Interior heat
 

Hey guys, new guy to the corvette. Just got a new to me 09 base model after leaving the motorcycle world. I love the car, but living in the great state of Flo Rida, the heat coming from the transmission tunnel is almost unbearable. After some research, im thinking of getting the exoticvettes full interior insulation, but can't find any decent reviews on it. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with it, or any other good fixes to try to mitigate the heat for longer duration trips. Thanks!

Interior insulation like Dynamat? or other brands. Transmission tunnel shield installed underneath car.

You don't have to go to the same extreme that I did but here is what I did for rode noise and heat. Finished with the premium Vettenuts insulation kit which fit like a glove.

Check Here

It really helped with the heat coming from the tunnel.

I lined my tunnel and tunnel shield with DEI stuff and had the entire exhaust (headers to mufflers) ceramic coated inside and out. Helped tremendously.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the responses. Now I just have to figure out which kit to buy. The noise doesn't bother me nearly as badly as the heat. Time for more research!

FWIW, I just installed a insulated tunnel plate from Elite Engineering, and while it has not gotten that warm here in the NE yet I have noticed an significant decrease in the temp of the tunnel. I had previously insulated the interior when I changed the shifter, but seems to be a much greater reduction in cabin heat. In the interest of full disclosure, I also did eliminate the secondary cats from the exhaust at the same time.

so do you think the plate or the insulation helped more?

Honestly I can't give a definitive answer until the summer, but if you want my gut feeling it does make a big difference. Before I installed the insulated plate I would notice the heat from the tunnel all year, so far it is much cooler than before. Now how much of that is due to the plate and how much from the elimination of the secondary cats is another matter. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I am just being as honest as I can be.

I appreciate the honesty. Thanks!

No worries. :cheers:
If I were you I would start with an interior insulation kit and go from there. I would never have installed the tunnel plate if I was not swapping out the exhaust, as you have to do that anyway to get access to it. I didn't even order the plate until after I had everything removed, I figured I may as well as long as I was in there. You know, mission creep and all that. :lol:

Bought the complete Crazy Cowboy kit for my '08. Then did several friends cars with HD insulation (same stuff), which worked as well. Did a double tunnel plate with spacers between the plates for airflow on one car that the owner said worked well. Lots of choices, so let your wallet be your guide, since everyone has different opinions of how effective each method works.
BTW, It gets hot in AZ too. :D

Also in S. Flo Rida, but I went the opposite route and installed Sound/Heat from the inside using Killmat and Cool-It Thermotec. Per the post, used the Cool-It on the Tranz Tunnel and the Killmat everywhere else. HUGE improvement on heat reduction on the tunnel and nothing else I want to do for that issue, literally feel no warmth from it now. The Killmat did help on the sound deadening imo, but not hugely noticeable like with the tunnel heat reduction.

The only thing I would do differently is use the Cool-It in the hatch/tub area instead of the Killmat to reduce the heat from that area. Any questions, happy to provide feedback.

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Similar to what several have said, I went with Second Skin Damplifier Pro and Vettenuts premium insulation like BMF_C6 did and it made a major difference in sound and heat. I noticed a significant decrease in the tranny tunnel heat after doing it. The Vettenuts premium insulation is great.

Now, I’m in the process of Kooks headers and x-pipe and I had it jet-hot ceramic coated, went ahead and coated all pieces. While I had all that out I swapped out the tunnel plate with the 5/8” Elite Engineering plate. Haven’t driven it hardly at all yet so can’t speak to the heat with the new exhaust parts but I imagine the ceramic coating difference will be noticeable.

You guys are a wealth of info. Thanks so much for the help!

For now, try using the Bi-Level mode, it will send some cool air to the floor.

We did the Vettenuts kit and then pulled the exhaust off and insulated the tunnel area. (The exhaust was must easier to remove than I thought it would be). The results were excellent. The car still got warm but never HOT. And the noise reduction was an added benefit. Made the monthly trips to Arizona in the summer enjoyable. The AC did not have to work as hard. (Once we had the interior out it was scary looking at what all had to go back into the car). But it you take your time it goes back together fast and is ALMOST fun!

I would think it's best to stop the infiltration of HEAT before it rises up into the cab area. Soon as heat warms up the floor pan/tunnel area, it's already spreading throughout the entire cab floor. Thus a shield or aluminum sticky liner would work great under the car, above the exhaust tunnel area.

this is the only way to do it... people seem to forget that the torque tube is just a big aluminum radiator....

its connected to the block and trans.... aluminum conducts heat.....

stock insulation can block air flow through the tunnel... it needs to be removed (air gap) and add thin dei insulation.... (think thick winter blanket / jackets....)

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Since the exhaust was off I installed the DEI DS tunnel and starter heat shields.
This does a noticable postponing of heat transfer into the cabin.
For trips over 90 mins. in summer heat its gonna take more than that.

If I ever have to remove the t tube I would do what you have here.
If you are saying leave the tunnel plate off I would have to look into that before leaving it off. Seems to make sense tho.