Im having a tough time deciding on pistons. the motor is a le2 355 with stock crank/rods and arp hardware throughout. im building a mild combo that i would like to make 500rwhp on boost with an additional 50 or 75 shot of spray just because i have it.

whats my best material choice? i dont want too brittle of a piston but im told the 2618 will wear out considerably faster. im not driving the car every single day but i would like 40-50k out of this motor without issues.

so what sounds like my best option? boost will be limited to about 10 psi max and i plan on keeping the tune pretty safe so whats the best mix of durability/longetivity/cost?

 

Mahle Power Pack pistons which comes with 1.5mm rings and pins. They are also coated. I ran a lot of boost on mine - more than 15# and with the high silicon content in them they take a lot of heat and you can run street clearances. You have to gap the rings. I accidentally went lean at the track a couple runs when I was low on fuel pressure and they lived through it. They are pretty tough pistons and you get to run close clearances which keep the engine quiet and minimize wear. A good source for them is Flatlander Racing http://www.flatlanderracing.com/mahl...rpakchevy.html.

 

For a real tight budget SRP, med budget Mahle, hi budget diamond/JE.

 

It absolutely astonishes me that anyone would buy cheap pistons.

The difference in price between a good, or decent piston vs a top of the line forged piston is pennies compared to the rest of the cost of building a supercharged engine.

Figure out what exactly you want your engine to be and do, where the powerband is going to be, and how durable do you want the whole package to be.

My S/C engine has 85,000 miles on it. The car has 202,000 miles and is a daily driver. I use JE pistons.

http://www.jepistons.com/Catalogs/Au...ty_23_inv.aspx

 

With a dual power adder package, I think your placing your combo at much higher risk. I wouldn't use anything less than a 2618 piston.

 

I think he's right if you're going to use Nitrous. I missed that somehow when I made my post above suggesting the Mahle pistons. I think they are a very good street piston for boost, but I would want the toughest piston I could get if I was going to spray it. You might not be able to get everything you are asking for in one piston, though.