Turbo Blanket

[ohio_dsm]

What is everyone's though on Turbo Blankets? I read an article yesterday that said if you run a turbo blanket and even a blanket or wrap on your exhaust manifold it will make the turbo more efficient and spool quicker. Im in the process of swapping to a HX35 not the current stock turbo that is in my build thread now.

 

[jdxnc]

We run one on my brothers car, it helps a ton with no heat soaking everything around it but you're not going to notice a performance gain out of it.

 

[ohio_dsm]

We run one on my brothers car, it helps a ton with no heat soaking everything around it but you're not going to notice a performance gain out of it.

I planed to get a manifold blanket for my FP mani because I don’t like the look of heat shields.. I never heard of any performance gains from blankets until I read that article and it had me thinking.

 

[CKOPOCT]

I can't think of how it would make the turbo more efficient. It'll retain heat, which is good for the rest of the engine compartment... so better cooling through the radiator, cooler air charge maybe depending on where the air and charge pipe is routed... but how it would increase airflow through the turbo (hot or cold side) doesn't make sense. If anything, it would create more heat stress on the turbo depending on how the turbo is cooled (greater likelihood of coking). My unproven and off-the-beer thoughts.

 

[Blinkyblinx9]

I can't think of how it would make the turbo more efficient. It'll retain heat, which is good for the rest of the engine compartment... so better cooling through the radiator, cooler air charge maybe depending on where the air and charge pipe is routed... but how it would increase airflow through the turbo (hot or cold side) doesn't make sense. If anything, it would create more heat stress on the turbo depending on how the turbo is cooled (greater likelihood of coking). My unproven and off-the-beer thoughts.

Containing heat within a hot gas helps maintain its volume which can translate to increased velocity when your trying to extract work from it such as when spinning a turbine really fast. That's dummed down a bit but basically heat is energy and when you remove it you cant do quite as much work. Honestly when your turdo is bolted directly to the mani the difference is barely noticeable on most street driven builds. Blanketing something like a HX35 might get you into boost 100 or so rpm sooner but you probably wouldn't notice it all that much. Also there are far more effective methods of reducing lag if that's what your after.

The biggest difference is heat soak. Holding the heat in means everything around it wont be exposed to that heat which means you wont cook rad fans or your alternator. It wont feel any better but wrapping it up can save you a lot of headache later on in life.

 

[chrysler kid]

on the basis of thermal dynamics; if the manifold stays super hot the exhaust gases will flow through it faster.

If the highest point in the exhaust is the hottest point the exhaust gasses will flow faster as they cool; the thermal event of them cooling causes them to fall to the lower temperature zones more naturally.

In theory it’s similar to how the cars cooling system works. Hottest area of the radiator is the top and as it cools more heat takes its place and the cooler coolant sinks to the bottom

In a small scale it increase exhaust gases scavenging. In race cars it’s actually a measurable event that increase the car’s forward thrust (it’s a very minor amount)

Anyways I had a turbo blanket I covered with a stock manifold. Maybe I did feel a little quicker turbo response at hot temps , but I also remember stretching the factory exhaust bolts to the point it caused an exhaust leak. So if you have old turbo manifold bolts it might be a good idea to replace them or have some back ups if they stretch

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[ohio_dsm]

That last pic is what I planned on doing. I like the look of the manifold blanket.

on the basis of thermal dynamics; if the manifold stays super hot the exhaust gases will flow through it faster.

If the highest point in the exhaust is the hottest point the exhaust gasses will flow faster as they cool; the thermal event of them cooling causes them to fall to the lower temperature zones more naturally.

In theory it’s similar to how the cars cooling system works. Hottest area of the radiator is the top and as it cools more heat takes its place and the cooler coolant sinks to the bottom

In a small scale it increase exhaust gases scavenging. In race cars it’s actually a measurable event that increase the car’s forward thrust (it’s a very minor amount)

Anyways I had a turbo blanket I covered with a stock manifold. Maybe I did feel a little quicker turbo response at hot temps , but I also remember stretching the factory exhaust bolts to the point it caused an exhaust leak. So if you have old turbo manifold bolts it might be a good idea to replace them or have some back ups if they stretch

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[chrysler kid]

That last pic is what I planned on doing. I like the look of the manifold blanket.

I wasn’t thrilled with the look, so I stuffed a factory heat shield over it.

I also decided to delete the water cooled aspect of the turbo. I’m telling you at hot temps the eBay 16g sounded like an f16 taking off.

 

[LostInColorado]

I have an extra one, if anyone needs one.

 

[ohio_dsm]

I have an extra one, if anyone needs one.

Will it fit a HX35?

 

[ohio_dsm]

I wasn’t thrilled with the look, so I stuffed a factory heat shield over it.

I also decided to delete the water cooled aspect of the turbo. I’m telling you at hot temps the eBay 16g sounded like an f16 taking off.

I have a HX35 turbo

 

[chrysler kid]

Nice. I definitely like the turbo manifold blankets they do not shed like the turbine housing blankets do

Found the picture of the heat setup I had, looks like I even put heat shielding tape around the dipstick to keep heat away from the alternator. Looks like I wrapped the j pipe down too. Must have spent atleast a couple hundred on my “thermal” setup

I remember this setup spooling very well just a tad slower than a t25 even with a front mount intercooler

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[TerminalTalon]

It has to do something. There’s no way radiant heat doesn’t heat soak things so why not try and contain them.
@chrysler kid what manifold and turbo blankets are those? I’ve been looking in between a couple.

 

[CKOPOCT]

Oh, it certainly does do something. The heat from the exhaust certainly will soak into everything around it. It'll increase the intake charge temperature, cause hot spots in the block (and therefore cooling and oiling passages), and cause heat stress on nearby wiring and components (melted fans, anyone?). I also understand how the laws of thermodynamics would cause the hot exhaust gasses to flow faster... I just wasn't sure the effect on the turbo and any performance gains would be noticeable or measurable enough to say an exhaust blanket/wrap is a performance upgrade on a street car.

All that said, I wrapped mine - manifold to flex pipe.

 

[chrysler kid]

It has to do something. There’s no way radiant heat doesn’t heat soak things so why not try and contain them.
@chrysler kid what manifold and turbo blankets are those? I’ve been looking in between a couple.

The blanket was one off of eBay but the seller use to be a member here

The turbo hot side cover was a universal t3 blanket off of eBay. Its fitment was a little large so I had to get creative with fitment.

I did all of that to help with not getting the radiator heat soaked because I was running ac with a front mount intercooler in the summer here in Texas. I believe I also cut the edges off of the condenser fan to tuck it closer to the radiator because the fan showed signs of melting