I'm skeptical that the hose difference has anything to do with
increasing cooling capacity due to the larger tire size.  Certainly to
make up for the extra room for the spare, though.

The amount of fluid that can be pushed through a system is going to be
limited by the narrowist part and the ability of the water pump.
Unless there is a different radiator also, then the hose ends are
still the same diameter.  If the diameter of the hoses is larger in
their middles, then it's probably to compensate for the extra
turbulence created by the extra bends in them.

I'm not an engineer - would someone who has more technical knowledge
of fluid mechanics care to comment ?  My knowledge is only intuitive
based on kayaking whitewater rivers.  When the river bed narrows or
bends, the same amount of water goes through, even if there is a wide
calm section of river above.

Mark Dorm <mark_hb@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Wonder if this is playing a roll in why the 2.1's aren't going as
> many miles as the 1.9's before need a full rebuild...... yes, no,
> maybe???
>
> From: Robert Lilley <Wolfvan88@AOL.COM>
>
>> David,
>> You will also need the front radiator hoses for the vans equipped
>> with the larger 205x70x14��tires.  The hoses are slightly larger to
>> accommodate the increased demand on the engine with the wider tires
>> (They take more power to push then the narrower tires and cause the
>> engine to generate more heat so VW put in larger hoses for the
>> radiator to flow more coolant. And the hoses are shaped differently
>> to accommodate the increased distance the tire rest is from the
>> top.