Well, i guess i'll play the negative nancy and say hell no. My buddy's 347 had 3 of them break a huge chunk out of the same place on the outside of the intake valve relief. Some people on here said it was because he gapped his rings too tight...well his SRP forged pistons are gapped the exact same way and they haven't broke. The KB pistons didn't have 2k miles on them when they went. Opinions will vary but for my money i wouldn't own hyper pistons, KB or not, and i'd be shy about buying KB's even if they were forged.
Now everyone will come in and debate about heat expansion and how hypers expand less and seal better and are (in some cases) lighter than forged and blah blah blah. My stance on this is the same as it's always been...none of the major serious high hp racing bodies use hyper pistons...Nascrap doesn't, Top Fuel doesn't, F1 doesn't. This to me says that in serious racing applications they're sub par and i only spend money on parts that are gonna last. But, that's just my opinion and i'm no engine builder so debate on.
i have the no problem 12 lbs of boost meth injection rite head gaskets and knowing how to tune the engine that all it takes, people blow engines and they blame it on the pistons its 50/50 yea not good for power over 600 the forged do hold better in that high hp high rpm, but with good tuning theyl take 15 lbs all day in my opinion
I have keith black hypereutectic flat top pistons and have had no problems for the first 5000 miles. I have no power adders. Compression ratio is below 11:1.
The best way to avoid problems is to plan your engine build carefully, work with a quality machine shop, and choose parts that compliment each other well and that fit into your desired power/durability/drivability/budget goal. Hypereutectic was the right choice for me.
There are some classes of circle track racing where you are allowed to “claim” an engine from a competitor for a cheap price (was $500 back when I raced). The reason was to keep the racing competitive – it would discourage people from trying to “buy” a win by spending a fortune on an (unfairly) high performance motor.
There are a number of companies, even respectable ones, that sell cheap pistons just to be used in these racing classes. The pistons are intended to perform well for a limited number of races, but need to be replaced often because they are not durable. Sometimes they are labeled as “claimer” pistons, sometimes not. This is something to watch out for when comparing prices.
i have ran kb pistons over the years and have never had any bad luck i had a very reputable engine man who never minded using them in my engines but he did reccomend that i stay away from power adders of any kind and as for summit or jegs pistons if you do some digging i bet they are made by kb i have found that most of their parts are made by name brand suppliers