It's been well over a decade since I had a 2.6l, but it certainly was not a speed demon. If you have the 5spd, I don't believe 5th gear is an overdrive gear, so you're going to rev a little higher. That being said, 3k - 3.5k hardly seems unreasonable for a 4cyl pushing an upside down dumpster, and seems to be about what I recall mine running at.

I never pushed mine hard, but it seems I had it up 80 a few times without too many parts falling off. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Third times a charm.