Just spoke to Doug at Venolia. He says forged pistons for the 2.5 would be $72.75 each at qty 4, plus a $30 hazardous waste fee (total) for 4, plus about $15 shipping. He says there is no sales tax to Southern California because they come from out of state. (That doesnt make sense to me but whatever). Locks included. These would be custom made to whatever you want.
So if you are in the following situation:
-block has good bores within spec and match each other enough
-have good rings you can reuse
-have good pins you can reuse
You could upgrade to forged for pretty darn cheap IMO. Heck sell your cast Mahles for $50 each and you could probably do the whole forged upgrade for $150!
Heres all the other pricing info I've gathered on forged. If anything is wrong just let me know.
My comments:
If you need the full shebang of pistons + rings + locks + pins, looks like TU and FWDP have the best deals, and are basically the same price if you go by their website pricing and assume $15 for shipping.
If you just want the pistons and locks, made to match your existing pins, rings, and bores, Venolia has by far the best price at $336 shipped.
I didnt call TU, FWDP, JE, or Diamond, but I called everyone else on the list. Based on how the conversation went I would not want to deal with Ross, CP, or Arias. Just my opinion.