Does the rev-limiter engage while accelerating in neutral? I was worry because today I missed a 2nd gear, but shifted into neutral instead. My foot was on the floor so the tach flew across into the red zone. I have heard many bad things about people who shifted into wrong gears, but how about neutral? Thanks in advance.

 

The rev limiter does engage in Neutral, but in your case, you didn't hurt the car

 

think about it this way -

the car revs up up up and then will cut off the fuel supply and you can't go anymore. so, if you hit it in neutral, no big deal. however, if you were in 3rd and hit 2nd gear instead of 4th and the revs went over 9000 rpms, there's no way that the engine can prevent overevving in that scenario - thus, valves get bent.

 

I would think that the inertia of the flywheel would cause the engine to zing up into the danger zone even if the fuel cut out at 9,200 since you were in neutral and there is little to no resistance on the engine. However, most likely, no harm was done.

 

The danger with mis-shifting is improper downshifts, like going from third into second when you meant to shift third to fourth. Rev limiters won't help you in that case.