Turbo blanket

[freebeard]

That's one of the advantages.

I'd like to see a rat rod bobber pickup with a flathead and rear mounted turbos.

[aerohead]

One argument for 'any' R-Factor associated with the 'exhaust system' stems from under-hood intake snorkels, where charge density ( horsepower ) suffers from 'ANY' elevated temperature.
Wrapping the headers, downpipe, turbo, etc., reduces the heat transfer coefficient from the exhaust system to the engine bay, providing the lowest possible ambient air temperature entering the intake tract, hence, greatest horsepower.
There'd also be an extremely small increase in available blow-down gas energy available to the turbine side.
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Perhaps the 'best' reason to do it though has to do with burn protection in the pits, between runs.

[to_achu]

I'm not a fan. I'd imagine they do work to some extent, but they're also a fire risk if you wind up with any sort of oil leak. Usually minor leaks will not result in a fire and you have ample time to fix them, but a blanket can both conceal the leak and absorb enough oil to make it a big problem.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by pgfpro

I run a manifold and turbo blanket on my Talon during the Summer and hot Fall and Spring days. I pull heat off the lower side of my Exhaust manifold to increase the IAT'S up to 250*F. for FE.

One thing I did notice is that it does lower the life of the turbine housing. After three years the turbine housing developed cracks.

Any insight as to why the blanket can cause the turbo housing to crack?
Is it because of the higher temperatures?
I can understand that in racing, with constantly high load, the temperatures would be extremely high for extended periods of time, but during hypermiling it shouldn't be as drastic.

And wouldn't insulation reduce wear, since the metal does not cool off so quickly?

[Piotrsko]

Stress cracks from differential tempratures or at least on F250 diesel turbos, also most of the turbos I have used, aircraft were the worst because of fast transitions at below zero OAT.

[pgfpro]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Any insight as to why the blanket can cause the turbo housing to crack?
Is it because of the higher temperatures?
I can understand that in racing, with constantly high load, the temperatures would be extremely high for extended periods of time, but during hypermiling it shouldn't be as drastic.

And wouldn't insulation reduce wear, since the metal does not cool off so quickly?

This was caused from when I was running in race mode only.
The main reason for the crack issue in my above pic was when I was running a ton of nitrous (300 shot) during race mode with the single turbo setup. With this amount of nitrous you have to retard the ignition advance due to the extreme fast flame speed of nitrous.

In race mode only with the older turbo compound setup, the ignition advance is much higher and easier on the turbine housing. This also applies to the new turbo compound setup as well. Also, worth mentioning in race mode I do run a very small amount of nitrous to increase flame speed to increase efficiency. This lets me run a leaner A/F ratio of 13.5:1 instead of the conventional 11.8 A/F ratio on the gasoline scale. This also helps with exhaust manifold temps.

As far as FE mode goes the amount of nitrous I'm running actually helps again with exhaust manifold temps by keeping the fuel energy in the combustion cycle even though there is hardly any fuel heat to begin with due to the extreme lean A/F ratio.

This is where once again it's extremely difficult to make a dual-purpose performance car, but hopefully I found a way to hit my goal targets.