Turbo Blanket

[Polaris]

Kind of an odd topic but does anyone run with a turbo blanket? Interested in hearing some first hand accounts of pros/cons for this...

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Polaris

Kind of an odd topic but does anyone run with a turbo blanket? Interested in hearing some first hand accounts of pros/cons for this...

Blanket? That is for Honda guys. I bought a turbo SNUGGIE so it can read a book while it stays warm.... Seriously, though, our oem is so super tiny that I don't think there would be any benefit whatsoever, as it is speculation at best whether it truly helps the larger turbos considering the location of our turbo.

BTW, where are you in NOVA?

[Polaris]

Ahh yes the snuggie! I like my turbo to be well read while it's zipping me around DC traffic. I was wondering as to there overall benefit too--not sure I like the idea of something hugging my turbo when it gets hot...especially if its reading a book


I'm in the Falls Church/McLean area

[MTZL]

Turbo Snuggie. I think it would work best with electronic fan intake with flux capacitor.

[Markspd6]

The idea is the same as heat coating.. not sure of its worth it,. it's just a little reflective action against the headers, not sure on the actual effectiveness.. I'm sure it varies from car to car and setup.. But. They do make em.. Try it out, and let us know,,

[Polaris]

Did a little digging...

First off, the guys in the Evo forum seem to have been having a hard time finding a turbo snuggie that fits their turbo (All of the snuggies are XL) BUT Buschur Racing does have a snuggie that'll fit DEI T3/T4 spec turbos so that should fit ours...?

*Some* people say there are awhp/awtq gains of +1/+1 (not much of a gain IMO) and even BR says "The result is a cooler air intake temperature and a boost in horsepower!" which might be true considering the ambient engine temp should be much cooler.

The biggest advantages I can see are a potentially quicker turbo spool and the blanket serving as a splash guard against anything flammable getting on the uber hot turbo and causing engine fires.

For 160$ if it keeps my engine bay temp down and can help spool even a little bit, might not be a bad idea. Ill be willing to pony up the money down the line...if nothing else, it'll keep it warm during those "oh so cold" Virginia winters -_-

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Polaris

Did a little digging...

First off, the guys in the Evo forum seem to have been having a hard time finding a turbo snuggie that fits their turbo (All of the snuggies are XL) BUT Buschur Racing does have a snuggie that'll fit DEI T3/T4 spec turbos so that should fit ours...?

*Some* people say there are awhp/awtq gains of +1/+1 (not much of a gain IMO) and even BR says "The result is a cooler air intake temperature and a boost in horsepower!" which might be true considering the ambient engine temp should be much cooler.

The biggest advantages I can see are a potentially quicker turbo spool and the blanket serving as a splash guard against anything flammable getting on the uber hot turbo and causing engine fires.

For 160$ if it keeps my engine bay temp down and can help spool even a little bit, might not be a bad idea. Ill be willing to pony up the money down the line...if nothing else, it'll keep it warm during those "oh so cold" Virginia winters -_-

One thing to keep in mind, though (and this is why there is controversy with using one on our cars with the location of our turbo). The blanket actually hold heat IN the turbocharger, and thus, the engine. The thought behind them is that keeping the engine bay temps down will keep the intake air temps down and help cool the engine better from the inside out, decreasing the intake air temp at a faster rate than the blanket actually increases the turbine housing temperature. The issue with our cars is the layout of the intake and the turbo. The blanket is an INSULATOR. That means it works both ways. It keeps the heat from the turbo from getting out in to the engine bay. But look in the center of your hood. Know what the center scoop is for? Cooling the turbo. Guess what? The blanket insulates that as well, so you lose cooling air on the turbine housing. And then the intake. Mitsubishi engineers are pretty clever. The opening of the intake is almost as far away as it can be from the turbo. It isn't pulling in "engine bay" air unless you have a SRI. So, on our cars, many people like myself feel the turbo blankets net no gain, if not hurt performance. Every set up is different, so there isn't a definitive answer.

[RALM]

Originally Posted by Drew

One thing to keep in mind, though (and this is why there is controversy with using one on our cars with the location of our turbo). The blanket actually hold heat IN the turbocharger, and thus, the engine. The thought behind them is that keeping the engine bay temps down will keep the intake air temps down and help cool the engine better from the inside out, decreasing the intake air temp at a faster rate than the blanket actually increases the turbine housing temperature. The issue with our cars is the layout of the intake and the turbo. The blanket is an INSULATOR. That means it works both ways. It keeps the heat from the turbo from getting out in to the engine bay. But look in the center of your hood. Know what the center scoop is for? Cooling the turbo. Guess what? The blanket insulates that as well, so you lose cooling air on the turbine housing. And then the intake. Mitsubishi engineers are pretty clever. The opening of the intake is almost as far away as it can be from the turbo. It isn't pulling in "engine bay" air unless you have a SRI. So, on our cars, many people like myself feel the turbo blankets net no gain, if not hurt performance. Every set up is different, so there isn't a definitive answer.

It wouldnt hurt to have one. holding the heat in the turbine means that a little less heat would be trapped in the engine bay. But 160 for that thing I dont know. when anyone attemps to try it out let me know how it works.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by RALM

It wouldnt hurt to have one. holding the heat in the turbine means that a little less heat would be trapped in the engine bay.

You are missing my point. Think of it this way. You have a high wattage light bulb in a small box as a heat source. What would help that box cool off faster? Throwing a turbo blanket on the light bulb, or putting a fan in front of the light bulb to blow the hot air out of the box?

This is all thermal dynamics. 95% of cars do not have forced convection cooling inherent in their design like ours do (functional hood vents). The turbo blanket would remove almost ALL convection cooling (both forced and natural) from the turbine housing. That means that all of that heat is distributed through the manifold to the head through conduction, INCREASING the engine temperature. Usually, this is overcome by the initial DROP in intake temperature, which helps cool the turbo and engine from the inside out, doing slightly better cooling than the blanket does heating. That's why there are minimal gains in almost all cars. But with our cars, and the position of the intake, we aren't taking in air from the engine bay really at all. So if there is no drop in the intake temperature (a turbo blanket isn't going to cool the outside air, where most of our intake air is coming from), then the engine bay will actually get hotter. That is my only point, thinking of this objectively. But like I said, there are differing opinions and this topic is debated often. This is merely my opinion. Feel free to form your own. I was just encouraging everyone to think objectively about it.

[MTZL]

Drew, you can take the horse to the water but you cant make it drink.

Here is my perspective.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Dont do it. You will kill the little turbo that could.
Running cooler net more power/reliability.