Gapless Rings - yea or nay?
 

I finally have all the parts for my built engine. Now a buddy, who has built successfully running race engines, suggested that gapless rings are good for a few hp more. I can see the physics behind it. But then why isn't everybody doing it?

nay. I run wiseco rings, they work fine and have taken a fair amount of abuse. I have no experience with gapless rings though.

I had Total Seal rings on my high compression naturally aspirated subaru. I had a mild engine build, good pistons and rods, stock rebuilt heads, no porting, and I was over 200whp on a mustang dyno. I had very little blowby.

which doesn't really help you. If you have the money for them, why not?

I know some time ago the Miata community had labled total seal rings as Never seal rings. because nobody ever got them to work properly. really bad oil consumption. Even flyin Miata who worked with the company to try and solve the problem never got them to work in a Miata.

I do think the Miata has a problem over oiling the rings with most any aftermarket pistons of which it seams every brand of aftermarket piston has gas ports for the oil control ring that allow the oil squirters to overwhelm the oil control rings. stock Miata pistons don't have oil control gas ports.

They might work good if you take out and block off the piston oil squrters.

I was planning on removing the squirters anyway, but I would *guess* that FM would have tried that approach as well in their trials.
So far I don't see any enthusiastic support here.....

Without the squirters the BP is just a short rod iron block in-line four. Seamless have probably worked on such setups before.