You mean like gold tape? I don't believe that's an issue.

 

Not sure what charge pipe is, but if it is exhaust manifold, wrapping would be modifying it and I don't think those are legal to change. I think the same would apply to coat of ceramic paint which serves the same purpose.

 

Ex manifold is free, do anything you want to it. Charge pipe - is that the intercooler pipe out of turbo? If so, cant do anything with the intercooler pipes, no allowance.

 

you're allowed to change\modify the exhaust in ST, so manifolds are ok (....and air intakes). Intercooler's, turbos, or anything else induction related, or related plumbing, is not discussed in the book, and therefore not allowed to be modify.

 

Good to know about manifolds!! Thanks Geoff!

If I would be in STU, I would have those wrapped/coated/anything else to drop the temps inside the engine compartment as much as possible...

 

Hi Geoff

 

Hmm I seem to remember a certain competitive turbo STX car that had all the piping wrapped in gold tape, so I just assumed it was legal. I could be mistaken about the car though.

 

Gold tape is just bling. It's totally a comfort and convenience modification.

 

No, there is legitimate heat reflective gold and silver tape.

 

Cause I'm sure NASA is all about that bling factor too


Ive seen it used for keeping turbo heat from reflecting to stuff like valve covers heat sensitive components.


Using on intercooler pipes isn't that useful IMO though. I highly doubt anyone could show a reduction in air temps beyond noise.

 

I'm talking about this stuff:

http://www.thermotec.com/products/13...t-barrier.html

By charge pipe, I mean the pipe that goes from the intercooler to the throttle body. And like someone already said, not sure if it's even worth the effort.

 

The reason I'm asking is because I found the stuff in a pile of junk in my garage. I could simply throw it out, but figured I could try put it to use even if it's not worth much of a performance gain.

 

It's really not. My intake air temp is up by the throttle body, and my IAT's are typically only 10-15* of above ambient (which is what a good intercooler typically provides). When at WOT, the air is flowing through the piping fast enough that it doesn't really have time to get heated back up.


Just did a calculation real quick (online calculator, I'm not this smart...lol), 600cfm (44.5lb/min) through a 2.5" diameter pipe (UICP size) is moving at 293ft/sec, or 199mph. It doesn't have much time to get heated back up going through the charge pipe...

 

HI I'm still here, lurking. Watching STU Evos struggle

 

I fixed that problem with a 2013 Z06.