Excerpted from Performance Automotive Engine Math by John Baechtel with the author's permission.

Mean Piston Speed

Piston speed refers to the average or mean speed of the piston as it moves up and down in the cylinder bore during each crankshaft revolution. Since the piston actually comes to a complete stop at the top of the stroke (TDC) and at the bottom of the stroke (BDC), its speed and acceleration at any given point is always changing. The piston is always accelerating from or decelerating to zero speed. The formula for mean piston speed yields an average speed based on two times the stroke (up and down for one revolution), times the engine speed (rpm) divided by 12 to convert to feet per minute (fpm). To simplify the formula, divide the numerator and the denominator by 2.

Piston Speed-fpm = stroke x rpm ÷ 6

Here's an example for a 302 Ford with a 3-inch stroke and a maximum engine speed of 6,000 rpm.

Piston Speed-fpm = 3 x 6,000 ÷ 6 = 3,000 fpm

If you did not simplify the formula, the answer still comes out the same. It is the distance the piston travels in one minute. To convert to MPH, multiply the answer by 60 to get feet per hour. Then divide by 5,280 to get miles per hour.

MPH = (mean speed x 60) ÷ feet per mile

MPH = (3,000 x 60) ÷ 5,280 = 34.09 mph

Mean piston speed has long been used as an indicator of component durability under severe service. It is a good rule of thumb for evaluating engine potential and it is even more instructive if you calculate maximum piston speed since one of the axioms of engine performance dictates that power comes from engine speed. The more power strokes per minute, the more power available to do work.

Maximum Piston Speed

At some point in the first half of the stroke, the piston achieves its maximum speed. You can get a very close approximation of the maximum piston speed (ignoring rod center-to-center length and rod angularity) with the following formula. Multiply the stroke by pi and divide by 12 to get feet per revolution. Then multiply by the maximum engine speed to get the maximum feet per minute. This speed occurs about mid stroke, where the connecting rod is approximately ninety degrees to the crankpin. Before that point the piston is accelerating; after it the piston is decelerating. When the piston is exactly at either top or bottom dead center it is stopped and there is no acceleration.

Using the formula for mean piston speed we calculated 3,000 fpm or 34.09 mph for our sample 302 Ford. Now let’s find the maximum piston speed at 6,000 rpm.

Maximum Piston Speed = MPS

MPS-fpm = (stroke x pi (3.14) ÷ 12) x RPM

MPS-fpm = (3.00 x 3.14 ÷ 12) x 6,000

 MPS-fpm = (9.42 ÷ 12) x 6,000 =

.785 x 6,000 = 4,710 fpm

 or

MPS-fpm x 60 ÷ 5,280 = MPH

 4,710 x 60 ÷ 5,280 = 53.52 mph