Do Turbo Blankets Actually Boost Performance?

Kool Wrap Black Silicone Coated Turbo Blanket

Turbo Blankets or Beanies where introduced for 4 key reasons:

  • Reduce under bonnet or hood temperatures to protect fuel lines, hoses and other engine components from heat damage
  • Reduce the chance of injury for mechanics working near hot turbochargers
  • Improve performance by lowering engine bay temperatures and therefore intake air temperatures
  • Increase temperatures of the turbo exhaust housing and therefore accelerate the intake turbine faster, reducing lag and in turn increase boost pressures

Turbo Blankets have no doubt proved themselves to be very popular with turbo car owners, but will a Turbo Blanket really bring on Boost faster?

Luckily for us, graduate research assistant Steffen Bickle at the University of Texas decided to thoroughly investigate this theory.

Click HERE to read his paper.

The short version is, yes, Turbo Blankets or Turbo Beanies definitely do increase exhaust housing temperatures and help to build boost faster.

Steffan Bickle found that …..”With the turbo blanket mounted, the turbocharger shaft speeds exceeded their baseline counterpart for identical engine operating conditions which resulted in increased boost pressures throughout all tested steady state speed-load point”.

He went on to conclude…”The time-to-torque improvement with the PTP Turbo Blanket was significant, especially for the last case, in which we used a simultaneous tip-in of the speed and the load, the time-to-torque improvement was impressive with an instantaneous torque improvement of up to 140 Nm. This led to an acceleration advantage of 250 engine rpm in spite of the fact that the duration was less than 2.5 s for the entire event. The improvement of the turbocharger performance provided this engine performance advantage because the turbocharger spool-up was faster which resulted in a boost pressure advantage of up to 0.3 bar when the PTP Turbo Blanket was mounted”.

I think that we can safely agree that a Turbo Beanie or Turbo Blanket is a very cheap and easy addition to any Turbocharged Car and the benefits are proven.

  • Faster spool up of the turbocharger- less lag
  • Cooler under bonnet or under hood temperatures
  • Potential power gains by reduced engine bay temperatures
  • A safer engine bay for mechanics and enthusiasts

Check our the Kool Wrap range of Turbo Blankets or Beanies

 

Kool Wrap Can Prevent Harvester Fires

We had a customer call from Western Queensland and he wanted some wrap to go around a muffler that was causing fires on his harvester.

He said it was common for pieces of dry stalks, crop dust or chaff to gather on the harvester and this was particularly dangerous around exhaust pipes, mufflers and turbo chargers.

In fact, the GRDC (Grain Research and Development Corporation) claim that 7% of harvesters will start a fire EVERY YEAR.

The risk of fire varies depending on the weather conditions, wind direction and the type of crops with Chickpeas being one of the worst offenders.

This problem is not confined to the northern states. We have had reports of similar fire problems in southern states such as Victoria.

Wrapping of hot exhausts and mufflers is one way to reduce the risks.

Other methods include the frequent cleaning of the vehicle with high pressure blowers to reduce the build up of inflammable materials.

Hot Floor in Landcruiser

We often hear from 4WD owners complaining about floor heat caused by hot exhaust or mufflers under the floor of the cruiser. This is especially a problem at relatively low speeds or on hot days where heat can build up without cool air flowing under the car.

Australia has some of the harshest climates in the world and when exploring the inland deserts or the northern states, temperatures can exceed 40 degrees C.

Kool Wrap would recommend wrapping the exhaust pipe or muffler with our Exhaust Wrap insulating tape or apply our adhesive insulating material to the underside of the floor. Feedback from customers has been very positive.

Which are the best stainless steel ties?

Kool Wrap supplies unique re-usable stainless ties with our Header Wrap kits. Wrap the stainless tie around the pipe and feed through the collar. Pull the tie tight and then bend the tie back on itself and fold the two tabs over to lock it in place. Reverse the process to remove or re-tighten.

Did you know that we supplied heat protection products for Bathurst winning Commodores?

We cannot provide details as the race team asked us to not disclose details. They had experienced heat damaged ignition leads leading up to the big race and were looking for a solution. We were able to provide fiberglass and aluminium foil heat protection boots that solved the problem and they went on to win the Bathurst 1000 that year.

Can Exhaust Wrap Damage Extractors or Headers

Steel exhaust pipes, headers or extractors have a large surface area and quickly pass heat to the air that flows around them. This heats up the air in the engine bay reducing its density. The engine then draws the hotter air in through it’s intake system. This heated air is less dense than cooler air and contains fewer oxygen molecules and the car loses some power. This excess heat can also melt ignition leads, wires and hoses.

Another lesser known fact is that as the exhaust gas leaves the cylinder head and starts to dissipate heat through the exhaust pipe, it starts to contract and lose velocity. If the exhaust gas could keep its heat level then the exhaust gas wouldn’t slow down. The inertia of the exhaust gas leaving the exhaust port of the head actually helps to draw more exhaust gas from the chamber and draws in the intake mixture. As more exhaust gas has been drawn out of the chamber the intake mixture doesn’t have to mix with the remains of the exhaust gas. The result is better scavenging of exhaust gas from the chamber, more intake mixture in the chamber and a better burn and potentially more power.

Racers some years ago tried wrapping their exhaust pipes in fibreglass tape to insulate the exhaust pipes and found the benefits mentioned above.

So, can this wrap damage exhaust pipes. In short, the answer is yes and no. It is possible that racers such as NASCAR in the USA or Endurance racers may experience overheated exhausts pipes due to the insulating properties of wrapped extractors or headers and this can cause cracking or fatigue, but in 99% applications, header or exhaust wrap will NOT damage exhaust pipes.

All mild steel exhaust pipes will eventually rust and the best way to extend the life of your exhaust pipes is to coat them first with a high temp exhaust paint or a silicone based paint.

Unlike other wrap products, Kool Wrap exhaust tapes are more flexible than other wraps and don’t require wetting prior to wrapping.

You will notice some smoking from the wrap after first start up but this will disappear over time.

There are no hard and fast rules about recommended overlap, however we say that a minimum overlap of around 5mm (1/4”) is fine although you will often have to have a greater overlap on the inside of bends.