Where have we landed on side sill/cabin temp resolution?

[-TRQuixote-]

This fall Ill be tending to some very minor paint issues on the side sills. Like many others, on warm days or after longer drives my side sills are scorching and the AC is fighting for its life to keep up with the heat in the cabin. I was going to just have the exhaust wrapped, but I seem to read differing opinions on whether or not thats a great idea (trapped moisture etc.). Id rather not be painting every year, and I DEFINTELY would love to cut down on cabin temps, so what the current wisdom on the best approach? Thanks!

 

[ViperFan1]

From what I've read the three main recommendations are catless pipes, cutting some slits in the sills, and upgrading the heat shielding. Since my OEM heat shielding was missing, I did the heat shielding. Sticky shield on the sills/body, and heat armor on the pipes. On a 90 degree day driving an hour, I can still get out and it's warm to the touch, but certainly not scalding like prior. I later on tried catless pipes but put my HFC's back on within a month, with the Corsa it was a bit much. Here's what sold me:

Project Viper GTS: Part 7 - HeatShield Products - MotoIQ

From coolant to cabin temperatures, Vipers are notoriously hot due to having one of the largest engines ever stuffed inside a sportscar. To combat this problem we turn to the…

motoiq.com

 

[BoondocSaint]

Removing as many things out of that sill as legally possible is a good start. Wrapping can help, and some people vent their sill. I don't have cats in mine, just a resonator, and not wrapped. The temps aren't an issue unless I'm sitting in traffic for extended periods.

As far as AC goes, make sure it has a good charge and that all of your o-rings are in good condition. My AC works very well after changing the o-rings and topping the system off. My recirculation setting also blows shockingly cold, not sure what that is about, but I ain't complaining.

 

[-TRQuixote-]

Looking at this option which I could do myself…

Tech Talk Tuesday Heat Shield

 

[Bill W]

I've had Heatshield on my Viper for about 6 years. I also have high-flow cats. Definitely keeps the sill temps down. Have a good AC shop look at your system. I finally found a mechanic who knows what he's doing, and it made a huge difference in my cabin temps.

 

[-TRQuixote-]

I've had Heatshield on my Viper for about 6 years. I also have high-flow cats. Definitely keeps the sill temps down. Have a good AC shop look at your system. I finally found a mechanic who knows what he's doing, and it made a huge difference in my cabin temps.

AC seems to work really well, it just after some time in warm weather cant keep up with the engine heat. Thats a great pic and what I was thinking...thanks!

 

[serafins]

Heatshield products sells pre-made heat shields for 3” exhaust pipe in 12” lengths if you don’t want to make your own.

 

[white out]

Vent the sill:
- Cut off the inner fender liner covering the front
- Not necessary, but helps with airflow out of car, remove riveted panel at rear of rocker panel
If you don't have cats, remove the outer heat shielding - I have done this on 2 cars for over 50k miles with zero paint issues.

Lowest cabin temps I've had on GEN2:
All the above; made driver hood vent functional; removed rubber seal on cowl; relocated cats to where the center muffler resides; no mufflers in the sills. I also used titanium for the exhaust, so it radiated less heat.

Semi related: I vented the rear wheel arch access panels and made the vents in the rear bumper functional. This created airflow over the muffler heat shield under the trunk floor. I have to assume this helped cabin temp on GTS.

 

[ViperGTSted]

Thanks for the info. Any pictures available of all those mods?

 

[LifeIsGood]

As far as AC goes, make sure it has a good charge and that all of your o-rings are in good condition. My AC works very well after changing the o-rings and topping the system off. My recirculation setting also blows shockingly cold, not sure what that is about, but I ain't complaining.

I also did this and it made a big difference. I'm cold inside my viper in the Arizona summer. Not so much outside the viper.

 

[Steve E]

I am fortunate to live where there is no emissions testing, so the best way to keep the side sills cool as a cucumber is remove the cats and put a straight pipe in it's place, I could never hack up the sills on my Viper or cut out pieces, but that's me,,without the cats even after a long drive the sills are just warm not hot and the paint looks factory new.

 

[white out]

Thanks for the info. Any pictures available of all those mods?

Front rocker panel (Brembo pic).
Rear rocker panel.
Inner rear fender trim and rear bumper off car.
Rear Bumper.
Hood.

 

[white out]

Cat relocation to rear of car.

Note. If moving cats to the back and venting the bumper. Leave some material in the middle opening to reinforce the lower part of the bumper. The heat from the cats in low speed-high temperature situations (sitting in traffic for prolonged periods) would cause the bottom of the bumper to sag. It would return to its original position when cooled. This never happened prior to cat relocation on this car or my prior GTS. It was only noticeable because of the white stripes, but did occur.

 

[ViperGTSted]

Thank you @white out

 

[-TRQuixote-]

I am fortunate to live where there is no emissions testing, so the best way to keep the side sills cool as a cucumber is remove the cats and put a straight pipe in it's place, I could never hack up the sills on my Viper or cut out pieces, but that's me,,without the cats even after a long drive the sills are just warm not hot and the paint looks factory new.

Is there a major sound impact to this?

 

[ViperFan1]

I went Corsa and Belanger HFC, and then tried going catless. The sound was worse, drone was worse, the smell was worse, and the overall tone of the car was loud, but not really pleasant. I prefer the high flow cats on it personally. Then I again, I also trimmed a bunch off the car to have lower height and better fitment

 

[white out]

Is there a major sound impact to this?

Really depends on what exhaust you're running. I did ARH headers & deletes into stock catback and it sounded OEM+ (much quieter than Mopar/Borla 2 muffler with stock manifolds and deletes).