PRODUCT DETAILS
Hybrid Racing Silicone Radiator Hoses - 2002-2006 Acura RSX (DC5) & 2002-2005 Civic Si (EP3)
These are the last radiator hoses your car will need. Multi-layer fiberglass reinforced silicone with a durable silicone outer layer, rated from -165°F all the way to 350°F. Factory rubber hoses harden, crack, and eventually let go, and on a DC5 or EP3 that's now twenty-plus years old, yours are living on borrowed time whether they look it or not. Silicone doesn't age the same way, so you fit these once and stop thinking about it.
We Redesigned The Upper Hose For Intake Clearance
This is the part that separates these from a generic silicone set, and if you're running a cold air intake you'll appreciate it immediately.
The factory upper hose routing crowds the space a big intake tube wants to occupy, which is why so many RSX and EP3 builds end up with the hose and the intake fighting each other. We changed the upper hose geometry to give you an extra inch of clearance. That's enough to eliminate the interference entirely, so your intake sits where it should and your hose isn't pressed against it or routed around it awkwardly.
It's the kind of fix that only comes from actually building these cars rather than reproducing a factory shape in a different material.
If Your Upper Hose Collapses, This Is Why
Worth knowing, because it's a common complaint on these cars and people usually blame the wrong thing. An old rubber upper hose loses its internal structure over time, and once it does, the vacuum created as the cooling system cools down can suck it flat. You'll pop the hood and find a hose that looks like someone stepped on it.
That's not a radiator cap problem or a cooling system problem, it's a tired hose problem. Fiberglass reinforcement is exactly what prevents it, since the hose holds its shape regardless of what the pressure differential is doing. If yours has collapsed even once, it's telling you it's done.
Why Silicone Instead Of Rubber
Factory rubber has a shelf life. Heat cycling gradually hardens it, it gets brittle, and eventually you find out about it in a parking lot or on the side of a highway. It's one of the most common failures on cars this age and one of the most avoidable.
Silicone doesn't degrade the same way. The fiberglass reinforcement holds shape under pressure, and that -165°F to 350°F range covers anything your cooling system will ever see with enormous margin on both ends. Cold starts in winter, sustained heat at a track day, neither one is a concern.
They Look Good, And Stay That Way
Silicone hoses are one of the highest-visibility changes you can make in an engine bay, since they run right across the front of the motor where everyone sees them. And unlike rubber, which fades to a chalky grey, these keep their color and finish.
Cleaning is easy too. A little soapy water and a lint-free rag brings them back to looking new, which is a nice change from trying to make aging rubber look presentable.
Fitment
- 2002-2006 Acura RSX (DC5)
- 2002-2005 Honda Civic Si (EP3)
Who Should Run These Hoses
This is for the DC5 or EP3 owner running original hoses on a twenty-year-old cooling system, anyone who's had an upper hose collapse on them, and anyone fitting a cold air intake who's discovered the factory hose is in the way. Cheap insurance against a failure that strands you, a real fix for a real clearance problem, and a bay that looks considerably better for it.
Fits: 2002-2006 Acura RSX (DC5) and 2002-2005 Honda Civic Si (EP3). Material: multi-layer fiberglass reinforced silicone with silicone outer layer. Temperature range: -165°F to 350°F. Upper hose: revised geometry for one additional inch of cold air intake clearance.
2002-2006 Acura RSX Base/Type S
2002-2005 Honda Civic Si
- Upper radiator hose
- Lower radiator hose