Hi all,

I am rebuilding my 2.0 engine and I need a new pistons/cylinders set. Because the cost for a Mahle 94 forged 94mm flat top set is about 600 Euros ($700 approx.) in Europe (CSP, BAS, Mittelmotor) I am looking in the USA ... So I discovered on TheSamba ad website a guy that sells new T4 pistons/cylinders kits at incredible prices.

Example: 94mm flat top $229 or 104 mm $380
Here is the Samba Ad about this.

Do you have any feedback about this seller / products ?

Phil, I am not familiar with the piston/cylinders in the Samba ad, but you might try asking the question over on the Shop Talk Forums Type4rum. Some of those guys may be familiar with them.

http://shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=...006699c4ccc1ae3

A fairly common opinion is that the quality of cast iron cylinders in aftermarket big bore kits (96, 103, 104mm) is not very good.

Mike

If you have cylinders from a stock 2.0 you can get 96mm pistons only for $250 and then have your cylinders cut. The super cheap sets will leave you with very low compression because of the dish in the piston top.

If the Mahles you can get locally are forged, then you're comparing apples to oranges. Forged pistons are the strongest, highest-quality ones you can find. Pistons that are as cheap as the others you listed are likely very cheap castings.

I think that places like http://www.ebsracing.com and http://www.aircooled.net will sell Kieth Black "hypereutectic" cast pistons for a fairly reasonable amount of money. Those should be better than forged for a regular street application that is not running boost (supercharger, turbo, etc.). They expand at the same rate as the cylinders (I think it was), unlike the forged ones which expand much more so have to be run very loose when cold. That results in "piston slap" when the engine is cold, which is unpleasant.

Try checking with Lee at http://www.laperformance.co.uk for someone closer to you. I believe that he sells some or all of John C's stuff (aircooled.net), and it's always nice to have someone relatively close to deal with. Not to mention not having to deal with international shipping fees and schedules and hassles.

--DD

Those P+C's are pretty good. I sell them and use them ..so far no big problems. I sell the 96's for 325.00$ They come from a place in San Fran about 30 minutes north of me (Chinese importer based here).



B

Hum, Hum ... conflicting advices !

Brad, you may suggest that they are coming from Taiwan ? When you say "no big problems" you mean you got "small" problems ?