jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
User status: Offline
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Well im thinking of changing all my hoses and just generally tidying up my engine bay with a few bits and bobs but i could do with a bit of help and info first about the hoses.
Out of the hose kits available for the X16XE there only seems to be a couple of manufacturers - SFS, Samco, Roose. Does anyone have any reviews of these of price vs quality vs looks? Ive heard some are a bit thin and split after a while. Would it be worth buying the hoses individually? Or ringing a company that doesnt have the kit listed and trying to blag a discount for being the first car?
Next up is colour options.
White engine bay, silver head, black block, silver manifolds, white powerbox and white tank caps.
Hose colour options are:
White
Yellow
Blue
Red
Black
Classic matt black
Purple
Orange
Lime Green
British racing green
Pink
Silver
Gold
Camo grey
Camo pink
Camo green
Camo blue
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Limecat
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Registered: 25th Jun 05
Location: The Internet
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Jibjob, they honestly are much the same. I have had all 3 of the manufacturers mentioned hoses on my cars over the years. All will fade, all are robust.
However, it seems you are unsure of what you want. OK, you want to tidy up the engine bay for aesthetics so seem to want them for looks rather than durability? If you had narrowed it down to a few colours before asking for opinions I could understand but posting the catalogue list makes it look like you are building a car for other peoples perception rather than your own desires.
If you just want to 'tart up' your hoses for looks then there are far cheaper options. You can clean up your current hoses (IME they become prone to fail if stood for large periods of time or when they have been on H/G failed cars etc), you can even buy a silicone tape which you can wrap over your existing hoses and achieve the 'look', saving you the premium of the reliability.
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jibjob
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Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
User status: Offline
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Thanks for the reply mate. I understand that what ive posted is pretty broad but i prefer getting other peoples opinions just to help me see the pros and cons that i might not see. Dont get me wrong im not running a high pressure high performance engine but i still want a good standard of reliability and durability.
As for colour i want something different but not garish but ive realised thats not always possible so realistically im looking at either red, blue or black. Ive always liked blue i just dont want it to look chavvy.
What are the cheaper options you mentioned? I dont want any of that cheap conduit type stuff from Argos 
[Edited on 01-04-2010 by jibjob]
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Limecat
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Registered: 25th Jun 05
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It really depends on what brand you choose TBH and the styling of your car IMO.
I have red Roose hoses for an XE Corsa, I had blue Samco's on my LET and a combination of red and blue SFS on my R5GTT.
IMO, Samco hoses are stereotypically blue but saying that, I have ordered red ones for my Lotus engined Metro as all the standard detailing like stickers and bumper insets are red so any other colours would just confuse an otherwise white and black canvas IMO. I also went for the Samco's for the Metro because that was the only option, SFS/Roose do not do the application I need so don't take that as a recommendation/preference.
I personally don't see the point in paying a premium for a product that also acts as a detail feature and having it in black, unless you don't clean under the engine bay much?
That's just me though.
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Nic Barnes
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Registered: 5th Apr 04
Location: nowhere near ginger people
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yeah, seems pointless to buy them in black. standard hoses are already black and if going to the trouble might aswell get a coloured set so you can say, hey, look, ive got silicone hoses. and people will be able to see them. instead of saying, hey, look i have silicone hoses and them being black and people thinking whatever mate.
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davieslim
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Registered: 15th Sep 08
Location: Glasgow City
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i use red roose hoses on my corsa, didnt cost as much as samco and there pretty lol
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Nic Barnes
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Registered: 5th Apr 04
Location: nowhere near ginger people
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oh and also a thing to mention is that according to that bloke called vxr, they lower the running temp fo te engine by over 10 degrees when you fit silicone hoses.
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jibjob
Member
Registered: 6th Apr 08
Location: Elworth, Cheshire
User status: Offline
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Cheers for the help. I think its made up my mind now. Roose seems to offer the quality of the others for a lower price even if they only do limited applications. I think black is mainly used for classic cars to give better durability with the clean standard look.
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