| First off, I'm not a supporter of Z1. However they do make some products that no one else does (their throttle bodies and shifters come to mind). Now the hoses sold by Hose Techniques ARE NOT FORMED SILICONE HOSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The hoses sold by Z1 ARE FORMED REINFORCED SILICONE HOSES!!!!!!!!!!!! The formed silicone hoses sold by Z1 have what appears to be the same type of reinforcement that the OEM hoses do. In terms of pressure holding of the hoses, they should be at least as good as OEM. Case closed. Now as for the degradation issue, it depends on the material used. There are various materials that can be used, and a simple visual inspection will not tell you what the material is (except to say it is or is not rubber). FlexFab (http://www.flexfab.com) manufactures many types of hoses and has an excellent data sheet to help better understand the different types of materials used (http://www.flexfab.com/Techdata/Graphics/101.pdf). Here are a few more links to educate ourselves:
Silicone
Neoprene
Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)
FKM
Nitrile Rubber Now maybe Z1 can be add a bit more light to the subject in being more specific as to the type of silicone used in the hoses. I'm going to assume that they simply took OEM hoses to one of the major hose manufacturers and simply told them what it was for. In that case I doubt that the hoses are all the same material and I also doubt there will be issues.
"The 300ZX Turbo is a dance; it's a song; it's rolling, roaring automotive art. There is no color that doesn't suit it. There is no mood-lifting chemical substance it can't replace." - Automobile Magazine
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