Soft rev limiters I believe. I know the 430 and 458 have them since I have hit them. But have not yet on the FF.
Yea, the FF does and yes, I have been there several times. Usually on track, but also on tight twisty unfamiliar roads. It happens somewhere around 8500 rpm. it is a rather frustrating sensation of diminishing acceleration. Up to that point it always seems like the engine is so happy it would love to keep winding for another 10K rpm of equally seamless locomotive-like accelaration.
+1 to Eric. My FF has seen the limiter many times. The engine revs so fast you simply cannot believe! My California has the same type of limiter and rev speed. It takes LOTS of miles (making for LOTS of smiles ) to get used to the rate of acceleration. Probably took six months to get used to my first Cali, and after four years getting an FF took another two or three months as it revs even faster than the Cali V8.
Yes. This is a "soft limiter." A "hard limiter" just stops the engine rev acceleration dead in its tracks. There is a theory that a soft limiter is better because it does not make for a very sudden change in engine rotation and valve movement, which can be dangerous in its own right. However it does prevent the engine from going volcanic. So it seems that Ferrari uses soft limiters across the board (as I said my 458 and F430 have them).
Also a soft limiter keeps the power on, meaning that the dynamic state of the car is not disrupted. On the other hand, it's not as much of a wake up call to the driver as a hard limiter.
According to the manual, the limiter is set @ 8250. Max power is @ 8000, so there's no need to hit it. Also from what I understand, most limiters work by cutting off fuel, so it is not a great idea to bang the limiter frequently as it causes a lean condition that results in knock.
Yes. Longevity is at stake. The endurance racers will tell you that they rarely go to redline. That is the point -- getting the most out of the car while making it last. It really is hard to avoid the limiter in the lower gears. The shorter geared V8s are especially hard. They spool up so fast that hitting the limiter is very easy.
Going over the max-power RPM is beneficial, as the next gear will fall closer to the meat of the powerband. As long as there is no noticeable drop in the power curve that is. Also, soft limiters work by cutting the ignition, not fuel.
Yes. Nothing is to be gained by going over redline. The gears are usually chosen to optimize acceleration, given shifts at redline.
