page?

 

I would like to read and study this information. If its your owners manual, what page?

With a hybrid, when you put your foot on the accelerator, you are not directly reving the engine, you are asking the computer for more power. the computer figures out how to mix gas and electric to meet that request. Watch this to understand:

 

To be clear, all gas engines have a redline, and a car does not need a tach to have a redline.

Reaching redline with the gas engines of our hybrids is not possible because the computer controls the RPMs and not the will of the driver. In contrast, the gas-only models will allow a driver to bring the engine to redline at will.

Someone said that our Rav4 hybrids do not have a CVT transaxle, but they do. Our CVT's are just designed differently than those of other brands. The professor at Weber State University at Utah says as much:

 

Bottom line- in the hybrids the computer and e-CVT limit the Ice engine's maximum allowable RPMs. In the all gas conventional model RAV4s the driver's right foot on the gas pedal and his self restraint and maturity are the only true rev limiter.

 

I would be willing to bet there is a rev limiter on the gas too but I have a hybrid so I cant test. And even with "sport shift" the computer protects the motor; at least my Ford did before a tune and its way older. My guess is you cant hang the motor at high revs even in sport mode as it will select the next gear after a certain point (depends on shift strategy programming).

I would never rev a motor to redline without load. It accomplishes nothing that I can see/remember other than make a lot of noise. However I see no issue taking it up to redline if the power is there (area under the curve) during spirited driving. Not all cars produce max power at redline. Most do it before.

 

I did an hours research and could not find anything definite on whether the all gas ICE models have a cut off. I believe the redline on my XLE tach starts above 6500 rpms. I also checked the Camry forums as they are more performance driving oriented and could only find anecdotal comments about it. It certainly isn't in the Owners Manual. I'm thinking of starting a thread about this.

 

I think the key to the statements it "up to redline" . Running a car in red zone is fool hardy even on a performance oriented vehicle. And really, with automatics there should be no issue unless there is a sensor/software fault.

The days of human driving are long gone (RIP row your own transmissions). I am hoping Blackwings will have poor resale value in a few years so I can pick up one of those to play with after my kids graduate college.

 

I think the key to the statements it "up to redline" . Running a car in red zone is fool hardy even on a performance oriented vehicle. And really, with automatics there should be no issue unless there is a sensor/software fault.

The days of human driving are long gone (RIP row your own transmissions). I am hoping Blackwings will have poor resale value in a few years so I can pick up one of those to play with after my kids graduate college.

I agree and this is the point I was trying to make about rev limiters and redlines, but I did not realize the hybrids were so different in how the ICE operated in conjunction with the eCVT.