Do Turbo Blankets Work?

We used real science to test if Turbo Blankets produce a noticeable benefit. The short answer is yes. But using an Infrared Camera you might be surprised at the differences.
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[@kogulification]

You've taught me more, then what I've learned in school

[@PileggisGarage]

Guess Rob should do grammar lessons then?

[@kogulification]

+Nick P yes, yes he should 😂😂😂😂. But you get the point

[@AKM7GOATWOLF]

Too true mate XD (It's worse for me cause I'm Indian)

[@kc550]

*than

[@harryguy76]

LMAO.. it's not a spelling bee DB lol.Get stuffed.

[@bigdaddy_z33]

Last time I had a hole in my rubber, my race car nearly disappeared

[@samthemultimediaman]

wrapping your headers and or entire exhaust also helps a lot too

[@SWATROLLK9]

Yes. I have a super charged mercedes C230 Kompressor and my ambient temps went down about 20F degrees.

[@hardskider]

Rust.

[@SWATROLLK9]

+Lucio Guy no. All you do is drive the car and it will evaporate moisture bud.

[@datownkidd]

Thats also a really good way to crack your headers.

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

+datownkidd youve got thin, shitty ass headers then.

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

All turbo & hot pipe blankets are NOT built out of the same stuff & are NOT equal & the most expensive on the market is NOT the best. Silica quilted blankets are by far the best. The goal of boosting an engine is to increase the air density to the engine & hot side heat absorbed by the cold side is counter productive to that. Plus if you're picking up hot intake air under the hood you are also decreasing the density charge. Monitor the charge temp at the engine, the lower the better.

[@duranamo4297]

I Put one on my 2011 Mitsubishi Evo and I have noticed that it builds boost a lot sooner than it did before without the blanket.

[@topdownb58]

lmao the rubber jokes....did me a big ol chuckle...

[@Wulven-Hollow]

+Rob Dahm That really was an awesome spin especially cause you can tell it was basically improv.

[@TheBrokenLife]

Jokes aside, melting things like engine mounts and cushion clamps is a VERY real concern when packaging turbos for OEM applications. Been there, done that. IMO, I'd strongly consider a bunch of heat wrap on your down pipe, in addition to the blanket, Rob. If you run it down a ways you may get rid of some of that interior heat too.

[@jimmy2f]

Good job with the video. I have one thought. Your shiny intake has a very low emissivity. Meaning that it reflects infrared light. Not convinced the heat you saw in the infrared image was real. Most likely reflected IR light from the turbo housing. You will need to take temps of intake with a contact probe to confirm actual temps.

[@Ghost.uppercut]

love my turbo blanket so far. really noticed a more consistent band and earlier light spool off casual stop and go driving in my WRX

[@hexrx]

I would love more videos like these. Quick question, with the heat trapping effects of the blanket, what does that latent heat do to the oil/water that remains in the turbo once it is shut off? Would the blanket introduce an environment that promotes oil coking?

[@isopropylyummy]

Turbo blankets are always good! someone on NASIOC took their thermal camera, and tested blankets/gold tape/and some other items and came out with some good info.

[@vimmeh]

Very informative video Rob, I run a TB on my old v3 Impreza STi. With its top mount intercooler, it would absorb a lot of heat from the turbo nearby. With the addition of the TB, the turbo area is now much cooler but more importantly the TMIC is cold to the touch, they do work.

[@bombebomb]

So, I need to keep the blankets on to prevent rubbers from breaking, life lessons by Dahm.

[@observingrogue7652]

This is why I really like turbo blankets & full exhaust wraps. They protect everything from the heat, and I think they keep the heat in the exhaust system, so the whole system is more consistent, the exhaust flows out better, and doesn't slow down & create some resistance, because of the colder sections making the exhaust flow denser, like the final parts of the straight pipes, the mufflers, or the parts of the plumbing hit with cool air.

