Keeping heat out of your car or truck’s interior can make the ride a lot more enjoyable. Heatshield Products thermal barriers, insulation and other heat control products significantly decrease the heat transferred to the interior of the vehicle. To show what our product line is capable of and what you can expect, we conducted a test using the HP Stealth Shield™ heat shield interior insulation and thermal-barrier material.

HP Stealth Shield is a lightweight material that feels like felt cloth and is based on the same proprietary technology and specially formulated material used in our welding blankets. It blocks heat and can even withstand direct contact with flames. At only 1/8-inch thick, HP Stealth Shield can easily fit under carpet or vinyl flooring and above the headliner. It can handle up to 1,800 degrees F of continuous heat and up to 2,000 degrees F intermittent. Its minimal thickness means HP Stealth Shield can be combined with an acoustic barrier yet not create fitment issues. And since it’s like a fabric, HP Stealth Shield will conform to any floor pan or roof panel. You use scissors to cut the material to fit, with installation being as simple as a quality spray adhesive like 3M Headliner and Fabric Adhesive to secure HP Stealth Shield in place.

To demonstrate how efficient HP Stealth Shield is and its capabilities over stock insulation, we assisted with the rehab of the interior of a 1996 Chevy Caprice. The original carpet was especially nasty and in need of at least a thorough cleaning. But with a 1996 9C1 Caprice police car to supply parts, it was decided to pitch the carpet in favor of the police car’s vinyl flooring that was in great shape and would be much easier to clean. This provided the opportunity to replace the original factory insulation with the much more efficient HP Stealth Shield.

ABOVE: A very useful safety feature of HP Stealth Shield is its ability to withstand high heat, including direct contact with fire. This photo shows a section of the factory material and the HP Stealth Shield set aflame with a small torch. The factory material performed like kindling, but the HP Stealth Shield smoldered a little bit and that was all. Even right after taking a torch to the HP Stealth Shield material, it was not uncomfortable to handle. However, the factory insulation continued to burn. We shot this video showing the comparison in detail.

ABOVE: We took the car for a drive, then measured the temperature of the floor pan. One of the catalytic converters is located under this spot, providing for a major heat source to the floor. The floor pan measured 109.4 degrees F, according to our direct-contact temperature probe.

ABOVE: After the factory carpet and insulation were removed, we installed a section of HP Stealth Shield over the test area, drove the car on the same loop as the baseline run, then measured again. There was an almost 20-degree temperature drop from adding the HP Stealth Shield, proving just how much heat gets blocked.

ABOVE: In addition to being very flammable, the factory insulation is much like a sponge, soaking up moisture and not easily drying out. When the original carpeting was removed, we found evidence that the HVAC system had leaked engine coolant onto the floor, through the carpet and into the insulation. The factory insulation then kept the moisture trapped and caused rust damage—enough that we needed to employ rust neutralizer before installing the HP Stealth Shield and new vinyl flooring. This photos shows how we immersed a section of the in water, then squeezed it like a sponge. You can see just how much water the original insulation held.

ABOVE: We then the duplicated the “squeeze”-test parameters on HP Stealth Shield. It held significantly less water than the factory insulation, meaning if it got wet it would dry quicker, reducing the risk of trapping moisture and causing corrosion. We filmed a short video of the difference in real time.

ABOVE: To spotlight how the factory insulation soaks up water, we immersed another piece of the material in water, then pulled it out of the water and simply let it drain. It took a minute or two. Because this material traps moisture, it will promote rust of the floorboard, and it is possible to have mildew or mold which will add a funky smell to your vehicle.