Ross Racing Pistons

Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011: motorcycles on the hill

While Haslam is representing modern BMW, the only two- and four-wheel world champion, John Surtees, will be riding the supercharged Type 255 Kompressor BMW race bike, which took Georg Meier to victory in the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1939.

The event theme of innovation and machinery that significantly improved motorcycle racing is covered by a host of bikes, some very rare, many of them very expensive, if not priceless.

Honda's astonishing NR is represented, the 750cc road bike version of arguably the most exotic grand prix machine ever built. The NR500 GP bike was designed for a quixotic battle against the dominant two-strokes, its inherent four-stroke power disadvantage countered by the use of oval pistons and eight valves for each of the V4's cylinders.

It didn't succeed, but the swansong 750cc road version went on sale in 1992 for more than £30,000. The irony was that its legacy was not the technology but the style, copied by Ducati designer Massimo Tamburini for the seminal 916 superbike.

Another path that sucked in funds with poor results was hub-centre steering, tried at the highest level with Honda technology and Elf oil company support. The ex-Ron Haslam Elf 3, powered by an NSR500 two-stroke, will be running at Goodwood.

The bike scored points in the 1986 grand prix season, and even won at the non-championship Macau GP, but despite its advantages the lack of feedback compared with conventional forks always let it down.

From the same year is the Heron Suzuki RG500 grand prix bike, with its carbon-fibre honeycomb chassis, designed for superior stiffness with less weight. It might have seemed like a dead end but it was an important step to discovering that, unlike cars, motorcycles handle best with optimum chassis stiffness rather than the maximum.

There's older technology too, with the world's first four-valve-per-cylinder motorcycle, a 1913 Peugeot race bike, as well as machines to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Honda's first championship win, such as the RC162, the ex-Freddie Spencer 1983 NS500 two-stroke, and the fabulous RS125.

* The 500,000th Triumph built by the revived Hinckley incarnation of the brand will go on sale in the Bonham's auction at during the Festival of Speed.

A Photo Tour of Ross Racing Pistons - CorvetteOnline.com

Picking proper pistons for an engine build can be the difference between winning and ultimate engine destruction.  Not only does a piston need to be strong enough to support all the horsepower an engine is trying to produce, but it must be precise on machining tolerances.  An off-the-shelf piston will get the job done in many cases, but being able to custom tailor a design to meet your specific needs is paramount to making the maximum amount of reliable horsepower.  Compression ratios, valve reliefs, gas ports, 3D profiling, ring size and location are some of the many options when it comes to building a custom set of pistons.  Ross Racing Pistons is one of the leading piston companies that has the ability to custom design you a set of pistons that will fit the exact specs you are trying to build.

We hooked up with Ross to build us a set of pistons for the 1,000+ hp 427ci small block Ford destined for our 1965 Mustang “ Biting the Bullitt “.  Since the pistons were destined for a boosted application, we went with 9:1 compression slugs with horizontal gas ports. Also, we made the hour trip to their facility so we could pick up our newly-machined pistons and check out their facility.  Follow along as we take you through a photo tour of how Ross designs and manufactures their pistons.

Ross Racing Pistons History

Ross Racing Pistons began production of high-end forged aluminum racing pistons in 1979, with 2011 marking their 32nd year in business. Ross has remained a family owned and ran company the entire. Ken Roble and Moe Mills where Ross’  two founders, and after 29 years Moe Mills decided to retire with Joy Roble and Chris Madsen working full time at ROSS and oversee the day to day operations of the company. But the dedication to the company doesn’t stop with the owners — more than 25% of the Ross work force has been with the company for over ten years, and several Ross team leaders have been with Ross for over 20 years.  Though there are some processes Ross likes to take care of by hand, they utilize the newest and most accurate (Okuma, Mori Seiki, Takisawa, Fadal) CNC equipment available for manufacturing. Along with a very wide range of forgings, Ross maintains exacting tolerances on pistons for practically all engines.

In a Couple Weeks You Can Have Your Own Personalized Pistons

While pistons have been used in automobiles for well over 100 years, their technology is still being refined and improved.  Pistons are a precise tool that take the brunt force of the combustion cycle, and have to be able to handle over 800 horsepower per piston in extreme circumstances.  Even in the case of our 1000 hp street engine, nothing is compromised in function or quality at Ross when it comes to making a custom set of racing pistons.

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