[1]Whenever we visit our friends from Ross Racing Pistons [2] at a tradeshow, we always feel bad for them. They understand that their potential customers want to be able to touch and feel their pistons, so they always have several big tables covered with aluminum slugs of every description and application, easily accessible to passers-by. And every one of those pistons gleams like a jewel, thanks to the endless toil of the Ross employees, who spend their entire day with microfiber cloths in hand, wiping off fingerprints over and over.
We’ll admit we didn’t help the situation, but we couldn’t resist handling the goods, like their new shelf stock 5.0 Coyote piston for boosted applications, shown above. It’s got an 11.75cc dish, and is available in either stock 3.632 or 3.640 overbore diameters. Optional 52100 series high-carbon steel pins are optional, making these slugs a great start for a boosted Coyote build. And did we mention they’re shelf-stock? No waiting for custom pistons to get cut…
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On the left, conventional wrist pin bosses. On the right, lightweight punch-cut bosses.
Speaking of cuts, we also got a look at some cool 5-inch HEMI Pro Mod-style pistons with punch-cut wrist pin bosses. These additional lightening cuts bring the total weight for this piston down to just 734 grams, but require button-style pin retention (which is what most guys in the market for this kind of piston are using anyway, we’re told). While it might seem like there’s not much room for improvement in piston design and manufacture, Ross is always pushing the state of the art, so if you see them at a tradeshow, show a little appreciation and try not to handle the goods too much…