My SoCal cut and coated lasted me a year and about 12,000 miles of pure abuse. 10,000 miles of that was fuel only on the S475 making 820+, that last 2,000 was with the S480 and spray. I typically drove around on tunes that were over 800 rwhp and was not at all easy on the truck, it took alot of customers for spirited rides and I play even harder when I don't have to worry about cleaning fluids off the passenger seat. I probably had 15-20 passes and only a few hooks with the S475. With the S480 and nitrous I gave it hell at the Diesel Power Challenge - ran the same nitrous and tuning pulling that trailer as I did on my 10 second passes. After the Challenge I made 3 more passes at the track and it let go on the 3rd pass. All 8 of my pistons were cracked, it was a race to see which could crack through first. No signs of melting or anything, just the cracks - the coating seemed to be doing it's job.
The current plan is to go back with Arias, but I am going to look into some other manufacturers as well - including Mahle. You need to also remember that just because aftermarket pistons are made by the same manufacturer doesn't mean they are made the same; just like cams, a few companies make most cams but they are spec'd and relabeled by many other companies. Companies like Mahle will make you pistons however you want - you could call them up and tell them you want pistons made completely of recycled Coke cans and they would probably do it for the right price. I would like to see a set of 2000 series forged pistons with the hard anodized ring like what SoCal's 4000 series Mahles have, hopefully you could use a tougher ring without beating out the lands. I plan to talk to Buck Spruill about it some, since he has been running a big single with TONS of spray and now the BIG twin setup - I'm pretty sure his are Mahle forged pistons, but not SoCal specs. From my research the 4000 series forged would be better for the street, but not take as much abuse. I'm willing to change rings every few years on 2000 series forged rather than pistons and over boring until I run out of block every time I crack one.