I know for a turbocharged car, keeping more heat in the header improves spool up, and ultimately power. For a normally aspirated car, I think that the increased heat inside the header keeps the exhaust velocities high, improving scavenging and power.(the more burnt gasses you get out, the more air/fuel mixture you can pump in)

 

Longevity, winter driving + road salt eventually ruins cars in the North East.
Reduced underhood temps is secondary.


I don't drive with the hood of my car open and 99% of the people on the street will ever see what I have.

 

north east winters = the sucks lol

 

Isnt stainless suppose to last a while? How much longer will a coated stainless header last then a regular stainless one?

I still wouldnt coat it.

 

plus the header is behind the engine. It's not really going to get into your intake. its only going to lower by 75-100 degrees. I could see if your car was built and revving up to 11k or somthing.

 

Small update:

Decided on Jet-Hot to do the coating. I know a couple of you guys were pushing hard for Swaintech...maybe they will be used for other things down the line.

JETHOT The Hottest Header Coatings! Jet-Hot, jet coat, hot jet, headers, coatings, sterling,Header coating, Ceramic coating, corrosion protection, Metallic Ceramic Coatings, MCCI, metallic ceramic, exhaust coating, performance coating, temperature re

I chose their new "Extreme Sterling" finish. Sent it out last week and it's already back as of yesterday....INCREDIBLY FAST turnaround from NY to PA and back again. Oh and the original estimate of $165.00 for the regular sterling finish was on the high side. They actually charged me $120.00 + $50.00(Extreme Sterling Upgrade) + return Fed Ex Shipping Charge.

It's now more of a dull satin finish (like my Smith and Wesson 5946 duty handgun) with a very slight orange peel texture and it's obviously coated both inside and outside. I'm happy so far.

 

this is Jethot's JetHot 2000 coating (rated 2500*) after it was just coated on the hotside of turbo


this is after a couple months, notice how the Jethot did not hold up so well. The downpipe was coated with swaintech, and still looks the same as it did when it got here. (minus the dirt and grime of course) the burr on the path of the middle bolt was some grinding i had to do to get the bolt in. after the slight grinding, the coating was still there! the color of the DP is a dull brown. that silvery coating is still the coating from swain.


this was right out of the box. (header belongs to my brother) we had it coated to preventing it from heating up his supercharger. (which caused oil seals on the blower to go out prematurely, but TRD replaced it under warranty) but we got more than that, underhood temps were drastically reduced.