It’s easy to see pretty. Pretty looks nice, but pretty doesn’t take you far. It’s what is inside that counts, and that goes not only for the advice your mother taught you when you were young, but for your project as well. If you don’t put quality pieces in place, sooner or later you will find out that you might have made a bad choice. MAHLE Motorsports has been a long-time sponsor of BangShift and we’ve been glad to have them on board, simply because they make products that work under the worst of conditions your car has to offer: the combustion chamber. The folks at MAHLE Motorsports take their job seriously, because when a piston fails, that cash register sound you hear in the back of your mind starts ringing and doesn’t stop for quite some time. Nobody wants to deal with a fragged block, scarred cylinder walls or bent pushrods, and nobody wants melted pistons either. Their position as the world’s #1 piston manufacturer and their relationships between the original equipment manufacturers and top-tier racing teams speaks volumes about the products they bring to the table.

For SEMA 2016, Mahle showed off their PowerPack Plus level of pistons. The original PowerPack pistons (on the right) are stout units that are capable of handling 800 horsepower or so, but nowadays, 800 horsepower barely gets you into the club, and if you are running boost or nitrous, those pistons can now see loads pushing 1,000 horsepower or more…not the intended power rating. The PowerPack Plus pistons are beefed up to handle bigger horsepower and torque loads. They have lateral gas ports within the rings and can be manufactured with right and left pockets on the top of the piston. The PowerPack Plus pistons are stronger and durable, and are meant for no-BS builds that are going to see lots of abuse, like circle-track racing engines and drag racing combinations. Need a piston that can handle a 15:1 compression ratio? Here you go.

Mahle also used SEMA to announce a new 1.0mm/1.0mm/2.0mm ring package kit for two Ford Racing crate engines, in 347ci and 374ci configurations. Compared to prior versions, this setup should make about 10 more horsepower versus the older setup, and they are in the middle of engineering tests for a new Sportsman Elite drag racing piston that they are hoping to move to the market next year.

With a solid reputation for making stout parts that are over-engineered for their recommended application, MAHLE Motorsports is worth a look when you are shopping for parts for your next engine build. You can get more information by checking out www.mahlemotorsports.com or by calling toll-free: 888-255-1942.