Forged pistons or cast?

[SideSlip]

It's re-build time. Forged TRW's are not a lot more in my town than cast aluminum. Should I spend the extra cash on forged........of so why? Oh ya.........what compression ratio? Thanks.

 

[86brick]

Get the Forged and I would say 8.5:1 compression ratio. Forged are a LOT stronger and better for boosted cars. Well worth the extra cash

 

[Datsunboy]

On a boosted motor, forged pistons are really nice to have if you can afford them.

They really are for more heavy duty applications etc. Are you runnin big boost? WHat do you use your car for?

When i built my L28t for my datsun 240z I paid roughly 1000 for a set of pistons from ross because they were custom. I figure 700 for a set of TRWs is practically free

Forged give a much bigger window for detonation, i dont know how good the factory buick ones are (heard good) but given the extra money i would probablly go forged anyways, just a nice piece of mind.

Sidenote.. ross built me pistons and they were REALLY nice. The one thing thats wierd, is they expand when the engine is warming up. My motor is loud for about the first 20 seconds of run time.

Later man, hope this helps - Evan

 

[Intercooler]

Depends on what you are trying to do. If you can re-use your factory slugs they are cast and proven to work well with no slap. If you are running 10's all the time then forged will be the better choice if you must replace the stockers. If going 11.3 and up and you would like a quiter piston get Hypers.

 

[SideSlip]

I can get forged TRW's up here in Canada for $270 usd, for a set of 6.

I'm going to be running a TE-60, 009's, 2800 stall, SMC alky, RJC plate,...etc. Looking for 22lbs ........and 11's on slicks.

If you keep detonation to a min........what's the point of going forged? Don't the head gaskets fail first? (I'll be using FelPro 1000's)

 

[Steve Wood]

Forged, definitely. There is little comparison between the factory piston and any cast one you may buy.

 

[86brick]

Like Steve mentioned Forged, nothing else compares!!! The Hyperpathetics and cast pistons are junk and you may have to rebuild it again if you go the cheap route so you can spend a little more now and do it right or spend a lot more later to fix it. Your choice???

 

[Intercooler]

Originally posted by 86brick
Like Steve mentioned Forged, nothing else compares!!! The Hyperpathetics and cast pistons are junk and you may have to rebuild it again if you go the cheap route so you can spend a little more now and do it right or spend a lot more later to fix it. Your choice???

Lets hope not. Have you actually tried them all (no bench racing)? I have had Hypers in the past and have a set going in my new engine and they work fine! Mile High runs em, Banning runs em (my old motor), Lee Thompson runs em and many others flawless! Forged are better for a more race than street car and the stock cast pistons have been proven time and time again to hold up awesome even down in the 9's. Nothing like a tight fitting cast or hyper piston to aid in ring control. Go with what you can afford and what works for your intended power level. If you mess up in your tune it will not matter if you have Titanium pistons.

 

[Steve Wood]

I prefer the stock pistons, if possible, down to the 11.0s. It has no relationship with a cast piston that you can buy over the counter.

With regard to hypers, heck, some people get away with running n.a. cranks; I am not impressed. I believe it is a case of saying a couple of hundred and risking thousands. To each his own.

 

[86brick]

Well I myself have never and will never have the Hyper-pathetics (pun intended) cause there was a guy that tried them down here and his car had a stock turbo, V4 intercooler, 009's, and was a very mild low 12 maybe high 11 second combo and he melted them and keep in mind this car was only street driven and the most boost it ever saw was 20lbs!!! The stock cast pistons as Steve mentioned are better than any aftermarket cast piston like the TRWs cause Steve talks about running 11.0's, but I've seen them go 10.03 @134mph in Orlando's stock bottom end GN and Brad has run 10.76 @129mph with the stock pistons with his stock bottom end 3,800lb GN also www.harpersracing.com

 

[Intercooler]

Originally posted by 86brick
Well I myself have never and will never have the Hyper-pathetics (pun intended) cause there was a guy that tried them down here and his car had a stock turbo, V4 intercooler, 009's, and was a very mild low 12 maybe high 11 second combo and he melted www.harpersracing.com

