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The impact of silicone hoses and vehicle performance

When you think of vehicle performance, your eyes will turn to a great engine, maybe a set of high-quality and durable wheels, items which are synonymous with performance and taking your vehicle to the next level.

However, it can be easy to cloud your judgement and easily forget about another component that impacts your performance both under the bonnet and out in the world, from tracks to dirt. That’s the trusty silicone hoses. Silicone hoses offer a valuable performance enhancement due to the high quality found in the silicone material itself. 

Compared to other applications such as rubber, silicone has become a trusted choice of many due to its number of advantages such as heat tolerance and overall durability and strength. 

When you use rubber hosing in your car, you are prone to cracking and dryness which you won’t find with silicone hoses. This is true to cars that get little to no track time, and those that spend the majority of their lives on the road. 

Benefits of silicone hoses for vehicle installation:

• More affordable pricing,

• Ease of making custom shapes,

• Flexibility

• Strength,

• Heat resistance.

Here at Viper Performance, we are proud stockists of a variety of silicone hoses that put quality above everything else. By choosing quality you are choosing reliability, consistency and trust that your vehicle will perform to the standard you expect. 

Looking for silicone hoses for your project or application? Check out our full range of high-quality silicone hoses here.

Solid solutions motorsport since 1998

Despite not being directly employed by a Motorsport Team, MSL has been supplying Formula 1 and Motorsport teams with measurement, scanning services and equipment since 1998. 

The company offers a wide variety of specialist products to help with a multitude of design, manufacture and inspection applications all relating to Motorsport. Some of their software’s enable them to engage directly with CAD OEM’s, additive OEM’s and design teams looking to optimise their design process. This is achieved by introducing generative capabilities to overcome the complexities of advanced additive manufacturing, taking into consideration light and weight, field driven data design and complex lattice material structures. 

MSL’s Creaform measurement and scanning products can then be utilised to perform dimensional and surface profile checks back to the designer intended CAD model. 

Their strategic partnership with Creaform enables them to cover a vast spectrum of design and manufacturing applications, with their handheld scanner, tactile probing, and photogrammetry solutions. The HandySCAN32, GO!Scan3D, MetraSCAN3D, and MaxSHOT3D provide point cloud data capture for 3D printing, reverse engineering and quality control. 

MSL’s latest strategic partner, Virtek Vision International, states that this fits perfectly within their manufacturing process. Through implementing the Iris 3D they are now able to support the production and build processes for composite lay-up fabrication, and guided assembly, projecting laser templates faster with innovative vision technology. 

With an expansion to their portfolio MSL can now offer complete end-to-end Design, manufacturer and inspection solutions. This enables them to offer solutions that are bespoke to our customers requirements in 2023 and beyond. 

To find out more click here.  

Seasoned automotive exec Bob Lutz has had a lot to say about Tesla’s Elon Musk over the years. Bob Lutz has assumed Tesla was failing for some time, though he has also praised the company from time to time. Lutz discussed with the Financial Times that BMW and Mercedes are afraid of Musk.

Ford and VW Group CEOs continue to credit Elon Musk for leading the electric vehicle way. Meanwhile, BMW and Mercedes have lost large numbers of sales to Tesla already.

The Financial Times article in discussion is sadly behind a paywall, but the article was actually about Elon Musk’s Person of the Year win with Financial Times. The article is titled “Elon Musk: Interview with FT’s Person of the year.”

To find out more – https://insideevs.com/news/554810/lutz-musk-scares-bmw-mercedes/

Extreme E returned this month for the fifth and final race of the season at the Jurassic Coast, England. The venue of these races are aimed to bring awareness to at least one aspect of environmental damage humans are causing. 

The Jurassic X Prix track was relatively similar to the Sardinia track meaning that this season was a lot muddier than ever before. However, in comparison to previous tracks this one was a lot shorter being almost half the length. The track provided great opportunities for the drivers with a huge jump in the middle.

The season finale was originally predicted to take place at the Glacier X Prix in Argentina but due to COVID-19, Extreme E cancelled the race. Due to Extreme E headquarters being based in London a race in Southern England was a lot easier to arrange. The change in venue also helped to highlight the reality of environmental issues also being local as well as worldwide. 

Read more here – https://electrek.co/2021/12/17/extreme-e-races-at-the-jurassic-x-prix-in-england-for-inaugural-season-finale/ 

Autocar have compiled a slideshow of the new cars heading your way over the next 18 months. There are 115 cars in this compilation, the pictures are a combination of official images, Autocars expert renderings of what we think cars will look like, and our own spyshots of the cars when out testing.

