11-30-2011, 11:29 AM
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#11 (permalink)
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A True Z Fanatic
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Houston, TX
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Drives: too slow
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spikuh
I am a little lost on this. How do silicone hoses help cool better? The only real information I can find on them says they will outlast the stock hoses because they are rubber. Do the silicone ones do a better job at preventing heat soak or something of the like?
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I don't know *exactly* which forms of rubber and silicone are used for the factory hoses and the aftermarket silicone ones, but generally speaking the thermal conductivity of the two is in the same rough ballpark with generic silicone rubber coming in around 25% higher (0.2 vs 0.16), looking at data from around google/wikipedia. That seems like the right direction (coolant is hotter than front engine bay air, so silicone hoses would cause more cooling of the coolant than rubber hoses), but all things considered even if the effect is there the difference is probably very insignificant in the big picture of your cooling system.
The primary benefit is that the silicone hoses will last longer and withstand more pressure/heat/time abuse before cracking. I'm still running stock hoses on mine for now since they're still healthy, but whenever they finally do start showing signs of age, I'll replace them with silicone instead of more factory stuff.
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