[@krnt13]

Doesn't rising your turbo temperatures kill its bearings faster? I'm affraid that this would kill turbos sooner just like the wraps to the exhaust manifolds do, the temps usually increase the likeness of cracks and deformation due to expansion.

[@akaErky]

I was thinking the same thing. If your wrap the turbine housing then it cannot dissipate heat to adjacent components. Sure, the compressor and intake manifolds may be cooler but you are adding a lot of heat stress to the compressor, increasing the chance of bearing failure or a crack forming in the housing. Would it make more sense to wrap the compressor housing and intake manifolds to insulate them from engine bay heat?

[@mattiadallapozza5619]

+Eryk Szymanski your statement isn't wrong, but if you want to use the energy that's gonna be wasted, you must wrap up the exhaust manifold and insulate the turbine, to use as much enthalpy as you can squeeze out with your turbocharger. For sure your thrust bearings need to be cooled more than before... You know, when you talk about performance, you always have a short blanket...it's not simply to have maximum reliability, efficiency and power at the same time ;)

[@wombatonsteroids]

This was my thought as well. Turbo blankets (as has been proven a few times) have a HUGE impact on containing heat, but at the expense of the overall longevity of the turbo. Enough to be significant in my opinion. I'd rather opt for an inside/outside ceramic paint job. I don't think that's quite as effective as a full, thick blanket, but a proper ceramic coating will help keep temperatures more tame while still dissipating properly.

[@mattiadallapozza5619]

+newpa1n I absolutely agree man, in fact in my next build I think I'm going for a ceramic coating 😉

[@JetCityHooligan]

Would love to see a difference between a bare turbo, ceramic coated turbo and ceramic coated with a turbo blanket. I know the ceramic coating on my ducati's exhaust helped a ton keeping heat off my leg as well as keeping the radiant heat off the parts that the exhaust is near throughout the bike.

[@CastleRockable]

Definitely blanket turbos. I work at a petrochemical plant, all of our steam turbines and turbo expanders are blanketed. When you insulate, it keeps the process more adiabatic and closer to the ideal isentropic process.

[@cliffweatherbee6914]

I've only been watching Rob Dahm for a little over a year now. I LOVE seeing these older videos! Rob has been so detailed and thorough for years!

[@Nizmopower]

Yessss plz do more videos like these whenever you have the opportunity! Being able to walk away from a video with more knowledge than I had before watching it is always a plus in my books.

[@DatBlueHusky]

because of this video, i just bought a turbo blanket for my wrx. Reason i never gotten one is that theres a hole inside the hood scoop that cools the turbo but the blanket will help during hot summer days in traffic.

[@TessellationRow]

Definitely do more science videos! Performance can be gained using a blanket due to a less thermal energy transfer between the exhaust gas and the turbine housing. A cooler turbine housing absorbs more heat from the exhaust gas (decreasing pressure, temperature and ultimately mass flow) As turbine surface temperature increases , an ever smaller fraction of exhaust thermal energy can be transferred to the turbine housing. This leads to less pressure loss and better mass flow. The major drawback to turbo blankets is a BIG increase in heat transfer engine oil. On a rotary, which has very very high EGT's normally, this could easily lead to oil coking.

[@A4ANT]

I need to do research on oil coking on Honda K20C engine

[@Wulven-Hollow]

Can't wait to see more about the 4-Rotor. So far it looks awesome.

[@tobyport5873]

presumably any given turbo is engineered with a certain amount of heat dissipation in mind. Won;t you 'cook' the turbo by putting the blanket on it or cause premature wear?

[@stevefowler2112]

Herein lies your answer: docs.google.com/file/d/0B1DKgBxqE0JEME5wQ1pIc1N5dU0/edit?pli=1

[@RyanDeClue]

Love love love real world application information videos. No speculation, just hard fact. Turbo blanket or no, this is precisely the reason I'll be going with rear mount turbos. I'm really surprised you haven't as well. I mean, it's out of the engine bay, further time and distance for the air sheathe to cool, easy access and install, No manifold fabrication. Hell, on my OctoRex I've even got heat shielding where the muffler used to be .

