Firstly, what is ceramic coating?  Ceramic coating is the process whereby a non metallic thermal barrier is placed onto an item to reduce the heat transfer from that item to other items and the air in the surrounding area for example, the exhaust of a motor car under the bonnet of the car can be ceramic coated to stop the heat from the exhaust being transferred to the air intake pipes thereby reducing the temperature of the air entering the engine. The air under the bonnet also benefits from the cooler temperature so any air sucked into the induction filter from under the bonnet is cooler too. This can result in better performance. Tests have proved that Zircotec thermal barriers can reduce under bonnet temperatures by up to 50ºC (as independently measured & confirmed by DAMEX Race Engineering Click Here for details); lower intake air temperatures of just 30ºC can lead to power improvements of up to six percent! On a 268bhp car that is up to 16bhp increase!! The Zircotec Ceramic Coating reduces surface temperature by up to 173ºC.

What else does the Zircotec ceramic coating do?  Well, heat transfer from the exhaust can reduce component reliability, damage expensive finishes and create safety issues. On a Subaru flat 4 engine for example, the offside (driver's side) rocker cover gasket, in our experience, fails more oftern than the nearside. This offside gasket is directly above the exhaust continuously getting very hot and then cooling again. The Zircotec Ceramic Coating keeps the excessive heat in the exhaust where it belongs not in the engine bay! The more heat and energy you can keep in the system the better. Turbos can spool faster giving an increase in throttle response.

Why do we use Zircotec and not another supplier? Basically, quality. Quality of the product, quality of the process. The Zircotec exceptionally high performance ceramic thermal barrier coating product and process surpasses any other that we have seen. Zircotec's proprietary Thermohold(TM) technology and are applied using their own in-house highly optimised plasma-spray process, first developed in the UK nuclear power industry. Formulated from selected ceramic materials, Zircotec's thermal barrier coatings contain >99% by weight of pure ceramic. The coatings are applied to a typical thickness of just over 300µm (.012"), i.e. more than ten times the normal thickness of a paint. Before being coated the item to be coated is pre treated then with the plasma-spray process temperatures (approaching 10,000ºC) the ceramic coating material is melted and propelled towards the component being coated. There, the molten ceramic droplets flatten, cool and then solidify to weld themselves in place. The exhaust coatings are therefore extremely well adhered to the underlying component, providing an extremely hard, lightweight yet durable ceramic coating. We have not known the Zircotec Thermal Barrier Ceramic Coating to go brittle, flake or peel off unlike others that we have witnessed.

All of Zircotec's exhaust system ceramic thermal coatings must pass arigorous product testing and validation regime. Over 100,000 miles of simulated road use, temperatures in excess of 900ºC, Thermal shock testing heating the coating to 500oC (932oF) and then quenching in cold water at 20ºC repeated 30 times, salt corrosion testing, chemical stability testing and adherance & scratch resistance. Zircotec have been using their ceramic thermal coating to help Formula 1 teams, Lamborghini and Ferrari. More

What about exhaust wrap?  Exhaust wrap does not provide the same complete thermal barrier package that Ceramic Coating does. Exhaust wrap is also unsightly, bulky and requires regular maintenance. Ceramic Coating provided by Zircotec is a fit and forget method of thermal barrier.

Ceramic coating is available in a range of colours: Performance White, Diamond Black, Graphite, Chilled Red, Warm Grey, Yellow Gold, Solid Black, Sterling Silver, Fern Green, Ultra Blue, Metallic Black, Antique Silver, Copper, Aqua Green and Aged Brown.