1. Try to stick to a theme 

Just like with art and furniture collectors, great car fanatics focus on styles, periods, or individuals to help shape their collections. This is what makes them so special. By focusing in on a particular brand, model or age you can really immerse yourself its world.

2. Storage is key

The average house only provides homeowners with the ability to squeeze a few cars in. therefore as a collector it is vital to find the perfect place for your vehicles to be kept. The right place can range from warehouses to specialised facilities.

3. You can never have too much space

You always need more space than you think! Considering this when planning things like garage ceiling heights will mean that you could add things such as lifts in the future. Shelving and storage are another key consideration, this will allow you to stay organised and ensure your collection remains in the best possible condition.

4. Team work makes the dream work

Once you know what your focus will be its a great idea to find like-minded individuals. There are many collectors clubs out there often with local members who you can talk and meet with. Not only does this hobby add a social element, clubs and associations can be great resources to gain a different perspective to technical ideas whilst gaining new leads for where to find rare or discontinued parts.

5. Why not Race?

As much as driving your classic car collection around your local area can be fun the real fun starts when you get into organised races. Cars often come alive when you’re with other people who know and care about them. Many races can take you to other country’s and create real experiences which will make you fall even more in love with your collection.

6. The level of work load is a vital decision

The level of passion towards car collecting can determine whether the maintenance and repair work that goes into developing the collection is seen to be a source of pleasure or a chore. It is important to develop an understanding of where in that scale you stand, as this will guide what cars you should purchase. Don’t try and take on a complete engine rebuild if this will detract from your passion and love for the collection.

7. The passion doesn’t just belong in the garage.

Along with the cars themselves, classic cars provide a lot of marketing materials such as posters, and models, therefore incorporation into your home will be easy. Not only will incorporating classic cars in your home be easy to do and at a unique touch, it will also develop and strengthen your knowledge in classic cars.

8. Nothing compares to getting behind the wheel

One of the worst things you can do to an old car is let it just sit around. Get in the driving seat and take it for a spin!

If you are struggling to pick Christmas presents for your car-crazy friends and relatives this year, fear not, Viper Performance has you covered. Our hand-picked selection of presents and stocking filler ideas includes something for everyone.

Here are our top 4 picks for Christmas…

1. Gas Clutch Socks – Amazon

New drivers should know it’s not safe to use both feet on the pedals, but at least these socks will help them remember which side is the clutch and which is the gas.

2. Speedometer & Fuel Gauge Cufflinks – Amazon

These will make getting dressed-up in a suit a little easier. Any guy who’s into cars knows it’s all about the tiny details, and these speedometer and gauge cufflinks are just that.

3. Car Hacks Book – Amazon

The latest in a long line of Haynes car maintenance guides is an interesting twist on the traditional workshop manual. Instead of focusing on a single car, “Car Hacks” it highlights ingenious ways of keeping your motor in top condition.

4. Ciao, Stirling – Amazon 

The inside story of a motor racing legend. Pirie’s account shines a whole new light on the legend that is Sir Stirling, and promises to be perfect for anyone after engrossing cover-to-cover read on Christmas Day.

Here at Viper Performance, we are a UK silicone hose specialist for unrivaled quality and service. A trusted leading brand of Silicone Hoses and associated fluid transfer product supplying Motorsport, Race teams, Marine, Military, Trucks, Buses, Bikes, Agricultural, Pharmaceutical, Machinery, Plant, Commercial vehicles, the Rail industry, and more.

Sound like something you’re interested in?

Get in touch today!

We often talk about our aluminium pipes having mandrel bends, which offer the tightest bend radius on the market, but what does this mean?

What is mandrel bending?

Mandrel bending is a method where a steel rod is inserted into the tubing as it is bent. This technique perfects the tube bend without wrinkling or breaking it at the bending point. Mandrel bending is performed by a machine such as a CNC tube bender. This bender is the ideal choice for bending thin tubing without any deformities on a tight radius and why we can offer you top of the range products.

Why is it important?

The best way to look at pipe bending is to compare it to a straight plastic straw. If the straw is completely straight, it’s very easy to blow air through the straw due to there being no restrictions. However, let’s say you decide to bend the straw 90 degrees into an “L” shape. Now, blowing air through the straw will be very difficult, as the opening at the straw’s elbow will have changed from a circle to a very narrow slit. This is exactly how the pipes in your car’s intake and exhaust system work.

Mandrel bending works much like a flexible straw. When the straw is bent, a flexible section of the straw expands to maintain the round opening no matter how much of an angle the straw is bent at. When an exhaust or downpipe is manufactured with mandrel bends, the steel is allowed to stretch on the outside of the bend and compress on the inside of the bend, maintaining the nominal pipe diameter.  Exhaust gas follows fluid dynamics so if you want to eliminate backpressure while maintaining exhaust gas velocity mandrel bending allows the hot exhaust gases to flow with less turbulence.

Our mandrel bend radius

Our mandrel bends have the tightest bend radius on the market; most of the mandrel bends are 1.2D. They have been specifically designed to avoid the issue of wrinkling along the inside of pipes and tubing, during their manufacturing process. The mandrel stays in a fixed position as the outer radius of the tube experiences pressure, causing the pipe to stretch into the desired bend. Overall, maintaining the shape that we have to offer you.

As mandrel bending is one of the most accurate and cost-effective metal forming processes, our pipes are suitable for almost anything. From, joining hoses for Intercoolers, Radiators, Air induction, Superchargers, intercooler systems to making any D.I.Y system.

Our Products

Our team of experts deliver high-quality results to our clients needs with a huge range of aluminium mandrel bends which are polished and ready to go. Whatever you need, we have the pipes for you.

to view our high quality pipes or get in touch with our team.

