Another dreadful piston question :)
Turbo Mini Forums

Hi, was doing some searching about pistons to use. And it seems that the Omega cast 11cc dish is the one most people use, iv'e seen some accralites forged being up for sale atm, how would these be compared to the Omega's? I know the forged one could handle a blow better, and not shatter. But gets more worn. Anyways, these are 18cc which is a bit much for me.

Also the Mega pistons 11cc that minispares sell, are these good? i reckon fastcarl use them? they seems to be quite nice actually :) but how are they compared to the more expensive omega's?

Thx guys! :)

i have had the same set in the Don now for three years, no problems whatsoever


carl

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Forged pistons are more tolerant to shock damage including pre-ignition so are often used in tuned (and turbo) engines. Cast can be used as long as setup is perfect but they will always be second to forged ones in my opinion.
In terms of longevity cast will last longer, but who builds a turbo mini and worries about the pistons lasting 50000 miles? The rest of the car is stuffed way before then.

In any engine that is going to cost ££££s and see a lot of boost the difference in price seems smaller than looking at it just in terms of the unit cost of the pistons themselves. If your engine is built on a tight budget and you aren't going to run it to very high rpm and/or boost, save some money and have cast ones.

What do you call high boost ? I've run a minimum of 15psi and up to 20psi on the cast Omegas for nearly 3 years now.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

Yeah i think i read it in some other thread Carl :) they seems nice, and with a great price!

Do you think i should buy the ones that are for sale? or should i go for the Mega ones from minispares?

Thanks jamie, i've read some about it.
It's being built on a relative tight budget yes, but not limited.

But its basically the minispares one's vs the 18 dish forged one's :)

Edited by Utking on 22nd May, 2011.

whats that in 1293 trim ?

1293 Turbo mini

Yes, sorry forgot to mention, they are +20, so 1293. I'm very tempted to buy them :)

would the 1380 be as good

1293 Turbo mini

What do you mean?

using as turbo pistons at about 10psi because of the load on them

1293 Turbo mini

i wouldnt turbo a 1380 because of how thin the block gets in the middle
could flex abit etc.
Been quite a debate over 1380's as it is
some people agree
some people dont
personally i think its a little to close and plenty of meat between the bores is the way to go
hence so many turbo pistons are +20/1293's
but hey 1380 turbos have been done

but id take every re-bore as it comes,
1380 blocks cant really be bored again

Reading up on RTS Clutches

i know they can be bored again with 49mm pistons and relined etc.
but if your going to all the hassle to turbo
as it is may aswell go for the best

Cost is relative in time

Reading up on RTS Clutches