[@aw11man26]

One more thing to remember is that hotter exhaust gas has a higher velocity which help in scavenging exhaust out of the turbo and exhaust quicker which also helps turbo spool. 1 more thing to remember with a rotary is that it's exhaust gas is several hundred degrees hotter than a piston engine. Because of this heat soak is worse so a turbo blanket and thermal control is even more important with a rotary. Also the RX7 engine bay is real big so there isnt as much air flow especially when you drop a larger engine than what the factory engineers meant to be in there. A 3 rotor engine will be worse than the stock 13b and a 20b will be even worse.

[@Monstero5o]

When heat is contained in an object that pushes hot air, that contained heat helps push it out faster, also keeping the temps around the dump pipe and rear housing the same stops unwanted expending of metals and stops regular flow. It's like driving down the road, and in one area for 1000m its 40 degrees and after that for 1000m is 10 degrees and keeps changing. I have a turbo blanket and heat shield aswell and you can notice the car comes on boost 0.90secs faster on boost and its alot more constant. Next up is Ceramic coating Make a video on Ceramic coat headers, rear housing, dump pipes etc?

[@BFE08STI]

I like how much you giggle when talking about rubber xD

[@playwolf253]

I really like these videos really interesting and informative

[@yeevoviii852]

I don't like holes in my rubber either lmao

[@vinayarora5918]

hey since you have a thermal camera how about a similar video comparing stock vs header wraps vs ceramic coatings......maybe even both combined, a lot of people remove heat shields to install headers, heat gets transferred to oil pans and transmissions

[@jfreundST1]

I mean... this should come as no surprise. That bubbled and cracked hood is insane! Plus, the rubber pun was good :)

[@ironman18952]

I am a firm believer in exhaust wraps or coatings aswell because I have had guys come in complaining of hard starts after a hard run down the road. the cause was the heat from the header or turbo evaporated the fuel in the fuel rail

[@ChrisWithThe4.6]

I bust out laughing when Rob said "I'm no rubber expert, but I should be"

[@adamtooms8977]

one of my favourite videos of yours recently. i love learning about things like this

[@TheCheckerdboy777]

Please post more of these videos. Loved learning about this and it was very interesting

[@gamerx262]

Love these types of videos! I would love to see more like this, or possibly more about rotary engines in particular.

[@Sounds_about_right]

Love how you explain everything using real scenarios and using your own physical testing.

[@carkid70]

this is the kinda stuff I love to see on KZbin. I love it when MCM does it, and I'd love it if you did it more

[@Fcreveryoung]

lol the "holes in your rubber"

[@teammusketeers]

looool "holes in my rubber".... rotfl

[@Fcreveryoung]

+PunchingMegaTree Because... I'm Rick James bitch ;)

[@teammusketeers]

+PunchingMegaTree no rubber was used apparently......looool

[@Fcreveryoung]

+teammusketeers XD

[@PoorManMods]

i did a video similar to this last year, i had a lower quality blanket not like one you had, I only at a laster thermometer and you did a much better job than I did, good stuff man.

[@amaninawindow]

This is the first video I've seen of yours and was thoroughly impressed. Concise, informative, entertaining. Subscribed!

[@TheProPilot]

I did a ceramic coating and lava rock wrap on my manifold, turbo and downpipe and I witnessed about a 600rpm difference from where the car would make 1psi of boost. I did the test back to back the same day and did multiple pulls to confirm it.

[@DakotaTheKid97]

We definitely need more videos like this, especially with how in depth you went to describe everything. It was perfect, keep it up.

[@elisheffer6049]

Definitely make more of those videos, It is really interesting to learn and see how *go fast merch* really handles from a scientific point of view, rather than "feeling the difference". GJ

[@turbow02]

Love the scientific angle of this video. Common sense hot-rodding instead of rumor and tradition. Keep it up.

