bnr s3 turbo blanket

[Dog]

Hi all, Im about to bolt up a bnr s3 to a custom ceramic coated exhaust manifold....I had the s3 rebuilt but didnt expect to land a manifold so had intentions of just reusing the factory style heat shields....
Now that the manifold is going on and I have a nice piece to show off, it would be a shame to cover it up....
So, Im wondering if anyone has used a turbo exhaust housing blanket to keep engine bay temps down? If you have fitted one to an s3 id appreciate links to the supplier or at least a little help with sizing etc....
Thanks for any help in advance!

[AlphaOmega]

What exhaust manifold are you running, just curious. But from what I've read/heard no one has ran a turbo blanket on an S3.

[JSmith]

This fits the gtx28 frame just fine. I believe its a similar size to the S3.

https://www.ptpturboblankets.com/collections/t3

[AlphaOmega]

The only thing that's wrong with that is he needs to find one with a mazda flange. He'd need to modify it to fit around the mazda flange.


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[JSmith]

Mine has the mazda flange...works just fine.

[AlphaOmega]

No shit!? Lol.


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[Dog]

Originally Posted by AlphaOmega What exhaust manifold are you running, just curious. But from what I've read/heard no one has ran a turbo blanket on an S3.

The manifold is a custom made by a local guy thats right into the mazdaspeed/mps scene here in Australia....
He would also be cheaper than most mani's that come from the states since the conversion rate messes with prices so much for us here...
Oh....and obviously cheaper shipping.

Originally Posted by JSmith This fits the gtx28 frame just fine. I believe its a similar size to the S3. https://www.ptpturboblankets.com/collections/t3

Thankyou VERY much....I was on that site last night but wasnt 100% sure regarding size comparisons

[Dog]

Ok so I got a return email from Bryan @ BNR that states that he doesnt reccommend use of turbo blankets because they dont allow the housing to breathe, resulting in cracks on the edges of the machined faces.
Grrrrrrr. Maybe a better quality material should be used. Garrett etc dont seem to have issues with said cracking from all the reading Ive done.
Not happy.

[GroceryGtr]

Originally Posted by Dog Ok so I got a return email from Bryan @ BNR that states that he doesnt reccommend use of turbo blankets because they dont allow the housing to breathe, resulting in cracks on the edges of the machined faces. Grrrrrrr. Maybe a better quality material should be used. Garrett etc dont seem to have issues with said cracking from all the reading Ive done. Not happy.

This is common with numerous turbo brands. Turbo blankets have their drawbacks and one of them is they tend to shorten the lifecyle of a turbo due to the heat insulation. While this is great for spool, keeping a turbo housing 'baking' isn't. I have personally damaged 2 garrett turbos from turbo blankets. Granted this was on purpose as they were on a race car and designed to be consumable, but the point is even garretts crack. Very similar to rally anti-lag setups... great for spool, horrible for turbo longetivity(same heat issues).

Take that with a grain of salt as the turbo blanket debate is just as contested as the damn oil discussions.... and before someone jumps down my throat yes there are just as many people who have used blankets for years with no ill results as those who have cracked turbos in a few months.

[MazdaspeedKills]

Originally Posted by GroceryGtr This is common with numerous turbo brands. Turbo blankets have their drawbacks and one of them is they tend to shorten the lifecyle of a turbo due to the heat insulation. While this is great for spool, keeping a turbo housing 'baking' isn't. I have personally damaged 2 garrett turbos from turbo blankets. Granted this was on purpose as they were on a race car and designed to be consumable, but the point is even garretts crack. Very similar to rally anti-lag setups... great for spool, horrible for turbo longetivity(same heat issues). Take that with a grain of salt as the turbo blanket debate is just as contested as the damn oil discussions.... and before someone jumps down my throat yes there are just as many people who have used blankets for years with no ill results as those who have cracked turbos in a few months.

Second these comments. I went down the same road , did my research, and concluded that blankets aren't the way to go for a daily driver. Get yourself a quality ceramic coat from Swaintech and call it a day. That's what I did. No regrets.

[Dog]

Originally Posted by GroceryGtr This is common with numerous turbo brands. Turbo blankets have their drawbacks and one of them is they tend to shorten the lifecyle of a turbo due to the heat insulation. While this is great for spool, keeping a turbo housing 'baking' isn't. I have personally damaged 2 garrett turbos from turbo blankets. Granted this was on purpose as they were on a race car and designed to be consumable, but the point is even garretts crack. Very similar to rally anti-lag setups... great for spool, horrible for turbo longetivity(same heat issues). Take that with a grain of salt as the turbo blanket debate is just as contested as the damn oil discussions.... and before someone jumps down my throat yes there are just as many people who have used blankets for years with no ill results as those who have cracked turbos in a few months.

Thankyou for your response and the insight re the garretts. I personally know guys running garretts on rotaries and no issues with the blankets, but maybe under extreme (as you mentioned - racing application) conditions theyre not ideal.
Im now torn. The s3 was stuffed when I got it so its already been rebuilt. That leaves me now wondering if I have it stripped down again to ceramic coat the turbine housing, or just take the risk....

[GroceryGtr]

you are correct depending on the amount of use/abuse they see will affect the outcome moreso than the brand of turbo(when comparing quality brands). That was the point I was trying to make. All will show cracks eventually, usually starting inside the 02 housing. I'd say either stick with the factory shielding or go buy yourself a few sheets of heat shielding and cover the firewall area, hood directly above ,rear tank of the tmic(if you have it), the area by the alternator, and then wrap both heater core lines/o2 wire/ AC line.