Gnil:

A bit OT , but I just read an article about the soon to end downsizing of engines. New mesures for CO2 / fuel consumption starting in 2017 will be much more close to reality. And the small turbo charged engines will not get good results anymore . There is often a 40 % difference between the official mesures and reality in fuel consumption . These small engines have been tuned just to pass the test on the bench .  Bigger engines will have a much better real world result .

First example is the new VW Polo GTI . They dropped the 1.4 l turbo for a 1.8 l . Only problem ......  red zone starts at 4500 RPM  , for a fuel engine .


Finally! That test cycle is somewhat ridiculous as manufacturers are able to adjust the engine just for that specific test. I still doubt that they will test gas mileage beyond 130 kph, hence the additional fuel consumption when you drive a car harder might not change that significantly.

Regarding the Polo GTI, I am fairly certain that the rev limiter begins around 7000 rpm. The engine´s maximum power is available from 4.200 to 6.200 rpm. Maybe that, why you believed to see such a low rev limiter?