This is never a recommended modification. The sheer "Physics" involved here dictates
WHY this is so. So with all due respect to the Science behind these ideas
(Lord Kelvin) ..
.Here Goes Nothing:
All Energy Transfer comes to us in one of these Three Forms... and occasionally they are produced by a Single Source
(Think... Camp Fire):
(1)
Conduction: Think of a Copper Wire and it's Molecules exchanging energy by CONTACT.
(2)
Convection: Think of the Rising Heat from that Camp Fire. Warm Air Rises-Cold Air Sinks.
(3)
Radiation: THIS IS THE ONE THAT WE WORRY ABOUT. Example: Sunlight (and its Heat)
That Last One... Think of what you can feel on a Cold and Windy Day when you raise your face (eyes closed, of course) up to the Bright Sunshine. The Radiant Energy is
CONSTANT and WARM... and as the word 'Radiation' implies... Does
NOT get Blown Away or diverted by the passage of Cold Air in the atmosphere.
Stay that way too long and you can get a Sunburn in Winter.
The Radiant Energy present in the Infra-Red Ranges can produce an almost Incandescently HOT Exhaust System. This situation can vector Radiant Infra-Red Energy directly into the underside of the SUV and transfer and saturate that HEAT into the Body of the Vehicle.
Such temperatures can rise enough to overheat layers of Carpet, Glue and Wire Insulation enough to have them melt and even chemically break down under the relentless and ever-present heat "Radiating" off of any Unprotected Exhaust System.
For a better example, the average CAT (Catalytic Converter) generates temperatures that can be in the range of 600-900 Degrees F and cause inner vehicle materials to even exceed their ignition levels enough to combust and burn under this excitation of Radiant Energy. The OEM Exhaust Heat Shields are put in place under there for all of these reasons...
and they should never be defeated: