It goes up, compresses a violent explosion, and goes down. A piston's job is easy enough to understand, but if you examine what it's required to do, you may be amazed it works at all. Think about ...

Golf balls have dimples, so they fly farther than balls that don't. Apply the same principle to diesel engines, and you have a gross oversimplification of why dimpled pistons were invented. It's a ...

To celebrate HOT ROD's 75th anniversary, we teamed up with CASTROL GTX to bring you some of the stories that exemplify the core of what HOT ROD is and reflect the brand's influence on America's car ...

The team at Garage 54 replace aluminum pistons inside of an engine with custom-made plastic pistons. The engine, surprisingly, runs for longer than it has any right to run. Garage 54 specializes in ...

There's more to piston shapes than you might think. Whether it's domed, flat, or dished, all pistons have their fair share of pros and cons when it comes to performance and efficiency. Understand that ...

Today's hot ticket for big power from a small-block Chevy is the 383. Simply taking any 350 small-block and installing a longer-stroke, 3.75-inch crank and a set of new pistons can get you lots of ...

Opposed-piston engine technology has been touted as a possible alternative to conventional engine designs for years. Now, opposed-piston engine developer Achates Power reports that its 10.6L ...

In last month's installment, Texas Speed and Performance (TSP) used a brand-new GM L92/LS3 block as the foundation to build a high-performance 418ci stroker engine. Sunset Racecraft in Lubbock, Texas, ...