Mishimoto MMHOSE-GTO-05BK Silicone Radiator Hose Kit Compatible With Pontiac GTO 2005-2006 Black

This hose was a great bargain as I saved $$ buying a returned item. They're awesome hoses and brand new so I wondered why they had been returned, but my old ones were shot. Way too deteriorated to reuse and I wasn't about to put those back on my brand new 2-core G-Force Aluminum radiator, besides they were only priced a little bit higher than the standard rubber hose replacements. Once I received the new silicon hoses I instantly knew why they had been returned and it wasn't for any poor quality or mechanical issues but THEY WEREN'T RED the box was labeled RED, the picture of hoses on the box had awesome looking RED hoses but not these, they're black. HMMPH! I really needed to get this car back on the road, so I went ahead and installed them. Now these are perfectly fine just plainly colored BLACK hi-performance silicon radiator hoses and wow I am quite happy with the deal I got. If an accidental switcheroo at the factory allowed me to get a high tech high performance upgrade, one that I would otherwise not get for such little extra coin - so be it - I'm fine with my new black radiator hoses for my red GTO. **installation note ** If lower hose seems impossible to force on the t-stat housing water spout, don't give up just TURN IT OVER, the hose has a different diameter on each end, not by much but enough to make it not fit.

These hoses work really well and appear to be of good quality, but there are some things you have to watch out for. The top hose like to slide back if you don't clamp that sucker down. IT happened on my car and have seen it on others where it starts to slide back slightly into the power steering pump pulley and starts to cut into it ever so slightly. LESSON LEARNED. DO NOT USE the stock spring clamp on the top hose on the radiator side. Get a good t bolt clamp. The bottom house fit's the radiator great, BUT the thermostat side is definitely WAY TOO TIGHT. I had a buddy give up and throw the bottom hose away on his car. I am more stubborn than him and managed to slide it on, but MAN WAS IT A MISSION. That hose is on there so tight it doesn't need any hose clamp to hold it in. The hose and thermo outlet are now together forever. It's definitely not the right size for the engine side, but it is doable with A LOT of effort. Once you get by all that they look great and don't swell up so that's a plus.

I also have black silicone Mishimoto hoses on my 2006 GTO. The upper hose developed a pinhole leak due to contact with the hose support. The hoses look the part: orange silicone inside, abrasion-proof wrappings on the outside. But I'm super skeptical about replacing them with the same part. I've had cheep parts store hoses bulge, scraped, torn, and abused that lasted longer. I'm saying 10/10 for looks. But 4/10 for durability.UPDATE (5/29/15): After extensive searching, I determined that the Mishimoto hoses are the highest quality hoses available for my application, and I gave them the benefit of the doubt on the small pinhole leak--so I bought the set again. After inspecting the new hoses I have upgraded them to four stars. The new hoses still SEEM to be made of the highest quality wrapped silicone. They are an exact fit. That being said, I will suspend a five star rating based on the failure of the first set.PHOTO: old hoses on the bottom/new hoses on the top

The material is very high quality and the fitment was perfect

Definitely better than stock just by the rigidness

Fits perfect and looks great.

Great upgrade from standard rubber radiator hoses!

I could tell this was a high quality item, but for whatever reason, I could not get it to fit on water pump side....tried with all my strength....had to return, so I was disappointed. Maybe I just got a bad one.