that black stuff thats kind of glued under the hood, what is it and its purpose?

 

heat protectant, for the paint on your hood

 

Do not take it off! Since Scion's paint sucks, its protection for the paint.




John

 

It's actually not glued (at least mine isn't - the 06s could be different I suppose). It's held on by some plastic clips.

I painted mine:

 

I hope you used high-temp paint. . . I can't tell if you painted the whole thing, but also realize that if you do that, you may be reflecting engine heat back down, instead of properly dispersing the heat. If that is the case, you may severely hurting the performance of your motor.

 

It was engine paint... and it's just the silver that's painted... not the whole thing. So being an area that small, even if it were reflecting anything, that isn't going to be enough to make a difference on performance. At least, not a noticeable one.

 

Cool. . . I couldn't tell if the whole thing was painted. That would be bad. Man, it's amazing how much clearer pictures are on a 20" monitor than a 15" laptop.

 

That thing also acts as a fire blanket. Should an engine fire happen those plastic clips melt and the whole deal smothers the engine. I probably wont put it out but it will give you a couple extra senconds to get out of the car.

 

Wow i never knew that. Thats cool!

 

isn't it for noise reduction? that's what i recall reading before. in fact, there's more of that stuff behind the engine against the firewall to help keep engine noise out of the car. remember the whole thing about this car having more noise dampening materials than any other toyota?

 

It kind of does that 2

 

And the correct answer is:

D) all of the above

 

its main purpose is fire suspresion everything else is just an added bonus

 

if its for paint protection, does that mean the paint inside the engine bay (firewall, strut towers) will turn to crap since it has no such protectant?

if its for fire suppression, why dont more cars have it? Many/most Hondas dont have it. On my old VW GTI the VR6 had one, but not the 4 cylinder. Unless Toyotas have an increased chance of fire, I figure Toyota would omit it to lower costs.

 

Let me say this, if it wasn't there, my paint would be suffering. If you add a header and take off the heatshield... it gets fricken hot and that blanket protects against the heat from the header to the paint on the inside and outside of the hood.

 

To lower cost? Its a real cheap part. Trust me if they did omit it you still probably wouldn't see a drop in price. Its main purpose IS fire supression. Those plastic clips melt when a fire breaks out under the hood. When the clips melt the blanket falls onto the engine. And like I said earlier it wont put out a fire but it will give you a few extra seconds to get out in case. Paint protection? Kinda...while the paint wont go to crap as you put it, it will fade faster without it. Keep in mind we are talking about years not months or weeks. Why does the engine bay not have protection well because most people don't keep the engine bay that clean so they will never notice/care about the paint fade in there. Even if it does fade the manufacturer can say that the road dirt did it (which it partially did). Sound supression? Kinda...basicly it acts as a dense layer between the engine noise and your ear. But not its main purpose. Why do Honda and VW not have it on some models? Beats me, maybe they don't feel like they need it there. Ask them.

 

^ you'd be surprised how much they save in not only the cost of the part; but the process of making (manufacture labor) and the cost of installing (assembly labor... just one more task)

and think of how many little things they omit in even cheaper cars/brands

little things (x100) = big $ saved

 

whatever it is im keepin it rite where it is hehe

 

Everytime there is a fire in a new car, it costs the manufacturer A TON OF MONEY to investigate, which they usually are required to do/would want to do anyway.

One of the big expenses of production isn't raw material. . . it's assembly time. And by reducing the number of parts, you reduce assembly time. The new Toyota Aygo is a prime example of parts savings.

 

okay I understand that but I really don't think that by omitting this part that WE the customer would see a drop in the price of the car is what i'm saying.