which is preffered and for what reasons? which method would keep the engine bay cooler?

 

ceramic coatings help, but in my experience header wrap is far more effective.

I had header wrap on all the exhaust pipes in my turbo 350z and you could full-hand grab the wrap after driving hard without torching your nerves.

 

It's a trade off. Header wrap is more effective but it wreaks havoc on the piping. It has a tendancy to trap water and moisture and hold it against the pipe, and once you've been driving with it on the pipe for a while theres not much you'll ever be able to do to get the unwrapped look back if you decide to take it off.

I've always been a coating guy because it's easier on the pipes, looks cleaner, and is only a minor trade off in performance compared to wrapping.

It's two different camps, you'll hear pros and cons for both. In the long run (in my oppinon) the pro/cons even out and they're about equal.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

mike

 

thats good to know. anyone have an opinion on the coatings?

 

i had the same concerns about trapping moisture, but you have to think about how hot your piping gets.

The reality for me was, the first few times driving the car, the wrap "baked", all the moisture in the wrap baked out, and the wrap itself became very dry. The amount of heat within the wrap will prevent any moisture from building up, and the piping I wrapped looked just like new after 20k miles.

I had higher expectations for my coatings than they provided, which is why I did the wrap.

 

i wrapped header and cat delete and cat back single. personally i thought it made the cabin a little quiter, i also noticed the arm rest was a little cooler, and the tip is startin to burn that titanium color too!

 

Header wrap will trap water, fray, get dirty and in my opinion looks bad. Heat sheild and Jet hot is the way to go. I will never make that mistake again. The only time I would use it again is on a track only racecar.

 

for the me header wrap was a do it yourself and i got the wrap free, where as back 2 years ago when i did it i didnt have any money to jet coat the whole exhaust. i dont disagree with either, and i'v never tired the jet hot stuff, but at that time, header wrap was was my way to go and so far i'm trouble free. (wheres the wood to knock on)

 

Go to any scca event and you will see both and make a quick determination. A good internal internal/external coating will work wonders. The ceramic based coating helps the gas flow inside of the tubing, and the coating keeps the outside looking new. It won't eliminate the heat, but it will reduce it significantly.

 

o well aready bought the wrap, better than othing i guess. and cheaper