[@viktorspeiser8591]

According to the laws of thermodynamics even a naturally aspirated engine could benefit from thermal insulation. If the difference in temperature between the flowing continuum (air, water, whatever) and the sidewall of the tube is lower, the friction is less. That means, if you keep your exaust heat in the pipe, and in the turbine housing, the metal parts will be closer to the EGT, thus reduceing flow friction. It is gonna put more thermal load on the turbo and the pipes, but on your level of performance Sir, it ain't gonna cause a problem.

[@JJfan48]

I've worked with turbos for the past year at an airplane engine shop. going to start suggesting blankets now for the racers. thanks Rob. would love more!

[@OleMateJ]

please do more of these type of vids man loved it

[@claytonharper2323]

"30 percent efficient..." "The other 60 percent of energy..." Nice Math skills!

[@SWATROLLK9]

What are you talking about? No car is 100% efficient.

[@claytonharper2323]

+Sutthiphong lol, read my comment and try again. If you still can't get it, I'll explain.

[@SWATROLLK9]

+Clayton Harper oh lmaoo.

[@SilverlonewolfX]

He probably forgot to say that the 10 percent of energy is wasted in the engine itself to keep the engine going.

[@Aralakh919]

Yup Silverlonewolf is right, because of all the parts that are moving, energy is lost to keep them going. Actually, FWD cars are more efficient in that matter since there are less parts to move.

[@d.c7464]

Thermal shielding makes a huge difference and when you have the money. To do it correctly it starts in the cylinder and goes out from there. Coating for pistons, cylinder head and valves. The exhaust ports are then coated with a ceramic thermal bearer. Now the exhaust system thermal coatings and other types of bearers can be used and it all adds up.

[@meshracing8508]

Literary just purchased turbo blankets and exhaust wrap for the RX7 and GTR today before watching this video,. This helps explain the spider web paint cracking I have on the RX7's hood. Very informative, thanks for making this!

[@a124as]

You still got em? Nice cars!

[@RubenLensvelt]

I remember from my Bsc in engineering that the turbo charger exchanges potential (inertia) energy between the exhaust gas and the intake gas. Potential energy in the gas is a technical term for the speed of the gas. What happens in fact is: the turbine takes the mass of the gas, multiplied by its speed and turns it into angular momentum and speed. Then at the compressor side it happens vice versa. The thought that I'm trying to convey here is that the turbo utilises the speed of the exhaust gas, not the pressure differential. Now, the speed of the exhaust gas will be that of the speed of sound at its temperature. The speed of sound always only depends on the temperature(as long as the gas mixture stays the same and not suddenly becomes a different gas or so). Low temperature gas has a low speed of sound and the speed of sound is high in a high temperature gas. When the gas flows from a high pressure place to a low pressure place, it will travel at the speed of sound. Less than an atm. is needed to make a gas flow at the speed of sound. The reason to keep the exhaust gas hot as it "shoots at the turbine" is because then it shoots the fastest. The faster the exhaust gas bumps into the turbine the better. The speed of sound at 400C(red-hot steel) is about 575m/s while at 1200C its about 1000 m/s. I may be wrong of course. Let me know if you find out this is not why a blanket on the turbo makes it work better. Cheers.

[@slanted-rcdriftingsa166]

Less heat also decreases the possibility of engine wear or mechanical failure. To protect the paint on the hood however, I'd just pop a reflective insulation guard under the bonnet where it's meant to be (or run methanol lolz) I will defo second some of the comments below. Get that turbo blanket, wrap your headers and use quality lubricants including coolant. Also ensuring that your custom radiator provides good enough cooling (heat dissipation) for your particular vehicle, is never a bad idea. All this comes down to; if you want your car to perform consistently, invest some time in researching upgrades, save up the bucks and stick to only installing quality parts. Very informative video, thank you @Rob Dahm ;)

[@OverpassVisuals]

Do more of these. Thanks!

