Various coatings have been around fir decades now. Many of the same companies have also been in business as long. The fact that the OE's do coat pistons, some bearings and other internal parts says allot in my book. They won't spend a penny on anything that doesn't pass a cost/benefit analysis. Do you need coatings for a hobby engine that will see a couple thousand miles a year? That's an individual decision. Properly applied for a specific purpose, they do provide additional protection and insurance for minor tuning errors, tiny dirt intrusion, and to correct very small tolerance variations. If your engine has a serious issue, no coating is going to save it. I have used PTFE based coatings on piston skirts, Barrier coatings on piston heads, DLC coatings on lifters and a few others. They all provide a small level of insurance. Only hard anodized treatment would allow the pistons to live in a nitro environment. Even then, they would scuff in extreme situations. Joe Mondello. (RIP) was a big proponent of coatings. He was a Tech Line dealer and coated parts in house. That's where my experience comes from.
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