I'd like to hear what you all have experienced or read about the best connecting rods. Which rods would you buy for a daily driven high HP car if money were no object?

For instance I was using Eagle rods in my G64c 2.4liter 4-banger. These, from what I have been told are the least expensive good rod. I put about 135HP through each rod on the dyno (On a V8 that would equate to a 1080HP engine). It's not the 240HP+ that Darryl Hudson put's through his rods, but my cars are meant to be street driven many more miles than a drag race only car. Marko was apparently using Carillo rods in his 1500HP street driven Supra which equates to 250+HP per rod.

So what do you think? Since I am talking about a street driven car I don't think that aluminum rods should be considered unless there is something about them I don't know.

Eagle
Manley
Carillo
Any others?

Aluminum rods should be considered. Give Keith Groden a call and he'll give you the low down. 800-478-2177.

Write up from FFWD Connection. This shop is local to Groden Racing Rods.

A personal note on using these rods on the street:

Hey folks. This is a first for me to post a personal message on the site, but there is something that just has to be addressed. I've received numerous emails inquiring on these Groden's, and the Number One question asked is...

"Are these rods OK to use on the street?"

Coming in a close second, "I heard aluminum rods stretch. Is this true?"

I tell ya…forums should be closed down to the folks that pass bad info. They trash talk better than they win races. I’m here to tell you that these particular rods can take gobs of abuse. More abuse than the spirited street guy could ever throw at them. The only thing you have to bear in mind is that with the expansion rate of aluminum, the rod bolts take a beating so eventually, the bolts will have to be replaced sooner than in a steel rod. The rods don’t stretch…the bolts do...past their yield...but over time. That’s the nature of the beast. This is true of all alum rods. But at that level of performance, chances are, you’ll have your motor broken apart regardless for a "re-freshening" at some point in time. Possibly every season for the folks really pushing the envelop. You can’t be putting out mountains of HP and never pop your hood.

We have a few street guys that have looked beyond the crap floating around out there and are using them on a daily basis. I even run them in my own personal stroker motor. When I was putting together this motor, I didn’t think twice what rods I was going to use. It would be the Grodens. Case closed.

This aint a sales pitch...just got tired of saying the same thing time and time again. Later...

^^^ On the same note, those rods can be easily ordered cryo-treated for even greater strength and durability. Always a plus.

AMS uses Oliver rods in their highest HP cars. I've always heard that the best are Oliver and Carillo and perhaps Crower.

Pauter makes a different design that they proclaim as the strongest. They use an X-beam design. These are the rods I am running in my car.

http://www.slowboyracing.com/more.php?id=2498&

Nate is the Talon making the trip to Cordova for Vicary Day?

I talked to Alan at Eagle. He doesn't feel that his rods would have failed at my power level without something else going wrong. He says he has rods in racing 4 cylinder engines putting out more than 1000HP. Thier ads rate them for 900HP and AMS rates them to 600HP which I'm sure that I was skirting at the flywheel. He also said the rods will never break at the shaft like I thought mine did. He believes it had to be a side affect from some other issue like knock which could cause a bearing to spin, a stretched rod bolt, fatiged parts from overheating due to spun bearings or the like. Well these rods have been in a stroker of one sort or another of mine for the past two years and they did live through spun bearings as well as plenty of knock while tuning. So there are numerous reasons they could have weakend.

Regardless I want something that is hardy enough to take some abuse, because I don't have the kind of money to freshen a motor a couple times a year just to be sure. Ya know... Spend the money once, spend it right and be done with it for a reasonable amount of time.

Ranta posted up this option on CSS:

Markus - http://www.nipponpower.com/product.phtml?p=129&mmk=311 I bet you could find them for $700 somewhere. Great rods and not too expensive. They should last you a long time... as long as everything else goes ok.


It seems like most all other HP rods for the Mitsu 4-banger are between 700 & 800 dollars. So It wouldn't be a decision of economy, but of who is the best. I'm not sure how to tell that with the propaganda the sales people pitch you. I do like the look of the Pauter rods though.

Thanks for the input guys!

I have Eagle's in my motor now, but I'll be investing in eather a set of Crower rods or Corrella's. I recomend them both highly.