Any veiws on Exhaust wrap

[DaveD]

Just bought a set af stainless 6 branch manifolds (headers) and wonder if anyone has any views on exhaust wrap insulation..the sites say that it would increase power

[AppState325]

haha, yeah, each inch of exhaust wrap will add 50 HP!!!! For better results, you should buy NOS stickers though!!!!

[Garageaholic]

Why would it increase horsepower? keep it cooler???

[The Fast One!]

it will keep it considerably cooler...

more power....don't think so, or at least a whole lot.

in my honda i wraped the turbo manifold and part of the downpipe, i could definitly tell the difference in heat, but then again that turbo got REALLY hot.

[Jordan]

Most header companies will void your warranty if you use header wrap.

Its garbage.

Have them ceramicly coated.

[nando]

Why would it increase horsepower? keep it cooler???

no

it keeps the heat inside the exhaust, instead of leaking out into the engine bay, which improves exhaust scavaging and flow.

[Garageaholic]

how much does it cost to ceramically coat them? or do they have to come out of the factory like that.....

I guess that question's specific for Jordan

[Jordan]

Jethot will charge $175-250 for a set of 6 cylinder headers.

[AndrewBird]

Check around locally. There are many places around where I live that will do ceramic coating.

[Garageaholic]

Yeah, i'll check around.

[Scott314]

Most header companies will void your warranty if you use header wrap.

Its garbage.

Have them ceramicly coated.

Meh...I wouldn't say it's all complete garbage. You won't see any noticeable performance gains, but it does keep underhood temps down, and at least in theory should be helpful, since it keeps exhaust temps (and therefore velocity) up.

I agree, ceramic coating is the way to go, but for an application like my college's FSAE car, header wrap is a necessity to keep from lighting your back on fire :D

[nefarious7907]

Jet Hot is supposed to be one best but damn thats a chunk change, Jordan did you ever get that header on?

[Jon '92 325ic]

I'd say, put your money elsewhere...

If you're looking for NOTICEABLE performance gains, header wraps or ceramic coating your headers isn't a good spend. I speak from experience. I had my OEM exhaust manifolds ceramic coated by Jet Hot and while they were an excellent company to deal with and my engine compartment looks nicer, there were no noticeable performance or economy gains whatsoever. Perhaps dyno testing will mathematically prove me wrong, but I'm really only interested in improvements I can notice.

I was pretty dissappointed as even David Vizard, the "god" of all horsepower knowledge, recommends header wraps and/or ceramic coating your headers in his books, HOW TO BUILD HORSEPOWER (Vol I & II), and PERFORMANCE WITH ECONOMY. So for christmas one year I asked my girlfriend to pay to have my intake and exhaust manifolds ceramic coated by Jet-Hot. While Jet-Hot was an excellent company to deal with and my engine bay looks much better, this is one mod I wish I could have my money back on. No noticeable gain in either performance or economy.

If you look in car magazines that have write ups on doing this mod, you'll notice (with one exception), that all of them measure and show how engine bay temps are lowered significantly (which in theory should improve performance) but none of them show before and after dyno figures. There was a write up recently in either EUROTUNER or EUROPEAN CAR MAGAZINE about a guy applying ceramic coatings to several engine parts and where measurable performance gains were also shown. However this car had a turbo.

I think the gains from ceramic coating or heat wrapping your headers are only noticed if you do alot of 1/4 mile racing (where every tenth of a second counts) or have a turbo. Otherwise, I'd recommend putting your money elsewhere.

[nando]

I will be adding header wrap to my exhaust this spring, but not because I want more power - I don't want to melt another CV boot. :p

[nefarious7907]

or melt the motor mount or control arm bushing.