driving techniqe help!.....

heres a question i really need answered...

in everyday driving, with a mostly stock motor, how high is too high to bring up the rpm's during shifting?

my car:

1996 civic ex
injen cold air intake
skunk2 catback
15 inch si wheels (99)
92.000 miles
5 speed (of course)
runs perfect, great compression, no mechanical problems at all.
oil-mobil one
gas-93 always...

is it ok for the motor (or even good for it) to be brought "near" redline during normal shifting? (not all the time, but most of the time)

i dont mean to say that i bring it up to redline every single time or anything, but relatively close (like 5000 to redline say...)

premature wear? just fine? if not, what could i do to the engine to make this possible? keeping it on the sort of cheap, of course...

my overall goal is this:

handling (not there yet, but soon...)
clutch (i have found as a new civic owner, the stock civic clutch sucks balls)
basically stock motor (im happy with its performance, i think all it really needs is a header, a free flow cat, and a beefy clutch, in addition to the intake and cat back i already have, of course...)
tires (falkens now, yoko's soon)


keeping the above goals for car in mind, what (if anything) do i have to do to really be able to drive the hell out of it (rpm's) while maintaining long engine life?

"driving the hell out of it" and "long engine life" dont go hand in hand.... yes, u are chancing wearing you engine out quicker when u go to or near the redline... but if u take very good care of the motor (oil changes on time, other fluids changed on time) i dont see a significant difference in engine life happening. My question is... why do u want to drive a econobox like a race car?

"driving the hell out of it" and "long engine life" dont go hand in hand.... yes, u are chancing wearing you engine out quicker when u go to or near the redline... but if u take very good care of the motor (oil changes on time, other fluids changed on time) i dont see a significant difference in engine life happening. My question is... why do u want to drive a econobox like a race car?

well, to me, my eco box is pretty quick and really fun to drive. i dont need breakneck speed or anything, i just like a nice throaty exhuast note, and darting through the gears and cornering.......am i wrong?

never said u were wrong...and thats one thing hondas are great for, handling (with the correct setup of course) and if u call 1.6 liters throaty.. whats a big block 533 with race cams and straight pipes... monsterous??... (lol just giving you a hard time)

beat the crap out of your car and something will break. lamen physics.

You know the old saying that the higher an engine revs, the shorter its life? well that is a buch of crap. Look at all the honda's with well over 300K miles on them and still running strong. And look at all the V8's that die aroun 250K. I'm talking stock here, and i know that there are a lot of high mileage really upkept V8's out there, but you barely even have to service a Honda or Acura and it still has a long life. Just my opinion. Anyhow, for every day driving, i shift my car b/t 3000 and 4000RPM's. I have never had a problem and my motor is about as strang as it can get. No leakeage and almost perfect compression.

ive seen alot of motors go before 100k. it depends on how you take care of it and what you do to it.