Ceramic Coating Your Turbos

Zircotec’s propriety ThermoHold® plasma-applied ceramic coatings are designed to withstand constant exposure to extremely high temperatures, as seen within traditional internal combustion engines. Car components are exposed to extreme thermal cycles especially in elite motorsport, modified cars, as well as classic cars running on modern fuels where potential thermal issues arise. Typically, our technology is utilised across the exhaust system including:

• Exhaust Manifold
• Turbo Housing
• Downpipes
• Tailpipes
• Silencers

and more.

What are the advantages of ceramic coating your turbos?

Similarly, to the rest of the exhaust system, the hot side of a turbocharger – the turbine housing, is where exhaust gas from the engine goes to spin the turbine. As the flow rate of exhaust gas increases, the number of rotations (rpm) within the turbine housing increases, hence a subsequent increase in power. Although the power/ speed of rotation of a turbo is limited by how the turbo is built, as well as its size, quality, and of course how well it matches with the engine.

One of the most popular ways to further increase performance in the car modification scene and elite motorsports is to ceramic coat the hot side of the turbocharger. Zircotec’s ceramic coating has been proven to significantly reduce the external heat transfer process, as well as retaining the hot exhaust gases within the exhaust system between the exhaust manifold and turbocharger, thus improving throttle response and reducing turbo lag. Aside performance improvements, our coating also protects the turbo housing from thermal cycling by reducing thermal fatigue, increasing the lifespan of turbochargers.

By insulating the turbocharger, it also helps reduce the overall under-bonnet temperatures, further protecting other heat sensitive components around the engine bay. This enhances the car’s reliability and safety. Although the performance benefits of Zircotec’s plasma-applied ceramic coating is significantly higher than P1C’s polymer ceramics, they are also able to withstand very high temperatures of a traditional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle, and provide some performance benefits by managing the surface temperatures.

Coating Options

Our ceramic coating is a popular choice for turbo housings due to the aesthetics options available, as well as its lightweight nature – it is extremely thin hence the weight gained from the coating is minimal – keeping the performance high from a weight perspective and making it easier to fit when it comes to compact builds with limited space envelope.

Our Performance Colours™ Range by Zircotec is often popular being a high-performance thermal barrier coating with a choice of 14 colours to choose from. Performance White™ is also a popular option when it comes to improving performance, as it offers the best thermal barrier properties on the market. Both of these options offer 33% surface temperature reduction. Our Volcanic Range from P1C coatings is our go-to for these very high temperatures application, such as on the turbo housing. Check out our gallery of coated turbo housing by us:

Get in touch to find out which of our ceramic coatings is optimal for your applications.