Building custom air intakes

Air intake in engine bayAn air intake is a system made to cool down the air flow going into the car. By doing this – you increase the power of the internal-combustion engine. 

How does air intake work?

The mechanics of the cold air intake follows one very simple physical principal – the cold air has a higher density for a given volume. The combustion requires oxygen and the more air you give into the combustion process the more power you will get from it. Cold air intakes move the air filter outside of the engine compartment so that cooler air can be sucked into the engine for combustion. Cooler air brings more oxygen (denser air) into the combustion chamber and that means more power.

Components in a cold air intake

The components needed for air intakes are quite simple. You will need aluminium pipes, silicone hoses, hose clamps and an air fliter.

If you are looking to build custom air intakes then we supply high-quality parts to build your system. The parts which you can get from us here at Viper Performance include:

1. Aluminium Mandrel Bends

aluminium mandrel bends

The bulk of your air intake system will be created from connecting different aluminium pipes together. Read about the features of our aluminium pipes here. We have a range of bends available ranging from 15° to 180° and straight pipes. Our mandrel bends have the tightest bend radius on the market, most of the mandrel bends are 1.2D.   Click here to see the range.

2. Silicone Couplers

Silicone Couplers

Silicone couplers will be used to connect the different aluminium pipe sections together. Our silicone hoses are of the highest quality lined and multi-layered with quality fabric reinforcements.

Click here to shop the range

 

3. Hose Clamps

hose clamps

Securing the couplers and aluminium pipes together will be essential to the performance of the intake. Stainless steel worm drive hose clamps are made from high-quality stainless steel. These are perfect for clamping silicone hoses thanks to the “slot free” smooth band, unlike some other brands, these clamps are not going to tear and cut into the hose as you tighten. We also supply T-Bolt hose clamps.

Click here to shop the range

 

We would love to see your custom air intakes, please send us images or tag us on social media. Facebook: @viperperformance Twitter: @Viperhoses

If you are a fabricator interested in using Viper Performance parts to create bespoke systems please get in touch. 

 

5 benefits of silicone hoses infographic

You may have read our blog post discussing  ‘What Difference silicone hoses make’. Within that post, we talked about why are silicone hoses better than rubber detailing the benefits that you get from silicone over rubber. It has been such a popular post that we thought we would produce an infographic for the more visual among you. Feel free to share the infographic but please link back to Viper Performance.

If you would like to share the infographic on your site please scroll down for embed code below image.

You can download a print-ready PDF of the infographic here.

Continue reading “5 benefits of silicone hoses infographic” »

Blanking off hoses or pipes

Sometimes when creating systems you will be left with redundant connections on your silicone hoses or metal pipes. Blocking off unused connections such as old breathers, water hoses or dump valves is important.

We offer two methods of blanking off pipes/hoses:

1 – Billet aluminium Hose Blanking Plug – For blanking off silicone hose connections
2 – Silicone Blanking Cap – For blanking off metal or hard pipe connections

Aluminium Hose Blanking Plug

Our Aluminium blanking plugs are designed to push inside a silicone hose and provide a strong secure seal, without slipping out. This is ideal for blocking off unused connections such as old breathers, water hoses or dump valves. They are specially designed so that the cap fits flush with most hoses which means they look great too.

All of our Aluminium blanking plugs are 30mm in length with Barbed finish,
CNC machined from solid 6063 billet aluminium. They will fit perfectly and offer a very strong connection to all brands of silicone hoses and rubber hoses of suitable diameter. and polished for nice looks! Continue reading “Blanking off hoses or pipes” »

Flexible Coolant and Radiator Hoses

Silicone Hoses are a fantastic alternative to standard rubber hoses. We have a great blog on the difference silicone hoses make, but what happens when you need a silicone hose which isn’t a standard bend radius. There are many situations where your connection simply isn’t a standard degree bend such as for coolant and radiator connections. This is where our flexible silicone hoses come in.  Read More

Car Racing Calendar 2019

Car Racing at Silverstone

A New Year is upon us and that means one thing a new race calendar to look forward to! We can barely contain our excitement. To try and help you out with your planning for the year we have tried to collate a comprehensive list of the races for this year in all series. If you have anything to add just drop us a line and we will be happy to add to our list. Read More

Silicone Hose Accessories

hose accessoriesIn addition to our high quality silicone hoses we also supply a range of very useful parts and components for your hoses. All made to a very high quality standard, manufactured to our exacting specification these parts are very hard to find, and very handy to have around. Read More

Is silicone hose oil resistant?

oil resistant silicone hosesEarlier this year we wrote a blog answering the question ‘Are Silicone Hoses fuel resistant?’ which has been really popular, but what about oil? Is silicone hose oil resistant?

Standard Silicone rubber is porous and therefore not suitable for oil. Made to order, our Fluoro lined silicone hoses use a specially compounded silicone called FluoroSilicone. This grade is specially formulated to prevent oil from penetrating the wall. Read More

How Viper Performance Silicone hoses help race teams

Ab performance showroomRace teams have very specific needs in terms of the requirements of parts within their systems. The increased stress placed on components during high speeds means hoses, in particular, need to be able to handle extreme temperatures. Hose fittings also need to be superb quality as teams rely on them to hold everything in place.

We have talked before about how we can help fabricators by supplying components for different systems, but we also love to work with race teams and motorsport companies. Viper Performance have been working with AB Performance for in excess of 5 years supplying all the silicone hoses and fitting for their race, track and road cars. In that time we have been able to build a strong relationship based on the quality of our products and customer service. Read More

Why is F1 the most expensive genre in motorsport?

In F1 a team can spend millions designing, building and testing their own components. The reason F1 is so expensive is the fact that they use bespoke parts. Compare this to lower tier races they often use off-the-shelf components such as chassis which dramatically reduces the costs involved.

The one item that drives up F1 costs more than anything is aerodynamics. The shape of the car is designed to suck the car down onto the track surface. Teams spend huge amounts of money to improve aerodynamic downforce. Read More

Super long aluminium hose joiners

super long aluminium hose joinerBack in August we announced that we had added a new super long aluminium hose joiner to our range. But why did we introduce this product and what can they be used for?

A while ago now we introduced super long silicone elbow hoses. This was in response to constant requests for elbows with different leg lengths. By introducing a product which had long legs this meant that our customers were able to cut down the legs to their exact requirements. This negated the need for expensive custom built hoses. The product was a huge success and many people have found our super long silicone hoses useful. Read More