After installation of my VRSF 7" FMIC, I noticed that upon throttle dip in, my charge temps would drop several degrees. I figured this was indicative of heat soak through FMIC cold side piping/charge pipe, so I did some data logging at idle to find out.
I chose idle, in a garaged setting, because I can control nearly every variable rendering charge air temp differences to solely be attributed to the heat tape wrapping. I logged charge air temps vs. ambient every 30 seconds until the charge air temps no longer increased (heat soak). It took a little under an hour.
Car is a 2007 BMW 335i, brentuned E85 map, VSRF 7" FMIC, BMS DCI, BMS charge pipe, Forge DV's. The experiment was done in a garage (minimal circulating flow) under identical ambient temperatures, both times the car was cooled down for a minimum of 12 hours prior to commencing test. The heat tape was thermo-tec:
http://www.thermotec.com/products/14...mo-shield.html
The bottom line is that it does actually make a difference in charge air temps. You can see where the graphs diverge, the point at which radiant heat in the engine bay starts to effect charge air temps. It's not a huge difference, but since I live in the desert, and don't want to run meth I was looking for some easy ways to control temps. The next step for this will be to dive into the DCI vs. Cold Air intake experiments, which I believe a huge percentage of the data out there is either flawed or not applicable to very hot climates.
Driving data, while much less useful from a variable point of view, suggests to me that charge air temps are more stable. On the down side, cooldown time increased. I didn't bother to post the graphs (I can if requested) but the unwrapped charge pipe cooled 35 degrees in 2 hours, the wrapped cooled 24 degrees in 2 hours.
Regardless, for $15, get a roll or two and wrap your pipe next time it's out for whatever reason.
![Click here to enlarge]()
![Click here to enlarge]()
I chose idle, in a garaged setting, because I can control nearly every variable rendering charge air temp differences to solely be attributed to the heat tape wrapping. I logged charge air temps vs. ambient every 30 seconds until the charge air temps no longer increased (heat soak). It took a little under an hour.
Car is a 2007 BMW 335i, brentuned E85 map, VSRF 7" FMIC, BMS DCI, BMS charge pipe, Forge DV's. The experiment was done in a garage (minimal circulating flow) under identical ambient temperatures, both times the car was cooled down for a minimum of 12 hours prior to commencing test. The heat tape was thermo-tec:
http://www.thermotec.com/products/14...mo-shield.html
The bottom line is that it does actually make a difference in charge air temps. You can see where the graphs diverge, the point at which radiant heat in the engine bay starts to effect charge air temps. It's not a huge difference, but since I live in the desert, and don't want to run meth I was looking for some easy ways to control temps. The next step for this will be to dive into the DCI vs. Cold Air intake experiments, which I believe a huge percentage of the data out there is either flawed or not applicable to very hot climates.
Driving data, while much less useful from a variable point of view, suggests to me that charge air temps are more stable. On the down side, cooldown time increased. I didn't bother to post the graphs (I can if requested) but the unwrapped charge pipe cooled 35 degrees in 2 hours, the wrapped cooled 24 degrees in 2 hours.
Regardless, for $15, get a roll or two and wrap your pipe next time it's out for whatever reason.