[@stingofpurlear8]

Great great GREAT! Video dahm!... ive just finished a turbo upgrade on my rx7 and have been in discussion about use of a turbo blanket, the one negative that ive thought of is the fact of it holding heat in could produce moisture and also may scortch the oil!?!... great vid

[@colear3]

I rarely watch through to the end, but I was genuinely interested and watched this all the way through!

[@offtrackpl]

Finally, the most positive and funniest guy is back

[@chubbylee240]

you should try the gold reflective tape under your hood to see if it helps with heating up your hood. Maybe do the intercooler while your at it too. Definitely cool to watch and learn from this vid

[@samc5898]

I know it's late but this is amazing and if you do more of these, I definitely won't complain

[@rogeronslow1498]

Don't trust the temp readings that the infra-red cameras show. They need to be calibrated for every different surface as the emissivity varies from surface to surface. You can't just point and shoot. Many IR cameras allow you to change the emissivity value and you'll notice the temp reading changes as you do this. The way to calibrate it is to point it at a surface of known temperature and adjust the emissivity until the temperature reading on the camera is correct. Most accurate way is to invest in a type-k thermocouple.

[@MrAcat1988]

Ive been watching for a long time. This was one of my favorite videos so far Rob. Excellent quality and great work man! Thanks

[@fashkanof]

BEST VIDEO SO FAR DO MORE STUFF LIKE THIS!!!

[@zpwslayer9719]

I love these types of topics. I would love to see more of this.

[@08turboSS]

Rob where did the custom triangular fabbed aluminum ram/NACA underhood duct intake come from?

[@DGOfTheCentury]

I was told tht turbo blankets are not good for the turbo, because the turbo can not properly vent the heat produced, meaning the housing experiences temperatures far higher than it was built to contain.

[@gsppuffer]

not completely true but the reason Mercedes is ruling f1 is because of using a split turbo so the exhaust side doesn't heat the cold side.So holding exhaust heat in is not really that good

[@craigcollins4302]

That's correct. With a turbo blanket, you are insulating your turbo, which means it will run hotter. But if you are melting surrounding components, then it's probably a good idea. A better idea is to custom fab a heat shield system that both protects the components surrounding the turbo while also permitting convective cooling of the turbo while operating. Often called a turbo chimney.

[@gagesonny3048]

I'd take the turbo burning up, over ruining surrounding components.

[@DGOfTheCentury]

sounds like a better idea Craig.

[@PatonHaus]

Cool video, it was interesting to see the IR images.

[@thabelt29]

Love this type of shit man. Totally becoming obsessed with cars and learning how power adders work with the engine and literally everything else about cars is enjoyable knowledge. Keep doing these

[@nicolashuffman4312]

Do turbo blankets wear out the turbo faster? Seems like a more severe environment for the CHRA. Maybe more oxidization of the metal parts of the turbo too?

[@mihail-cristianmunteanu5125]

What is you go with blankets for headers(if there are any) and using a "thicker" turbo blanket?

[@mrdanman8114]

In what measurement were the temps from the infra red camera? Fahrenheir os Celsius(the logic one)?

[@DodgeCrazed]

Dude loved the video. I like your delivery of the science end of things. You explained this in a way that was both scientific but also simple and easy t understand. I loose interest easily if it gets to long winded or over technical. Great job. Keep it up.

[@elliotjharris4495]

great video! quick question though, so turbos make heat, thats a known fact but why on the 4g63 Evolution engine do they put the turbo a heat producer next to the main source of cooling, the radiator?

[@Odium515]

I love these informative videos. very fun to watch and interesting

[@zackaryhurd8904]

bad ass bro I'm subscribing for sure

[@aaronpeople101]

Definitely not a corny video. Learning about cars is the most important aspect of hotrodding in my opinion.

