Al-Si eutectic alloys have been directionally solidified in a horizontal resistance heated furnace. The temperature gradient, G, ahead of the solid/liquid interface was kept fairly constant at 80°c/cm, while the growth rate,R, was varied between 0.28 and 131 μm/s. Microstructural studies show a definite alignment of the rod-like Si at low growth rates. At growth rates higher than 14 /μm/s the microstructures appear irregular, although some preferential orientation of the Si rods parallel to the growth direction can be observed. Tensile tests show higher values in both yield and ultimate strengths than was found in previous investigations, most likely due to the careful sample preparation prior to testing in the present work. The yield strength increases with the growth rate up to about 14 /μm/s, and only a slight increase is observed at higher rates. The ultimate strength also increases with the growth rate, but shows less tendency toward saturation. Superposition of hardness and yield data show excellent correlation, while comparison between hardness and ultimate strength shows higher hardness than ultimate values with decreasing growth rates.