Heat Wrap Downpipes. Worth it?

[Demxsr]

I know some manufactures sell them wrapped, some people prefer to wrap those that don't come with it, and some guys run no wrap.

I'm curious to know people's experiences with wrap or no wrap, and if there is any downside to doing it?

My main concern is engine bay temps and the exposed downpipes radiating onto the firewall / footwell area and really everything else in line of sight. Stock DPs have heat shields to prevent this. I know that Catless should run cooler because of lower back pressures and the lack of the high temp mass of the catalytic. It just seems like it'd be a good idea to manage where the exhaust heat goes and force as much of it as you can out the tailpipe and away from the car.

[BzsBimmer]

Are you pushing every last ounce of HP out of the car and in extreme conditions?

Have you measured temps to see if it’s an issue? I’d think that the heat exchanger up top is fairly efficient if you’re just mildly tuned/FBO. Something I think older turbo setups didn’t really have and thusly was more of an issue.

You could try the gold heat shield wrap if temps are causing issues. I don’t see many cars here with them thermally coated or wrapped though.

[Demxsr]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

Are you pushing every last ounce of HP out of the car and in extreme conditions?

Have you measured temps to see if it’s an issue? I’d think that the heat exchanger up top is fairly efficient if you’re just mildly tuned/FBO. Something I think older turbo setups didn’t really have and thusly was more of an issue.

You could try the gold heat shield wrap if temps are causing issues. I don’t see many cars here with them thermally coated or wrapped though.

I have downpipes coming in. I'm currently using stock downpipes. I have not measured temps, but it got up to 117f ambient where I am this year. So extreme conditions during summer sometimes. I'll be using an OTS tune initially, not sure if I'll custom tune it. So short answer, nothing crazy. I just wanted to get people's opinions before I instal. So I can wrap them ahead of time if need be.

The downpipes get red hot when running the car through its paces. I believe the exhaust temp gets around 1500F (800C) on this car with a mild tune. That's gotta lead to some serious radiation onto anything close, in line of sight, if there is no heat shielding. My main concern is keeping high heat off plastic components near DPs, keeping cabin temp down, and engine bay temp down.

[joooiiiiii]

This is the first I'm hearing about anyone having potential heat issues with aftermarket DP. A lot of my friends have DP on their F80 but none have actually said anything about any melted plastic or heat into the cabin/engine bay. Maybe other people can chime in on it.

[Demxsr]

Originally Posted by joooiiiiii

This is the first I'm hearing about anyone having potential heat issues with aftermarket DP. A lot of my friends have DP on their F80 but none have actually said anything about any melted plastic or heat into the cabin/engine bay. Maybe other people can chime in on it.

Just to be clear, I'm not claiming there are issues with unwrapped downpipes on our application. It looks like a lot of people run them unwrapped judging by the second hand market. I just know they get super hot and it's pretty tight down there. I'm assuming there is a reason BMW heat shielded them. For this reason, I wanted opinions on wrapping them, from people who have either done or not done it.

If there are really no downsides to doing it, other than minor cost and minor weight added, its something im seriously considering doing.

[TopJimmy]

I was going to wrap but I found there were downsides like how the tape holds moisture and allows corrosion. I bought a used AA exhaust and someone had used heat wrap in the past, you can see some pitting started in a pattern.

Instead of tape/wrap I chose the pipes with black ceramic coating. The ceramic definitely helps and the passenger footwell doesn't heat up so much now.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Not needed for street use

[Wanted_M]

Swain is the best, none of that crappy DP wrap.

[Demxsr]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

I was going to wrap but I found there were downsides like how the tape holds moisture and allows corrosion. I bought a used AA exhaust and someone had used heat wrap in the past, you can see some pitting started in a pattern.

Instead of tape/wrap I chose the pipes with black ceramic coating. The ceramic definitely helps and the passenger footwell doesn't heat up so much now.

Do you know if the ceramic coating can hold up on flex sections on the downpipe?

[Demxsr]

Originally Posted by Wanted_M

Swain is the best, none of that crappy DP wrap.

I'll look into this. Probably the direction I want to go as long as it won't break on the flexible sections of the downpipes. The little accordion looking sections.

[Wanted_M]

Originally Posted by Demxsr

I'll look into this. Probably the direction I want to go as long as it won't break on the flexible sections of the downpipes. The little accordion looking sections.

White Lightning (TBC-EX) Exhaust Coating.
https://swaintech.com/race-coatings/...s-price-sheet/

https://swaintech.com/race-coatings/...aust-coatings/

[TopJimmy]

Originally Posted by Demxsr

Do you know if the ceramic coating can hold up on flex sections on the downpipe?

Sorry, I don't know for sure about on the flex sections.

[SflBimmer8484]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Sorry, I don't know for sure about on the flex sections.

Swain doesn't cover the flex sections when they do our downpipes. I believe it would chip off from the movement.

[chewbakam4]

I like them coated for heat management, not wrapped

[Demxsr]

Originally Posted by chewbakam4

I like them coated for heat management, not wrapped

I think that's the route I'm going to go. Reached out to Swain, just waiting to hear back. They look like they offer one of the best coatings for this type of application.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Anytime you can contain heat in the exhaust piping it increasing scavenging efficiency..... In the engine bay it decreases radiating heat against other components

[papasmurf_m3]

My downpipes and midpipe are wrapped with black titanium heat wrap. It does however increase exhaust heat that comes out your exhaust pipes and in the muffler area keep that in mind

[Gotulukn]

Originally Posted by papasmurf_m3

My downpipes and midpipe are wrapped with black titanium heat wrap. It does however increase exhaust heat that comes out your exhaust pipes and in the muffler area keep that in mind

Does wrapping your exhaust help change the sound at all? Less raspy?

[MR RIZK]

If they are bare I would get them coated. Also I'm not a fan of the material wrap even though you can get a good result by soaking the tape and doing a tight wrap.

As an example in my turbo'd 350z the turbo was in the vicinity of the clutch line and would cause heat related issues. Had the exhaust side of the turbo coated and had no more problems.

PS: I haven't seen any posts about heat related issues so for me it is personal opinion.

[TopJimmy]

A local shop applied 2000F CeraKote black ceramic to my DPs for less than a hundred bucks.

[papasmurf_m3]

Originally Posted by Gotulukn

Does wrapping your exhaust help change the sound at all? Less raspy?

Doubt it changed sound that much.

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

A local shop applied 2000F CeraKote black ceramic to my DPs for less than a hundred bucks.

Cerakote is useless, either you do real ceramic coating or leave it uncoated.