One of the restrictions in the very high tier areas is that you should try to avoid travelling into them other than for things like work, education or youth services, to meet caring responsibilities or if you are travelling through as part of a longer journey. We therefore wanted to inform drivers which areas of the Country are currently in the Local COVID alert level: very high.

At the time of writing this blog the areas in the very high tier were:

Liverpool City Region

• Liverpool
• Knowsley
• Wirral
• St Helens
• Sefton
• Halton

Lancashire

• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Burnley
• Chorley
• Fylde
• Hyndburn
• Lancaster
• Pendle
• Preston
• Ribble Valley
• Rossendale
• South Ribble
• West Lancashire
• Wyre

Greater Manchester

• Manchester
• Bolton
• Bury
• Stockport
• Tameside
• Trafford
• Wigan
• Salford
• Rochdale
• Oldham

South Yorkshire

• Barnsley
• Rotherham
• Doncaster
• Sheffield

Viper Performance flame-retardant hoses are designed for optimum reliability in the demanding environment of transport applications. Our LSLM hoses are made with a specialist grade silicone normally used in applications requiring flame-retardant properties. The material performs mechanically as our normal automotive grade silicone, however, in case of fire, it will take longer to ignite. When burning, only low smoke and low toxic fumes are emitted.

The construction of fire retardant hoses is always made to your bespoke specification. The Viper Performance sales team will work with you on your project should you require specific construction. The number of plies will vary depending on the working pressure, bore size, and required wall thickness. A galvanised spring steel wire helix can be added for high or low pressure applications, or where extra flexibility or movement is required.

Viper Performance will be able to provide tooling for any shape, metal inserts, or complete hose assemblies.

If you are interested in this service please contact us on sales@viper-performance.co.uk

The best thing about classic cars is that they are very different from today’s cars. There is no match for those classic vehicles whether it be the bodywork design or the engineering which went into solving particular mechanical challenges.

But there are a select few vehicles that surpass the rest in terms of performance, value, and bodywork. Although every historic vehicle enthusiast will have their own opinion of what makes a car great, here is a list (in no particular order) that we think are true greats.

Volkswagen Beetle (of the 1960s)

The Volkswagen Beetle became one of the most popular cars of the 1960s offering affordable transportation with a very distinct style. 21 million VW Beetles were sold before going out of production in 2003.

Lamborghini Miura

Turing from affordable everyday cars to a magnificent feat of engineering and design the Lamborghini Miura quickly became the world’s fastest production car after its release in 1966. The car’s sleek design with recessed headlamps is indeed a classic that many will remember from the opening scene of the original “Italian Job” movie released in 1969.

Jaguar E-Type

We can’t skip the Jaguar E-type when talking about the most instantly recognizable cars in the world.

Lamborghini Countach

When first released in the 1970s, Lamborghini Countach was a car like no other. Its wedge-shaped styling, gull-wing doors, cooling ducts, and so-called “periscopio” was just out of the world! This car that looked like something landed from another planet could easily reach nearly 200 mph.

Chevrolet Corvette C1

The C1 is the first generation of the Corvette sports car that became streel legal in 1953. Chevrolet Corvette proved that America, the land of huge sedans, can also manufacture a sports car as great as the Europeans.

Ferrari 250 GTO

Built between 1962 and 1964, the Ferrari 250 GTO is considered to be the greatest Ferrari of all time. The combination of the beautiful body and the legendary Colombo V12 engine made the car not only fast but elegant too.

McLaren F1

The McLaren F1 stands out as an exceptional achievement of design brilliance and excellent engineering. McLaren had made just racing cars until it went on sale in 1992. McLaren F1 was the first dedicated road car designed by the chief designer Gordon Murray.

Porsche 911 2.7RS

The Porsche 911 is praised on both racetracks and streets alike, instantly recognizable to many people. Car enthusiasts and collectors tend to consider the classic cars – those built before 1973 with a long bonnet – as being the most beautiful and elegant. It is one of the longest-standing sports cars ever built.

Back in March we wrote a blog about making the most of the lockdown where we discussed the upsides to spending more time at home, especially for car enthusiasts. As restrictions are eased there will be increasing ways to indulge and it seems some people are just happy being inside their cars even if they can’t drive anywhere.

New research from Skoda has revealed that as many as 1.2 million motorists are taking to their parked cars just to get a bit of peace and quiet during the coronavirus lockdown.

