The shop building my engine gave me a choice of factory, ceramic coated, or the forged pistons. The ceramics where a whole lot cheaper(I forget how much), but I just decided that I never want to get this deep into my engine again, so therefore I'm gambling that the "pay me now or pay me later" theory works in my favor in the long run. They did tell me that the ceramics were a big improvement over the stock Cummins part.