We get lots of messages from our users asking about custom hoses. As much as we appreciate all of the love, we thought we would take a moment to clear the process up.

Many messages we receive include questions like ‘If I send you OEM hose can you make one the same’ or ‘I need a set of hoses for XYZ model of car’. As much as we would love to help all of the people who get in touch it simply isn’t viable to make most of the requests we get.

The main thing to remember with our custom manufacturing is that there is a minimum order of 20 + tooling. This means that if you were looking for your own vehicle you would need to pay for the creation of the tooling plus 20 sets of the same hose when you only need 1. As you can imagine this would make the project financially viable. We are not in the business of ripping people off.

For more information about custom hose manufacturing please click here

While the dark nights are getting closer, it’s said that Britain could experience one of the coldest Winters in 30 years.

Last year, the ‘Beast from the East’ saw temperatures plunge down to a shivering -14°C, with winds reaching 70mph. Scientists have predicted that the central England temperature for this Winter will be even lower than last year*. With these brutal times approaching, just sparing a few minutes maintenance on your car could see it through the worst of the weather.

Here’s our guide to preparing your Car for Winter.

1. Get your Car Serviced before Winter

It’s known by every car driver that the cold causes problems for cars but, what isn’t known is that up to half of the problems could have been prevented by a regular servicing. Save yourself the cost and inconvenience and book your car in for a service now. In winter, lots of garages offer discounted or even free ‘winter car checks’ so take advantage of some of these which may be local to you.

2. Check your Cars Battery

It’s obvious that during winter you use your lights, heater and blower much more frequent. Suffering from almost double use, checking your battery should always be priority. If your car is having trouble when starting, get the battery checked out as soon as possible. Worst case scenario is that your car won’t start because of a flat battery. If this happens, try giving your car a jump start.

3. Condition of Tyres

Your vehicles tyres are important for both braking and steering so keeping them in good condition is very important. Despite the legal minimum of a 1.6mm depth, we advise that you stick to a minimum of 3mm during winter. This just helps improve the grip of your car on ice and snow.

4. Top up Engine Coolant

In the colder months, antifreeze will be extremely important for ensuing your engine doesn’t over-heat. Your engine coolant should be a 50/50 mix between antifreeze and water, this is because antifreeze becomes diluted over time.

5. Give your Windscreen a check

Before winter, give your windscreen a thorough check for any cracks and chips. During winter, water can seep into these cracks, freeze and then cause expansion. Getting anything repaired before this can happen can save lots of money.

6. Carry a Winter Breakdown Kit

In case of emergency, we advise carrying a breakdown kit in your car during winter. This kit should include some of these essentials if not all:

• Torch
• Blanket
• Shovel
• Hi-vis vest
• Food and water
• De-icer and scraper

Taking extra precaution when driving in bad weather is how you ensure your safety. We strongly advise that you always travel with a fully charged mobile just in case you find yourself in an accident or breakdown.

7. Comprehensive Cover

Having comprehensive breakdown cover is vital at this time of year. The last thing you want is an accident and then being stranded in the cold. So, check with your policy and have the peace of mind knowing you are covered.

8. Prepare!

If you know you need to be somewhere at a specific time, plan your journey ahead. Check for any road closures or delays and allow plenty of time for your journey. Being in a rush when the weather is bad increases your chances of being in a road car accident – so be prepared!

We love to see images from our customers which show our products insitu.

Instagram is a great source of inspiration to see what people can do with our individual components. Here at Viper we are always keeping an eye on our social media to see these great examples of engine upgrades. Just look at how great this engine bay look with Viper Performance silicone hoses.

Or this example of an induction setup for an Alfa Romeo. Our Silicone hoses are the perfect components for people like berlinasportivo to create such systems.

If you would like your creation featured on our social media and website then @viperperform in your Instagram posts or use the hashtag #viperhoses.

We look forward to seeing your creations.

Formula 1 cars and road cars share the same components and operating features but that’s as far as similarities go. Formula 1 engines are very difficult to start. Due to the complexity they can’t cold-start, this means warm oil needs to be plumbed through the engine for a couple hours prior to firing it up. As you are aware of, starting a car doesn’t require this preparation, you can just get going right away.

Formula 1 engines also have a high-revving nature. This isn’t as much of a problem in ultra-light F1 cars, but with the additional weight of a street car, it would cause many issues for the engine. This is the reason for why Mercedes – AMG engineers reduced the engines redline to 11,00 rpm for the One hypercar – still a stratospheric number.

Next, the cost. Formula 1 car engineering demands a lot of money to develop. This means a legal street F1 hypercar would have a very high price tag. For this high price, people would expect a hypercar that will last – this is not a strong feature of F1 cars. One engine usually lasting 2 races means they need rebuilding and replacing quite often. For buyers, this constant need for work is a major put off.

Radical Sportscars has blurred the lines between road and race performance. The new road-legal sports car, the Rapture was unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Designed to bring unparalleled performance to the street. The Rapture has built on the British marque’s extensive experience of top-level motorsport engineering and design.

The Rapture is built in accordance with the UK’s Individual Vehicle Approval framework to ensure its road-legal nature. It has been driven by demand from both its existing customer base and the potential to expand its market boundaries,

It is also intended for European markets from launch, with homologation for worldwide territories to follow. The Rapture will also be a timely boost for British industry, being solely built, engineered and designed at the company’s Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) production facility.

Radical claims that no other street-legal car available today offers the same percentage of race-bred DNA as the Rapture. This makes it the ideal choice for customers seeking a raw, exhilarating driving experience.