The research carried out by the Czech manufacturer showed that 39 percent of UK motorists are currently working from home, with eight percent retreating to their parked car to get some time alone away from the family with the figure rising to 23 percent in London.

Rather than just hiding away in your car, why not work on the car project you have been thinking about for a while. Finishing the kit car project that has been sat in your garage or even just making those much needed upgrades to your performance vehicle.

Take a look at our online shop for thousands of parts in stock today.

As many of our customers will be aware we are currently open for online orders and these will be processed as normal.

But we would like to remind customers that due to this outbreak deliveries may be slightly delayed. This is out of our control and completely relies on the logistics involved in getting items to you. From a business perspective, orders will be processed as they have always been.

For many orders we use the services of Royal Mail who are currently doing a great job during difficult times. There are however understandable delays in the postal service which some of our customers

“Absence rates are currently significantly higher than what we normally expect at this time of year. To manage these severe absence levels, we are implementing a range of mitigations. These include changing the time guarantee on Special Delivery and deploying non-operational managers in delivery. “ Royal Mail

You can read more about the changes to Royal Mail here.

Please be rest assured that we are doing all we can to get your orders to you on time.

I am writing to you from behind shut doors, as we in the UK, like most of the world, have been closed up and keeping our distance for the past month or so.

And, like the rest of you, we really miss the daily contact with all of our regular clients and new customers.

But we also consider ourselves extremely blessed that we’ve got such strong support from all of our regular customers

and the few trade clients remaining opened who we keep in touch with.

Our collection point closed up in Mid March. 

We’ve been lucky to have a well-oiled website and have even launched an all-new Home Page as a 1st phase to having an entirely new website soon together with a reduced team at Viper to keep us strong!

While a few VIper employees work offsite, a few keep the company trading as normal. (shipping which is out of our control may take longer than usual). 

With only a couple of staff in the office to handle basic operations, reduced staffing in production and the rest locked up at home, safe from this situation that’s managed to threaten the entire planet at once.

At the start of this all, we honestly didn’t know what to expect. But thanks to your support, we’re doing surprisingly well — going strong through our website, and shipping out orders

around the globe on a daily basis. We really owe you a lot — and right from the start, it was your support and enthusiasm for our product that always made it easy to do what we do. 

something that now, more than ever, keeps us going at a time when we might otherwise be running out of steam.

In a way, we’re almost getting back to our roots — Our early years of 2000~2003, when we were just a small website, with no trade desk, and a small team of hard-working staff who put in to help us grow.

It’s very much like that now — long days that are kind of exhausting, but also a bit thrilling — as we focus on the things that made us strong in the first place such as manufacturing and supplying quality

Universal silicone hoses and aluminium pipes. We are reducing the manufacturing and stocks of Hose Kits, so it is a good time to grab a bargain whilst our stocks last.

Ready-made Car Hose Kits will be made only to order after our clearout, our lead time will be 6-8 weeks for the foreseeable future. 

We have many universal hoses in stock for same-day shipping.

This time is an opportunity for us to focus and find time to develop many new shapes, sizes and components which we plan to launch throughout the rest of the year.

Your response to our work has been crucial the past few weeks — and as you may have noticed on our NEW website we have an excellent range of stocks and hoses with new stocks made daily.

We look forward to the time when our Collection point will be reopened to the public — but in the meantime, there’s a few of us working hard over at Viper Performance

The place where we started it all, and where we’re still very fortunate to have a refuge in this crisis.

Daniel Momcilovic

In a time when we are not supposed to leave our house, what is a car fanatic supposed to do?

Well now might be the time to start planning your next project or if you would like a more relaxed isolation then why not turn to your games console.

To help out we have given you a roundup of the best car games on off.

Forza Motorsport 7

Format: Xbox One and PC

Pros: The best thing about Forza Motorsport 7? It is so vast in its options it’s practically impossible to drive every configuration.

Forza Motorsport’s PC debut marks it as the most feature-heavy and malleable of racing game. The addition of dynamic weather effects transforms the usual game of memorising tracks into one of hazard perception and a test of reactions. Night tracks slowly transition to dawn, sunlight filling out pitch black darkness while Forza looks and plays better than ever.

Cons: Old fashioned reward system and a few inconsistent performance problems.

