Is thermal insulation recommended for aftermarket catback exhaust?
 

My BRZ is the first car to which I’ve considered adding an aftermarket exhaust system (just a cat-back for now). Based on the photos in a number of installation threads, I am a little concerned about the heat effects of reducing the air gap between the exhaust pipe and the walls of the transmission tunnel and components adjacent to the exhaust.

Would adding some thermal insulation, at least for the first few feet downstream from the catalytic converter be recommended?

Is there a particular type of insulation that would be recommended for this application? An example of what I was considering is something like this: http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/au...rs/lava-shield

Not a single bit necessary IMO.

^ This. You shouldn't have a problem at all

Anywhere the factory exhaust has a heat shield, you should also make provisions to manage heat. On this car the header and overripe are probably the most important areas. I like themotec turbo heat wrap and dei titanium heat wrap for products.

heat shields if you must, but don't wrap the pipes.
http://www.centuryperformance.com/ex...o-not-use.html

Thanks all for the feedback. For the time being I am leaving the factory heat shrouded components alone. If I ever swap things in the under hood exhaust I've seen a few threads discussing heat issues there that I can refer to.

Anyone tried reusing the OEM heat shielding? I haven't replaced the header yet (Ft86SF header on order and you know the wait times on those), but thinking of trying to reuse if it's at all possible.

overpipe and header is the only thing that needs heat management products.