They are just for cute unless you are the vendor selling them then you have plenty of reasons to hype em.

 

I have replaced quite a few hoses on all kinds of cars, I have even had one fail while the hood was open and had hot antifreeze spray all over my arm (it was months of pealing yellow and black skin).

All of that said, what I like about silicone hoses is they never weld themselves to the fittings. They will slide on and off time and time again without difficulty.

As far as failure of cooling system components go, I have also found that the thermostat and hoses go about the same time, and it might be due to the overheating of the motor because of a faulty thermostat that sends the hoses over the edge but if you are replacing the thermostat, do the hoses at the same time, it will save you going back in a week later to do that (unless they are silicone and then you dont have to bother).

This thread make me wonder what "life of the car" is? Is it 10 years? 15, 20? I realize they are built for a reliable 10 but is that really end of life?

 

they are easier to keep nice looking
they are more resistant to being taken on and off repeatedly without tearing
they are more flexible over time (ie don't harden up like rubber ones can)

overall though, no real significant benefits

 

I'm impressed a honest vendor.

 

+1 Cause at the end he didn't add that he had them in stock ready to ship like most of em!! lol

 

Silicon hoses do offer higher oil resistance and heat resistance. Its your call.

All O-Rings used to be rubber, then Viton and finally Silicon. This holds true with gaskets also. Cork, then rubberized cork, next Silicons, and in many cases reusable. The last 15 yrs, Silicon Sealants have replaced Gaskets in many cases.

Come to your own conclusions

BTW----If your FI-ed trash the black dump hose and visit your local Hi Perf shop and get the Aero-quip blue silicon hose