Project CARS 2

Format: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

Pros: Featuring 180+ elite brand race and road cars Project Cars 2 is another feature rich game. With full 24-hour cycle with real-time atmospheric conditions & seasonal ambience you get a true to life experience. Real-world-derived career progression also gives the game purpose where needed.

Cons:  This one isn’t great for beginners or casual racers. Due to its hyper-realism prepare to spin out, lose control and go flying into walls.

iRacing

Format: PC

Pros: With its regular online racing leagues and meticulous car and track modelling, iRacing is as close to real racing as you can get on the PC.

Cons: Unfortunately the one downside to this game is that it has no meaningful single-player component. With its subscription fees and live tournament scheduling, it requires significant investment.

F1 2018

Format: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows + iOS)

Pros: F1 2018 is the official video game of the 2018 Formula One World Championship developed and published by Codemasters.  It’s a chance to place yourself in the racing boots of a motorsport superstar and engage in rivalries, contract negotiations, car development plans and race strategy.

Cons: The race overlays can be overwhelming, even on the novice difficulty settings.

GRID Autosport

Format: Android, Nintendo Switch, iOS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC (Microsoft Windows, macOS)

Pros: Autosport is Codemasters’ easiest, most entry-level track racing game. The car handling is very forgiving, but with just enough fight in it to teach you the basics of corner-braking and throttle-control.

Cons: The AI, meanwhile, is surprisingly effective, driving fast, pushing you on the corners, and capitalising on every error or loss of nerve.

We know that many of our customers will have questions regarding how our business is operating at this difficult time. Most importantly we would like to reassure our customers that we are currently open for online orders and these will be processed as normal.

As we have been moving through this last week we have been keeping up to date with the official advice and guidance. Where possible our employees are now working from home as advised. Only after ensuring that proper social distancing measures can be undertaken we have decided it is safe for our stock to be packed and distributed accordingly.

Like many other online companies, we would like to remind customers that due to this outbreak deliveries may be slightly delayed. This is out of our control and completely relies on the logistics involved in getting items to you. From a business perspective, orders will be processed as they have always been.

Finally, we would like to wish all our customers good health. Stay safe, Stay healthy.

Most cars aren’t built for water activities. Even three to five-inch puddles can cause mechanical problems under the hood of your car.

When possible, it’s best to avoid deep puddles, or at least drive slowly through them, to prevent water from splashing into the upper part of the vehicle. But, if you are unlucky enough to stall in water, chances are, one of the following 4 things will happen …

1. You will Wet your Spark Plugs

When you drive through a puddle, the spark plugs can become wet and will not fire. Wet spark plugs cause a short between the water and the plug and therefore cutting the power to your engine.

2. There is Water in the Fuel System

If water gets into the air intake system of your car and enters the fuel system, it can alter the air/fuel ratio and lessen engine power. This situation is also known as hydrolock and can cause the engine to stall.

If the water in the combustion chamber is in small amounts, it is often eliminated by engine heat. Keep in mind that this situation can also cause an electrical short in the spark plugs, as mentioned above.

3. Your Car Has a Damaged Connection Rod

Since water doesn’t easily compress, it overloads the connection rod. After hitting the accelerator, you’ll hear a clunking sound, since the piston can’t compress the water. The connection rod can be knocked out or deformed. This typically results in engine damage and may even destroy the engine entirely. So, stay clear of deep water!

4. Your Car Has a Cracked Catalytic Converter

Driving through deep puddles can cause a cracked catalytic converter. This device operates at high temperatures and is part of the exhaust system. When it comes in contact with cold water, rapid contraction can crack its sides and potentially cause the vehicle to stall. It’s a very expensive component to replace!

So, what do you do, when your car stalls in water?

When a car stalls in water, just remember, the first thing is to stay calm and stay safe. If you’re handy and have the right tools, you may be able to re-start the car depending on the problem. Wet spark plugs can be removed, and water in the cylinders can be removed. After that, just re-install the spark plugs.

Another option is to push the car out of the puddle to dry ground and wait for the electrical systems to dry out. If that doesn’t work, you’ll probably have to call a tow truck. It’s a hassle, but one that comes along with rainy days.

If the engine damage is due to water compression, you can attempt to pump oil to achieve some compression. However, severe engine damage will likely require the expertise of a mechanic.