[Walt Fricke]

Stock rods with ARP or Raceware or other high strength steel bolts aren't too shabby. I've spun mine up to (and occasionally over) 8,000 in a 2.7 race motor for years. Never had a rod problem. Plenty of others, but not rod failures.

But for the 2.8SS I am building I have a set of Pauters. Had I known about the RRs I would have compared them. Carillos were the gold standard, but as Steve points out they are a bit expensive (everything involved with engine performance is expensive, so it is a matter of degree). But these aftermarket rods not only add strength, they also are lighter. Always a good thing, all other things being more or less equal.

Those of us with advanced Holiday Inn Express engineering degrees wonder about the Pauter design. Porsche uses an I beam with a nice broad web. Carillo (and its imitators) uses an H beam with two wide flanges. Easy to see where they get their stiffness. No one has explained to me how the cross shape of the Pauter does the job. But do it it does. I have seen it said that the Pauter also has less windage. Pauter has been making hot rod stuff for a very long time. Plus you can, for not too much more $, get custom rods if you need different lengths, journal diameters, big end widths, etc. if your innovative design calls for that.