Pistons...
 

M-Tuned rods have been ordered. Next step, pistons.

Wiseco 79mm, 8.5:1, $460: Rice Engineering

Supertech 79mm, 8.8:1, $440: Belfab Racing

Discuss.

Only appreciable difference joe is that you can run slightly less clearance with the supertechs vs the wisecos because of alloy differences. The cr ratio difference as you know is negligible.

I personally am a huge fan of wisecos, but having seen the supertechs in person I can say that they also look like great pieces.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.

I have nothing to contribute other than wondering what's in store turbo hardware wise Joe.

My guess is that he might just want to turn up the boost and still be reliable. After all these posts of bent rods it makes you wonder when your straw will be drawn.

I chose the Supertechs because of their expansion qualities and price point.

p.s.: that bore/compression ratio is still on backorder from Belfab. Shouldn't be too much longer.

They can be bought elsewhere.

call me crazy but wiseco offers a 79.5 and, lets be honest, you wont be re-boring your block for larger pistons in the future. take the minor bump in displacement. 1660cc

had I not picked my pistons up 2nd hand, I'd probably get the 85.5's for the 1.8...1951cc without a stroker! so what if the cylinder walls are foil thin? :)

I've heard this as well, and I wonder if there is any actual documentation to back it up, or whether it is marketing hype? If true, then it is certain a strong argument in favor of the Supertechs.



For the moment, I intend to retain my current turbo and manifold. I've got some long-range plans that involve experimenting with various modes of WI, and I don't want to wind up destroying my engine in the process. I went ahead and ordered the rods now on account of the group buy.



I am in absolutely zero hurry. It'll be months before I have a chance to actually install any of this hardware.


I'd actually be more inclined towards the 78.5s, which are also made by both Wiseco and Supertech. An extra 0.5mm bore diameter (79.5 vs. 79) buys you a whopping 27 cc (1.6 cubic inches), or an increase of 1.6%. I'm much more concerned about wall thickness, given that the B6ZE is already overbored 7mm beyond the original 71mm of the B3.

It is indeed legitimate. Although the amount is small. I am talking 0.0005-0.001" type of difference. Still that can be the difference between cold slap and no cold slap. Depending on your power level your safe bet on clearance with these pistons is around 0.0035-0.004". Just remember that if you run too much clearance no one will know, run too little and everyone will.

Additionally, The alloy differences also correlate to the ability to withstand pre-detonation. The "softer" alloy of the wisecos can withstand a bad tune more so than the supertechs will be able to because they are "harder". Regardless both will be many times stronger than the stock hyper eutectic pistons.

Between Wisecos and Supertechs, I had no real preference. I'll never approach the limits of either.

Not to get into the CR issue again, but I had a long talk w/ Marc at ETD Racing before buying my Supertechs (9:1, 84mm.) He strongly suggested close to stock CR (which is 9.5:1 for the 1.8L.)

Regarding bore diameter: the change in piston area is so small that the additional power would be in the order of 2%.

Maybe Marc will chime in w/ some advice.

True that. IPP still offers these for $400.

Without rings, which are $80 extra. The others include the rings.

I also chose them for expansion qualities, but I think piston "slap" is in the hands of the machinist. I agree that comp ratio difference is negligible in terms of drivability...however I disagree in respect to spark advance. I'd go with the lower ratio to add spark angle for all that yummy torque, especially if you're going to surface the head.

I can't wait to see how much torque you can make out of that little 1.6 with low-comp.

Ugh...my bad. Thought the item title stating "w/ Rings" implied they came with...
Oh well.

Emilio sells the supertechs on his website Joe. $440 + shipping.

Joe, unless you are deadset on keeping your GReddy manifold, think about building a 1.8. You can get a longblock with crappy rings for next to nothing, and the 240cc displacement increase is impossible to ignore. Just grab an ETD manifold if you want to keep your GReddy turbo.

I did Supertechs and I have no regrets. 84mm 8.7:1. Car is a little sluggish off boost, but once the turbo is spooled it yanks plenty hard. You can't ignore the torque numbers that low-comp motors are producing.

If I had to do this over again I'd get zero gap rings. Either piston set is acceptable.

you need to tune your shit off boost. This is another reason why I like my large a/r turbine housing.

Its nice to see that you've finally come around...half way at least.

Are you planning on doing a worklog when installing the pistons?

Not happening.

For starters, I don't want to spend the extra money on another longblock, manifold, etc. By the time you factor everything in, it's probably an additional $1k.

Second, I'm pretty sure my crank timing wheel would hit the swaybar with the longer engine.

And third, I just don't need the displacement.


Hmm. I remember Total Seal rings being popular on ACVWs way back when, but it never even occurred to me to see if they were still around. A gapless second ring is in the maybe pile.


You're asking this of the guy who does a comprehensive writeup every time he farts?