White Lightning Exhaust Coating
Like all of Swain Techs coatings,
White Lightning is a performance improving coating. What makes
White Lightning the best perfor-
mance exhaust coating?
1) White Lightning really is ceramic so the material is a superior insulating material.
2) White Lightning is applied much thicker than any of the cosmetic coatings. White Lightning is
applied about .015 thick compared
to about .002 thick for the cosmetic coatings. Because White Lightning
is the best insulating material and it
is applied thicker than any other
coating, White Lightning offers performance improvements that
cannot be matched.
Many companies apply the shiny or colored paint based coatings and call them ceramic. Those thin shiny coatings are very different than Swain Techs White Lightning.
Whereas it would be more accurate to call those thin shiny coatings good high temperature paints that may have a very small amount added to them, Swain really uses a ceramic coating that is applied molten where it bonds and cools directly on the substrate.
After heat has performed its function in the combustion chamber, it travels out the exhaust port and into the exhaust header or manifold. If the gases are allowed to cool they lose velocity and the scavenging effect is reduced. By insulating the exhaust system, gases inside are kept at the highest possible temperature resulting in greater exhaust gas velocity and higher efficiency.
White Lightning insulating headers typically reduces radiant heat by about 35-55%. This reduction in radiant temperature will decrease under hood and cockpit temperatures. Lower under hood temperatures lead to lower intake temperatures.
A 10°F reduction in intake air temperature provides a 1% increase in horsepower.
A 30°F reduction equates to a 3% horsepower increase.
Because White Lightning really is a ceramic, it is not possible to offer color choices like you can get with paint based coatings. However, the white textured finish of White Lightning makes it an ideal base for a good high temperature paint if you want to change the color of the coating. The high temperature paints bond well to the natural textured finish of White Lightning and the paint will not impact the effectiveness or durability of the White Lightning coating.