The higher silicon content of the hypers actually raise the melting temp of the piston so your friend would have really have tore up a piston with less silicon content. Using higher dollar pistons is no band-aid for tuning inadequicies. Go tell the Supra guys their factory stock hypers suck as they make 800 HP dyno pulls on them Back to bench racing

 

[86brick]

Intercooler, there was no tuning "inadequicies" as you like to say. He was running 20lbs of boost and the only detonation that ever occured was on the shift (transitional knock) which is very common, but maybe it's not for an expert like yourself Bottom line is the hypers are not even close to the quality of a forged piston whether you want to believe it or not and as far as the Supra guys are concerned I've seen many down here and most guys trying to achieve 800hp will go with some JE light weight forged pistons as I know of a couple that have had motors built. It's like what Steve said before about some guys having good luck with N.A. cranks..... spend a couple of hundred now or thousands later like some have before!!! Oh yeah, maybe somebody should tell Duttweiler to start using hypers cause the Supra guys make 800hp with them

 

[86brick]

Oh yeah Intercooler, did you ever consider that the hypers the 2JZ-GTE(Supra) motor comes with from the factory are different than any hyper you can get over the counter kind of like how the factory cast pistons used in our cars are different and better than any aftermarket cast piston??? I think I've made my point so build it cheap or build it right the first time? The choice is yours

 

[Intercooler]

Originally posted by 86brick
Intercooler, there was no tuning "inadequicies" as you like to say. He was running 20lbs of boost and the only detonation that ever occured was on the shift (transitional knock) which is very common, but maybe it's not for an expert like yourself Bottom line is the hypers are not even close to the quality of a forged piston whether you want to believe it or not and as far as the Supra guys are concerned I've seen many down here and most guys trying to achieve 800hp will go with some JE light weight forged pistons as I know of a couple that have had motors built. It's like what Steve said before about some guys having good luck with N.A. cranks..... spend a couple of hundred now or thousands later like some have before!!! Oh yeah, maybe somebody should tell Duttweiler to start using hypers cause the Supra guys make 800hp with them

Let me get my hip-waders out here If your friend melted a piston it leaned out, period. They don't just melt! It takes mucho heat to do it so yes his tune was not right (be it bad injector, etc..). If you plan on getting as high in the HP as Dutt then by all means go forged but for 400-450 HP the hypers work fine. If you plan on racing all the time go forged. I don't mind the opinions but prefer someone who has "actually used" something than an opinion of I heard it from Billy Bob Buckwheat. Do some of what you opinionate on then give us your .002.

 

[BoostNasty]

Forged. Just do some budget lunches for a while... Works for me.

 

[BillyBoost]

what's all the talk about price?

TRW's from Summitt for under $275 shipped????

 

[86brick]

For a couple of extra hundred bucks it's really foolish to use hypers cause I think most people like not having to worry about what will happen if they race and drive there car like they did when the motor wasn't touched. If it only took him one time being slightly out of tune and leaning out too melt those hypers and I can asure you it did cause he only had about 3k miles on the rebuild and the car was street driven and not raced all that much. I know it will take a LOT more than being out of tune for such a short period of time to melt a forged piston and that's why the hypers are crap IMO. I like being able to race my car and having the peace of mind it won't need a rebuild if I'm a bit out of tune and lean out. I wonder why all the big time gurus like Red Armstrong and Jack Merkel only recommend forged pistons on rebuilds??? Maybe, it's because they know the difference between what works and what doesn't! The next post about n.a. cranks I'm gonna tell people they should use them cause Intercooler likes hypers and if you're never out of tune and don't lean out you should be okay

 

[SideSlip]

$275........no not a missprint. I can get TRW forged from a performance shop in town for $390 Canadian.........that's $275 USD.

What's all this about extra noise??????? Are forged louder. To me, noise means wear.

 

[86brick]

Noise does not mean wear and I don't know where he came up with the idea that hypers are quiter. Call and speak with Red Armstrong at Quad Air or Jack Merkel who builds these motors on a daily basis and who is featured in GMHTP mag this month with the Buick build up and I'm sure both will suggest forged TRW pistons like they are using in the current Buick build up.

 

[Steve Wood]

TRWs don't suffer from piston slap (noise) if installed to spec.