Click here to read the full article

Joint Industry Council Thread – Commonly referred to as just JIC fittings are metal to metal sealing type fittings have a 37° flare (sealing surface angle. original design specification for the fittings comes from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and these fittings are the most common American fitting type in Europe.

Are AN and JIC the same?

Technically No. AN stands for Air Force – Navy Aeronautical Design Standards (also known as “Army Navy”) that are used in U.S. Military aviation applications. These fittings are made to meet strict performance standards related to the aeronautical industry.  Confusion between AN and the industrial counterpart, the SAE 37° fitting occurred. The Joint Industries Council (JIC), sought to clear the air by standardizing the specifications on this type of fitting by creating the “JIC” fitting standard, a 37-degree fitting

The majority of the hydraulic population agrees, the JIC (or SAE) 37 degree fittings are generally interchangeable with AN fittings. Generally now when people refer to JIC or AN they are merely referencing the 37 degree fitting.

The hose fittings on the Viper performance site are sold in AN-(dash) sizes.

How do I know my JIC/AN fitting size?

AN sizes are shown as a size number prefixed with a hyphen, so a -10 fitting would be called a “Dash 10″ AN fitting.

The number represents the OD (Outside Diameter) of the tube the fitting was designed to fit in the old AN specifications. The number represents the OD as multiples of 1/16”. Therefore, a -10 fitting was originally designed to fit an solid tube with an OD of 10 * 1/16″ = ⅝″ (~16mm).

Checkout our hose fittings here

Car manufacturers are making great strides in electric drive technology and the death of diesel and petrol engines is on the horizon. This revolution is happening for larger vehicles too. For some types of farm vehicles, like loaders and mixer-feeder wagons, electric drive is already here. Soon there will be tractors, with three companies planning to sell electric models in the next two years.

According to Professor Peter Pickel, deputy director of John Deere’s European Technology Centre, the electrification of tractors offers three key advantages.

First is increased efficiency. A diesel engine achieves about 35% efficiency in converting thermal to mechanical energy. Compare that with the overall efficiency of charging batteries at 80%, while electric motors have an efficiency of 90%.

Second, he says electrical power offers greater controllability and opportunities for automation. One example is precision seeding. The Exact Emerge system from John Deere for single seed placing uses electric motors to place seeds within 1cm accuracy.

Professor Pickel sees it as a complete system where the battery is removable and is part of the farm’s electricity grid. This would bring battery utilisation up to 96%.

So with these benefits, German manufacturer Fendt and India-based firm Escorts have just launched electric models. However, both are at the lower end of the horsepower range, with Fendt’s e100 Vario being the more powerful, offering 67hp.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, drivers were granted a 6-month exemption from MOT testing in March. However, as restrictions were eased, all drivers whose car, motorcycle or van was due for an MOT test from 1 August were required to get a test certificate to continue driving their vehicle. This means that if your MOT test is due you SHOULD book it in for an MOT.

Drivers with an MOT due date before 1 August still receive a 6-month exemption from testing. However, all vehicles must continue to be properly maintained and kept in a roadworthy condition, and people are able to voluntarily get their MOT sooner should they wish, even if they are exempt from the legal requirement. It is important to remember that as a motorist you can be prosecuted for driving an unsafe vehicle.

While exemptions are still available for vehicle owners with an MOT due date before 1 August, it is vital that drivers still take their vehicle to be checked if they notice something is wrong in the same way that they usually would.

Here are some highlights of the latest electric vehicles available to order now and in the near future.

BMW i4

BMW has recently been converting much of its luxury car range into plug-in hybrids. Until now though, its pure electric offerings have been limited to just the i3 hatchback, which has been with us for seven years. BMW is however readying an all-electric version of the popular X3 mid-size SUV and even more interestingly, there is a new zero-emissions four-door coupé model on the way, known as the i4. This will form a key part of an expanding range of all-elected BMW ‘i’ cars expected in the next few years.

Volvo XC40 Recharge
The first of 5 all-electric models to be introduced by Volvo in the next five years, the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric P8 is available to order now from £53,155.

Peugeot e-2008

The Peugeot 2008 benefits from a sharp new design, which is worlds away from its rather frumpy predecessor. The interior has been similarly uplifted, with sharp styling, better quality materials and the introduction of Peugeot’s i-Cockpit digital driver display, which was previously only available on the brand’s larger models.

Citroën E-C4

The electric version of the C4 the E-C4 bridges the gap between a family hatchback and full crossover. It follows the current Citroën design language of voluptuous lines and bold front-end styling.