PRI 2022: Mahle Adds Ford 7.3L, GM 5.3L PowerPak Pistons

Mahle Motorsport has had a hit on its hands for years with the introduction and growth of its PowerPak piston lineup, a readily available, affordable, quality all-in-one piston package for racers and engine builders. Each year, Mahle adds new applications to the PowerPak family, from new automotive brands and engines to simply covering new engines from the domestic big-three not already in its catalog.

This year was no different, as Mahle brought a host of new piston packages to show off at the PRI Show, from big-block Mopars, to diesel engines, to spec stock-car series pistons, and so on. But two of them that may be most popular with drag racers and high-performance street enthusiasts are the all-new pistons for the Ford 7.3L Godzilla and the GM Gen-IV 5.3L.

“The PowerPak piston sets are a high-volume shelf-stock line developed for high-performance engine builders, that are cost-effective but don’t sacrifice anything in reliability,” says Mahle’s Brian Fair. “They’re all forged — with the exception of some diesel pistons that are cast — from a 4032 or 2618 aluminum alloy. Each set comes with high-performance ring sets. These come with pins, clips, so if you need a full set, and a piston that you can just drop in, this comes with everything you need.”

The 4032 aluminum alloy used allows for tighter cylinder-to-wall clearances and improved temperature stability, while the 2618 alloy allows for increased detonation resistance. Each PowerPak kit is complete with a set of high-performance rings, containing either a low drag 1.0mm, 1.0mm, 2.0mm set, a 1.5mm, 1.5mm, 3.0mm set, or a 1/16-, 1/16-, 3/16-inch high-performance ring pack standard with big-block kits.

PowerPak pistons feature lightweight slipper skirt forgings, fully-machined crowns, Grafal anti-friction coating on skirts, and a phosphate-coating to reduce micro-welding and pin galling. The pin bores are finished on CNC boring equipment, are hand-deburred, feature high strength, lightweight German-steel pins, have race-proven round wire locks, and a low-drag ring pack.