High-output engines live in a world of brutal cylinder pressures, extreme temperatures and razor-thin safety margins, and the humble piston sits at the center of that storm. When power levels climb, ...

In an effort to increase the basic understanding of automobile technology for those new to the hot rod world or those who have been involved for a while but don't have a good foundation of knowledge.

It's amazing that an object as simple as a piston can withstand the rigors of combustion for hundreds of thousands of miles without failing. There's a lot more to a piston than meets the eye, matey.

Many performance cars, including the supercharged Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and most Ferrari GT models, rely on forged pistons — instead of cast-aluminum pistons — for their additional strength. Forged ...