[@M0l2175UN3]

This was a good thing to cover, another would be how much does wrapping your turbo manifold/header change the temp.

[@Gerberbaby922]

One of your most interesting videos, you have my vote for more like this.

[@evoblade2000]

Great video and I enjoyed the use of the infrared camera.

[@realnameno194]

What a smart dude. Well put together video, wonderful explanations, thoroughly enjoyed the depth of the answers. Subscribed.

[@86bcasias]

Heat doesn't rise, only moves from hot towards cool until a even temperature found. Hot air rises because it has buoyancy compared to the cool air around it. Good video though.

[@deezznts]

Dahm kept mentioning the cost of the Turbo Blanket like it was $1000. I checked out of curiosity and they are only like $50-$150. I thought they were going to be way more expensive. Definitely worth the money for the benefits you get. Excellent video BTW.

[@chrispridemore5562]

If you are looking are something negative about it, I bet it would burn up your oil much faster. You could get an oil change every 2,000 miles, instead of every 3,000 miles, and use high quality oil. Probably not for someone with an oil leaky engine.

[@2trekkertrek]

Please Please PLEASE do more of these!

[@delta-tuning]

Rob, Would you see any more efficiency using a blanket on a smaller turbo (like the TD-04 in my WRX), or does it not put out enough heat to make a difference with or without the blanket?

[@hrdcoreme]

I love these bro-Science videos. I work for GE on gas turbine for power generation plants. And it’s true about the blades growing with the case and closing up the clearances in side making it more efficient. On the bigger Turbines that have bucket width of 19 ft. They take in to account not only thermal growth but also centrifugal growth. Awesome video even if it was a long time ago. Lol

[@ErayQforgetU]

"Not just the 18 years you'll have child support" 😂😂😂😂😂Lmaooo That was Great!!!!! I get to learn about cars and life lessons, Double Win lol

[@Chuchbaby]

What does all that internal heat do to your oil? Wouldn't it cause it to cake up? I really wanna know that

[@Skrillfreak]

I'm looking to do some custom turbo work on my z car, and I wanted to look into turbo blankets, and who knew I'd be taken way back to your old videos. Long time subscriber, thanks for doing what you do, Rob!

[@Zakkday]

dude, rob, yes. we need more videos like this science rules.

[@velocity211]

great video. please make more videos like this getting into the technical stuff. especially with your extensive experience with modifying cars, it would be helpful to many.

[@pauljs75]

You also know now to invest in a hood blanket, if you ever repaint that thing. (Most modern cars have insulation on the underside from the factory.)

[@onelowvdub]

you should put a lover section right behind the turbo exhaust on the hood . and have it so the cool air will go over and pull the heat out of the hood in that area

[@boblast5582]

did you make more vids like this (scientific measuring and all) I'll prolly subscribe to your channel

[@SWATROLLK9]

+Rob Dahm lmao

[@GenFreak.]

would love to see more vids like this !!

[@JayyR34]

Rob, I super appreciate this vid, you definitely did your research. I like how you explained, and showed the data you learnt, you made it very easy for me to understand. I'll be checking out your other videos too, especially the AR vid. cheers!

[@pontusfreij4571]

weird question but would it be possible to include the turbo in the cooling system or have a special system?

[@brendenschoeberlein4822]

Always love learning new things. Keep it going

[@SideKickNz]

Alot of the older rotary race guys around here are firmly against exhaust rap and or turbo blankets,they use that (im unsure of its name) that thermo plate stuff,very flexible and work able,around inlet runners,exhaust housing,dump pipe and extractors,you can touch it after a run and it's only warm

[@SideKickNz]

+Rob Dahm It is quite cheap too,I'll find out what it's called today.Would love to see actual temps and results

[@inuysha360]

I'd love to see more vids like this!

[@KwabenaAsamoah]

We def enjoy learning, great content Rob!

[@alphafort]

good stuff buddy :) Clear, precise and humorous. Subbed after this first video of urs.