The question should NEVER be "how high will it rev?" but rather, "At what RPM does it make it's peak horsepower at, and is the engine built strong enough to run at it's peak power making RPM?".

A bone stock Chevy 350 out of say, a 69 Caprice can rev to over 7,000 RPM without coming apart. Oh, it quit making power way back at around 4,500 RPM due to the restricted heads, the anemic cam, the small carb and so on, but if you keep it floored long enough and the valve float isn't too bad, it'll go right-on up to 7,000 or more RPM.

How high an engine can rev is one thing, where it makes its power at is an entirely different thing. If you build an engine with top of the line components, (like one of ours), it can safely rev to 8,000+ RPM, but it may peak it's power curve at only 6,000 RPM. That's all dependent on the heads, the cam profile, stroke, exhaust system, intake system, etc. So what happens if you take it past its peak power curve? It'll lose power dramatically! You can lose 50 or even 100+ HP by revving an engine over it's power making limit, so why would you want to do that? Just to say youre engine revs high? To people that are in the know, you'll sound like an idiot.

A high reving engine is completely worthless in a car that doesn't have a high stall converter, super low rear-end gears, or one that is driven on the street. race cars with hig reving engines lauch in the rev limiter and they HOLD that RPM all the way down the track. If they didn't do that, the car would fall on its face and be a complete turd. They don't rev them that high because it is cool or because it sounds good. They rev them that high because that's the ONLY place those engines make their power! Not very good for a street car.

Scenario: You're racing this guy and while you're busy trying to impress everyone around by showing them how high your engine can rev by taking it past it's peak power making point, the guy along side of you that shifts to the next gear within his power range and is pulling away from you. That ain't very impressive and all it does is put un-do strain and wear on your engine for nothing.

So, never ask "how high will it rev?"... because it will definately rev beyond it's power making capabilities. Always ask, "What RPM does it make it's peak HP and torque at?" so you'll know how high to take it to.