Thermal intake gasket Peak Performance OR Circuit sports?

[OM3GA]

I am about to order a thermal gasket tomorrow, thought id post a last minute thread to see who trusts which brand more and go from there. They are both equivalent in price but which one would you go with? Have you heard any good/bad about either one!? Help me decide hehehe

[OM3GA]

OMG no one knows ahhhhhhh

[LayNLow240]

Well, I was hoping to see some reviews about either one, as i am about to purchase one along with the rest of the seals for my sr. So, when you get it installed, please post up how it went. If you felt a noticable difference, etc.

[garagelu]

its not going to really matter as far as design because they are both made out of a phenolic resin and the shape and cut should be the same. If they were different thicknesses, then I would say yes but you can only go so think before your bolts won't thread in.

Personal preference though...peak performance. They make good products.

[DuckyD]

They're the same, whichever you can get cheaper.

[OM3GA]

Im going to go with the Circuit sports one, I had an unbranded one on my KA that worked out fine so a name brand one will be fine im sure haha. There are 3 good ones that i know of Peak performance, Circuit sports and also one called Thermalnator that no one really knows about but its about $50 and is red haha. Im going with the Circuit sports one for sure i dont se there being a problem with any of these they are all the same material. Im sure it will work out fine. Im not one to cheap out on anything i mean i just bought a Brand new Greddy intake manifold for the sr ($675) so you know that i like quality parts. Im sure the CS gasket will work out fine.

[ray666]

i've been so skepical on that product. please let us know if it really works. its probably going to be very slight. i bought some water wetter gonna put that in soon, it seems like people have had good results

[DuckyD]

By the way, keep an eye out for stripping the intake manifold studs and bolts. The added thickness of the gasket means that the threads may not always get enough bite. You can buy an extended stud kit that may be worth the money (versus having to retap your head, etc etc).

[OM3GA]

Yeah its about 3 or 4 mm thick, it does make a difference i had one on my KA and it decreased the temperature of the manifold a good bit. I also had the throttle body lines bypassed which will be on this SR as well, I think it should be a better gain on the SR just because it does not have a coolant passage running through the Intake manifold like the KA. Ill let you know how it works, im just going to be torquing the head to spec after getting a nice feel of the bolt bite.

[prtrillaboss]

Do a write up on it and your results, thought about this as well when going to side intake manifold

[OM3GA]

I will for sure, i believe it should turn out good just like it did on the ka, I dont think its thick enough to damage the threads on the head. Although i have heard of people using two gaskets and having problems with that. Only full race applications though. One should be sufficient.

[prtrillaboss]

Sound good, I used a multi layer metal gasket on the exhaust manifold and had no issues with mounting, so might be same on other side
Modified by prtrillaboss at 3:38 AM 9/21/2009

[OM3GA]

Well i purchased the peak performance gasket, and its sitting next to me now, Its bolt holes line up well but the others are not 100% they are about 90% accurate which is still decent. However id assume they would use an oem gasket to base this one off of but its not enough to really affect anything in a bad way. Ill be putting it on sometime in the near future, im wondering if you need to seal it with some rtv or just put it on dry.

[prtrillaboss]

take any photos of it?

[Kalypso]

hope it works out great for you,

but didn't you but an OEM gasket?

[slow s13]

I think these products are worthless, just think how fast the air is traveling through the intake manifold under heavy throttle conditions theres just no time for the air to heat up significanly.

[prtrillaboss]

just guessing but i think the reason one is used is the head is hot regardless if the intake manifold isnt, having a good layer gasket between the two would do the job

[OM3GA]

hope it works out great for you,

but didn't you but an OEM gasket?

No i got the Peak performance gasket.

take any photos of it?

Not yet sorry have been messing with other stuff on the car ill get some up when i have a chance to go back over and snap a few shots of it.

[prtrillaboss]

sound good

[Kalypso]

i mistyped that, i meant why not buy an oem gasket,

but it doesnt matter now... enjoy

[DuckyD]

i meant why not buy an oem gasket,

The idea with the thicker gasket is to seperate the IM from the head to stop heat-transfer in the metal.