I don't know what its purpose is for sure. My other car came brand new from the factory with out one. The paint is still fine 5 years later.

Sound damping? Protection for the paint on the hood? Heat soak?

I have no clue :-)

 

The only reason why I haven't removed mine is because of the heat from my turbo, I don't want to ruin the paint on my hood. The problem with keeping it is that it has already been burned from the heat (before I made a heatshield) and it looks like crap. Is there anything that I can place on the underside of the hood on top of the turbo to prevent paint damage, but remove the lining?

 

Tech2Drew put some type of foil on the underside of his Top Secret Hood when he went turbo. It looked like the thick foil tape that went on the back of those heatshields that blocked cylinder head heat from getting to the OEM airbox.

Doesn't Dynamat make underhood insulation???

 

http://www.dynamat.com/products_auto...hoodliner.html