My machine shop told that JE pistons would be a 5-7week wait and that they could get Arias pistons in a couple days. Whats the truth about Arias, there seem to be alot of rumors around them. What do you guys think?

 

Go to a different Machine shop. You can call Race Engineering...they stock almost all JE shelf pistons.....

Jason

 

well whats bad about arias?

 

from what I know arias are made of a softer alloy, similar to SRP's

 

anything more info on Arias?

 

I've had a friend who had Arias pistons, worked great, but were pretty noisy. try race engineering, they should have most JE's in stock. Also check out the wiseco pistons from race eng, it could save you quite a bit of money and are also great pistons

 

Arias pistons have higher silicon content similar to SRP pistons. We stock most JE Honda/Acura pistons as well.

 

hehe..and my pistons are out of stock

better give me my **** soon ben

Jeff-

 

Jeff, you know I will.

 

who really cares about the high silicon content? so you'll have a little noise, but i really like arias pistons, used them in two engines so far and i'm putting them in mine.

 

how strong are arias then if it's similar to SRP?

 

Actually the silicon content is the only the similarity the Arias and SRP pistons share. Arias pistons are manufactured more similarly to the JE Pro Series pistons.

 

Aren't the high silicon pistons less noisy then the regular JE pistons? Or do I have it backwards?

 

High silicon are louder because they slap.

 

But don't low silicon pistons slap as well until they are warmed up? Or is this something different?

I always thought that you could run closer piston to wall clearances with high silicon pistons so they wouldn't slap and that you had to run looser clearances for low silicon pistons which would cause them to slap until they are warmed up.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

Actually disregard everything I've been saying about the pistons until I get some sleep.

 

Ok! I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge the differences:

JE & SRP Pistons are produced by the same alloy; 2618. 2618 has very low/no silicon content. Low/Non Silicon pistons expand with heat, thus the need to run looser clearances than high silicon pistons. 95% of ALL JE/SRP pistons are made out of 2618. JE does make some High silicon pistons, but these are only for SOME very specific custom pistons; this is only about 5% of all JE/SRP pistons. JE/SRP suggests running .003" - .0035" piston/wall clearances on boosted cars! The only difference between JE & SRP is that SRP's are an "Off The Shelf" piston whereas JE pistons are for custom specs.
ie: Honda/Acura have a choice of getting eitehr an SRP piston with specific CR and bores OR they have a choice of custom making pistons with ANY CR and ANY Bore. Whereas SRP doesn't have an off the shelf piston for teh SR20DE motor so I would have to get custom pistons made by JE!

Most Street FI Arias Pistons are of High Silicon Content. The alloy is 4032 . These pistons require very tight piston/wall clearances; .001" - .003" to be exact! This alloy has very little to no expansion when heated, thus creating the need for tight clearances.

*NOTE*
Arias DOES offer pistons in the 2618 alloy, this is what they recommend for DRAG ONLY FI cars. These pistons produced for Drag Only cars will run the same clearances as the JE/SRP Pistons.

Ross Pistons uses 2618 alloy for their pistons. They recommend .005" piston/wall clearances for FI cars! These will rattle until warmed up just like the SRP/JE Low silicon pistons!

 

My JE 9.0:1 Pistons are considered "Off the shelf" and they are definately not SRP pistons. JE and SRP pistons are different, I talked to the guy at sema.

Dustin

 

JE's = low silicon = suggested 4-4.5 thou wall clearance.
SRP's = high silicon = suggested 2.5-3 thou wall clearance.
Arias, I believe are high silicon content

High silicon pistons will expand less allowing you to run tighter clearances but are not as resiliant to heat.

 

Let me "DEFINE" "Off The Shelf", Yo can order JE pistons with any specs you want, different skirt lengths, dished , valve reliefs, domes different bores, different placement of oiling holes, ring land positions, etc.....

Where as you can't call JE and ask for SRP Pistons with a 13.0:1 CR piston for a B16; they won't custom make it. SRP pistons ONLY have specific bores and specific CR for you to choose from; NO CUSTOM ORDERING OF SRPS!

I actually had a conversation with Jim @ JE today! We spoke for about a 1/2 hour. At this time, he explained to me that 95% of both JE and SRP pistons are made of 2618 alloy which is of very little or No silicon content!

I also had a chance to speek with Neil @ Arias today for about 1 1/2 hours. At this time he explained to me that on street cars, he prefers tosell the customer a High silicon content piston which is the 4032 alloy! He also stated to me that they used 2618 alloy when the piston specs are for a DRAG ONLY vehicle!

So,

Low Silicon = Looser tolerances, more pistom slap, expansion with heat, & VERY STRONG

High Silicon = Tighter Clearances, very little piston slap, very little expansion with heat, NOT as strong as NON/Low Silicon Pistons!





[Modified by APEXSER, 5:07 AM 11/10/2001]

 

JE/SRP pistons are both Low silcon pistons!
True, MOST ARIAS pistons are High Silicon!


This is about the most true statement I have heard all day!

 

So is there any difference between JE and SRP pistons besides one being "off the shelf"?

 

thanks for informative replies. I called my machine shop, they are getting me the low silicon Arias pistons that run the same clearance as JE(which is 0.004" for me) and they both use the same alloy. So these arias pistons are all good?

 

Apexser, if SRP pistons are low silicon then why are the clearances less on the SRP's? I know this for a fact because I built motors with both JE's and SRP's. I bought the SRP pistons secondhand so there was no spec sheet. I gave JE a call and the tech rep said 2.5-3 thou. meanwhile the clearances for the JE piston were more like 4-4.5.