hateshino

So ive been searching a lot for this answer but i get more information about stock rods than stock pistons. hopefully this will be a good source of info for ppl planning to boost at with stock internals as well.

To summarize what i have learned:

So stock d16 rods will hold till aroudn 200-220whp and anything above is super good tuning and/or super good luck

thus most people just get aftermarket rods+pistons to prevent snapping rods at 200+whp. this costs a good bit... so...

with more searching, i then stumbled upon using d16y8 pistons and modified b18 ls rods that yield same compression for the d16 with stronger b18 rods (setup can support up to 300hp i read) (http://www.hstuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16805)
but form the site it seems like it has to be the d16Y8 pistons.

so i searched some more to find that d16y8 pistons are NOT the same as d16y7. (if i am wrong please correct me).

so i got curious about how much power d16y7 pistons can take before they fail. i searched and haven't found a definite answer..

i know a lot of people say "if you're going to swap out the rods might as well do pistons at the same time, why risk a liability?"

but i guess i am asking on behalf of all super-budget building, turbo-wanting people aiming for maybe 250whp but want to keep stock compression (more power with less boost), keep a reliable engine, not shell out an arm and a leg. for vitara/eagles/etc, and not have to do custom machining to get a ls b18 rod to fit their d block.

so basically a budget setup i imagine would be (some form of H beam d16 rods that can take liek 300-500 hp or something) + d16y7 pistons

So my question is:

so how much can a stock d16y7 piston take before we start seeing bad things happen? anybody know?

cevax

y7/y8 yes they are different but I don't know how much power, I have heard around 270 horse but I have no information to back that up.

You said it best though
"if you're going to swap out the rods might as well do pistons at the same time, why risk a liability?"

A no budget build can turn expensive quick when the motor blows up.

wmac

actually, the ringlands on stock honda pistons are the 'weakest link', not the d16 rods.
also if you use aftermarket rods, you will have to machine the pistons to accept the wristpins.($$$$, unless you have access to machining)
y7 pistons have a higher compression height but a deeper dish than y8 pistons.
p2p vs p2e, pretty much a wash.
by the time you machine the pistons to fit the aftermarket wristpins, you will have spent as much or more for a set of vitaras