This is a legit post and it bugs me I can't find any legit insight on it. I have found a lot of good info but it still does not state whether wrapping intercooler piping with reflective heat tape or even exhaust wrap works or not works. By works I mean improve horsepower or overall performance or even simply response.

I will start by posting some links that I have gotten a hold of via my own research and asking around. These should help to clarify quite a bit.

http://www.boostedforum.com/Thread-Noob-turbo-guide

http://www.epi-eng.com/piston_engine...technology.htm

http://images.tutorvista.com/cms/ima...t-transfer.PNG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_blanket
Some people say wrap it all, others say don't touch the intercooler piping. Here is the debate where I am at. Say it is an 80 degree day, say I am driving normal through the town at ~50 mph. What is my engine bay temp compared to the temp coming from my stock turbo? Some "say" engine bay temp is 150-190 degrees. Okay so I am then left with the fact that the outside air is blowing into my engine bay, is there a lot of it, enough to cool engine bay temps down? Standing still at idle is one thing but actually driving is another. Then there is racing to think about too.

Now once that has been established what is the temp coming from the compressor turbine into my uicp? The second link states that garrett turbos release ~300 degrees from the compressor. Would placing a layer of heat reflective tape increase the heat inside the pipe if engine bay air is colder than inside the pipe? My theory is that the heat reflective tape is to reflect radiation heat from the outside, it will not prevent the heat from the air in the tube to be transferred to the tube. Question is will the tape prevent the tube from cooling via the temp in the engine bay?

Has anyone tested this or is interested in testing this? I would say dyno numbers should do it, but then again on a dyno, your hood is open, outside air is room temp, and air is being pushed through a fan into your intercooler.

I am looking for facts not theories although I had some of my own. I am interested in running tests on this, but I would really like to know what the temp in the engine bay, uicp, licp, and intake is. I'm not sure if an infared thermometer can tell me this, idk if it can just show surface temps or interior temps too.

It seems like there is no true light that has been shown on the situation, via tests specifically.

 

you wont feel a difference either way.

 

Hmm, any experience with it? My tuner says wrap as much as possible. On the other hand there is an engineer that says wrapping will be worse for the car causing it to knock more etc.

 

I think wrapping the pipework is rubbish and a waste of time as A: You will be trapping heat in not allowing it to dissipate from the metal. So as heat soak takes place trapping it in will hurt performance. B: I think that the speed that the air is travelling through the pipe work there isn't enough time for any heat transfer to take place anyway.

 

B is very interesting to me, would the speed be too much to feel the heat? maybe if it was a burst of heated air I would agree but since it is a constant flow of air I would have to say the heat would be able to transfer.

BUT if you are right and the air in the tube moves too fast to transfer any heat then heat wrapping it would be ideal cause the only heat the tube would receive is then from the outside.

My mind is getting blown here guys

 

You might want to look at the threads around cool air boxes and ambient heat. Several folks measured underhood temps for the same reason. There you will find what you dealing with in terms of underhood temps, at idle and at speed and that transition. -- that will allow YOU to make better determinations.
BTW there are more than just a few variables in heat transfer that would effect the outcome-- temp is just one. Also consider what an intercooler does and how heat flows thru the system. You will find info on heat trans and efficiency and whats hot and what not in the links for intercoolers. Sorry no links, just info I have read all here on this forum. Good Luck.

 

Much like water, heat flows downstream. Meaning, it will flow from a high heat area to a low heat area. The areas surrounding the hot side of the IC piping are likely to be colder than the air before it is intercooled, meaning by wrapping the UICP you're trapping in heat. If through measurements, you find that the area surrounding the LICP is indeed hotter than the LICP, then wrapping that LICP will definately net you some minimal gains. The LICP is in a pretty open area, so i doubt its absorbing any heat from its surroundings. Maybe the transmission depending on how hot it is, but even then the air is flowing in the opposite direction so i'd doubt any benefits from wrapping here. Really the only area i see worthwhile in wrapping is the intake pipe from the filter back to the compressor housing. The area closest to the compressor is pretty hot, and you might gain an HP or two by having a SLIGHTLY cooler charge.... but anything less than 5 hp is within the realm of error on a dyno and not very significant.

One area you should definately wrap is your exhaust bits. They're the main (dare i say only?) source of significant engine bay heat.

But outside of this, you should definately wrap all your lines around the exhaust side of the engine bay. Adding heat to your ABS/PS lines is dangerous.

 

I think I might do this ^^^^, seems like it's the most accurate but does the foil wrap indeed trap the heat in?

 

foil wraps are made out of a polymer laminated glass cloth. What they do is block well is radiant heat. What they do not block well is convection, or hot air moving about. As far as trapping heat in, polymers are usually considered an insulator. It'll sure as hell trap some additional heat into an aluminum pipe vs having it bare, but it won't be much in the grand scheme of things. I don't plan on wrapping anything in my engine bay, except for brake/PS lines if i ever move to a tubular mani. And i might not even do it then because i plan on getting a ceramic coat and a heat blanket.

 

It's really not going to matter. Our piping geometry after the intercooler is pretty short, and passes through the coolest part of the engine bay. The crazy heat you feel radiating up from the engine bay is from the back where the turbo is.

If you don't believe you can always do a log before and after.