I am soon doing an engine rebuild on my B16A and need to decide on what pistons to get. The car will be staying N/A, never boosted, and will be mostly an aggresive daily driver with occasional racing at auto-x.

The plan is to use all skunk2 for the head work, including an IM, and use JE pistons and Eagle H-beam rods. But after reading some articles about track raced Hondas I see they are all using OEM pistons and rods.

So, since the head parts are already bought, what should I do for the pistons? OEM PR3 pistons and stickwith stock compression? Or go with the JE Pistons and raise the compression a bit?

Thanks!

 

I do believe that the teams whom are using factory pistons are doing so because of class rules in their class/es of racing.....so in many cases they will use OEM pistons, but match the weights of the pistons to make a perfectly balanced engine (to get every edge they can). Honestly you may as well upgrade to higher compression pistons, whether that be with Honda or aftermarket pistons. I hope this helps. LAter!

 

Go with Civic Type-R pistons. Those will give you about 11:1 CR
and are factory.

 

How funny that you mention CTR pistons.
I have asked here about using them in my B16A, and have gotten mixed reviews. Some say they are great and have no problems, others say there are clearance issues. I would use them myself if there weren't people saying there *may* be problems. It's just not worth it to me to risk damage.

So I was considering the following: JE 11.1:1 or OEM PR3 or JDM P30

 

Anyone else have anything to say about this? Please?

 

If you're going to get pistons (aftermarket) don't get JE, go buy yourself some Weisco pistons. Or get the Endyn Rollerwave pistons.

For OE, JDM P30, or CTR's.

CTR's will fit, but you cannot run a VERY high lift cam with the CTR pistons. There are some clearance issues.

 

What is your experience with JE that you would avoid them? I have heard good things about Weisco but I have heard inconsistant findings with Endyn.

As for CTR pistons, I have ruled them out because I just don't want to risk any damage. I will be running a Skunk2 valvetrain with stage 1 cams, so the lift isn't too radical. But better safe than sorry for a daily driver.

 

I've had friends melt and chip the JE/SRP pistons. I even did some damage to my JE's.

Everyone I know now is running Endyn or Weisco pistons.

 

How long ago did this happen? Could it be that JE has refined their process now and has better quality than your experience?