Exhaust wrap?

[HavockWK]

OK, I'm sitting here thinking about things to do with my exhaust for performance, sound control and heat protection and exhaust wrap pops into my head. So what better way to deal with some of my questions about this product than to seek counseling from my buds on the forums?

1. Heat Shielding... The wrap provides some heat shielding for when the pipes get close to the body, brake lines etc. How efficient is this? As in, how close can I run a wrapped pipe to a brake like or the floor pan?

2. Performance... The marketing of the wrap mentions power gains (focused mostly on wrapping headers) by using the wrap to control temps. How true is this? There has been discussion before about the efficiency of exhaust gases flowing through the pipes at cooler vs hotter temps. If I were to wrap my exhaust from the cats to the muffler, would this help performance any?

3. Sound dampening... When the wrap is installed, it will change the resonance of the pipes. How much dampening can I expect? Basically, if I wrap from the cats to the muffler, would this help cut down on in-cab exhaust sound?

As usual, thank you for your help!

[Hatchman]

I have a little experience in wrapping header/exhaust pipes. The biggest advantage of wrapping headers is, it keeps heat out of the engine bay, helping the engine to run cooler, especially for classic cars with the big round pizza pan air filter sitting on top of a Holley 750 Double Pumper.

As far as a Titan, since it doesn't have headers, wrapping the exhaust pipes from the cats back isn't going to do much for you as far as decreasing heat in the engine bay. And the Titan comes stock with a sort of 'cold air intake', since it sucks air from the left fender.

Sure, wrapping pipes will keep the heat in, and hotter air has more kinetic energy, thus increasing the "scavanger effect" which should cause the exhaust gases to 'flow' better and cause less back pressure and higher gas inertia... Whatever. I doubt you could tell any difference.

One thing exhaust wrap will do is corrode your pipes at an acclerated rate. I've unwrapped pipes to replace the wrapping, after it's been almost charcoaled, and the pipes looked like crap!

As far as running the pipes close to brake lines and stuff, some heat shielding should allow you to run the pipes closer, I'd say within 6 inches, but I wouldn't get any closer than that. Brakes tend to act funny when the fluid gets really hot. Then again, don't quote me on that, and it depends how much/what kind of shield you're talking about.

To be honest with you, if you're looking to do this for a performance gain, I wouldn't waste my time. I doubt it would make even .1 second difference in the quarter mile.

[rholland]

You don't wrap stainless exhaust, it will crack.

[HavockWK]

Thanks for the help guys! Looks like that thought has gone to the crapper!