Hey Benny, do you have some figures from what the difference in heat retention is with the race stuff vs black coating? I wonder if the price reflects performance gains, which is probably doesn't.
Although being the most important area of the exhaust to shield....it might be wise to pay the extra $$.
To help Newbie decide, I'll just keep repeating everything I already said in more detail. Here's what I was thinking yesterday, but was too lazy to type, thankfully someone already articulately expressed it on the internet a long time ago:
"Hotter gas has to move faster through the exhaust. Faster, hotter gas contains much more energy, which then gets deposited in the exhaust turbine, improving spool.
By the time the exhaust is in the turbine, it's basically too late though. If the exhaust hasn't cooled a significant amount in the 6 feet of exhaust piping leading up to the turbine, it's not going to cool a significant amount in the 4 inches it spends in the turbine. The above really applies to wrapping the header and uppipe, wrapping the turbine just serves the same purpose as wrapping the downpipe...reducing the heat radiated to the TMIC."
Coating the dump = not a noticeable performance mod, more of a peace of mind, possibly a mild-aid-with-longevity mod.
Who wants to group buy some gold tape?