Is redling engine really THAT bad?

I know it may be a dumb question, but here's the deal: I have this buddy that has a '99 Lx, with the 1.8. He bought this as his "I don't give a **** what happens, this is just my for fun car" car. Pretty much everyday, he has that poor basterd wide-open on the interstate going 130, hes always flooring it, redlining every gear until he gets to his desired velocity, and hes banging off the rev limiter at almost every stop sign and traffic light… To make a long story short, he abuses that vehicle.
The funny thing is, I'm an Engineer… I design engines and transmissions for a living, and that poor Honda is making me reconsider my basic understanding of physics and the internal stresses of an engine… If what everybody says in true, he should have had to buy a new car almost a year ago…

He lacks mechanical sympathy. Of course you can thrash a modern engine but it won'rt last as long as one that is treated properly. Your buddy is an idiot.

Then as an engineer you will know that all things work until they break. But engines are designed to work hard, most likely cause of failure will be neglect not hard work.

If properly maintained the motor can be taken to the limiter with no damage. If you really do design engines you would know that.

So he's been lucky so far. That doesn't change the fact that he will shorten the lifespan of his car by driving it like that.

If Honda didn't think the engine could handle Red line and full throttle, they would have moved the redline down to what they knew the engine could handle, and fitted a smaller throttle body.

As an engineer you would design things to work at their full rated power right? You don't tell the airline pilot, "only give it 3/4 throttle" cos the engine won't take any more. Of course not, you program the engine controller to only spin the engine up to a safe speed, and tell the pilots that's 100% power, use it if you need to,

TV advert a while back for Hyundai cars. They took a motor of the production line, hooked it to a dyno and red lined it. For 24 hours. They claimed no significant wear, because the engine was still being run within it's design limits.

Now it's going to be true that driving like that is going to create more engine wear, simply because the pistons travel further and faster in their bores, there's more stress in the bearings, clutch, CV axles etc. But that means that it might wear out in 10 years, rather than the 20 it might last if it was treated more carefully.

Because car is an old beater, no one expects it to last 20 years, and if he wears it out in another 5, so what?

And yes I'm guilty of driving my cars hard on occasion, working on the theory that if Toyota didn't think the engine could handle those RPM, they would have moved the red line and rev limiter.

Yes, that is why they put red lines in cars and motorcycles. The parts "float" beyond that speed.
Occasionally it won't hurt but as the engine gets many miles on it parts fit sloppier so stuff happens.
Which is why a HEARSE is a good car to buy as they go 15MPH

"I design engines and transmissions for a living"… Yeah right. (You're an "engineer" and asking this question?)

He will soon have either a pile of junk that used to be a car, or a pile of speeding tickets and no driver license (if what he's telling you is true, which I also doubt)

For the sake of engine longevity avoid redlining engines with high miles. RedLine is there for an absolute limit for a very short period of time and while under a load. Know your engines limitations.

Hi yes it is truly amazing what some cars will put up with. However when it does give up it will be a spectacular even you can bank on it. If he doesn't kill himself first.Yes we have all seen it before. This is why insurance rates for young drivers has climbed so high. As payouts to families over these fatal crashes.
Physics wins in the end so the engine could also explode into bits. You will have other how he needs a car badly and now his has died.

You're talking about yourself aren't you?