Pro & Cons of Zero-Gap piston rings

[theman440]

Anybody have any first hand experience with zero gap (or gapless) piston rings in a competition engine?

 

[PurpleBeeper]

 

[zyzzyx]

I'm listening. Me wants to know too!

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

I ran a set in the hemi at first, I switched it back to conventional rings after a season. There’s a lot of info out there. It’s a fad that’s come and gone.

 

[dvw]

I tried them once with no noticeable results. Knowing what I've learned now I'd never use them again. If the motor is N/A use the thinnest ring you can get with the best hone job from somebody who knows their business.
Doug

 

[moobster]

I've ran them in the past and liked them a lot.
If your running gasoline, use a low tension zero gap top ring and leave the second ring out.
If your running alcohol, you need the second ring.
Mark

 

[PRHeads]

My buddy tried the Total Seal gapless top rings(which are two piece rings) in his Stocker
No extra power on the dyno, but not worse either.
Pulled it apart after the season....... all the gaps had lined up. Not gapless anymore.

Several years ago we tried some of the Childs & Albert ZGS second rings in it(the type with the overlapping gap).
The motor made quite a bit less power with those, and had a serious oil control problem.
We didn’t even finish all the testing we had planned on the dyno.
Put the normal rings back in, brought it back to the dyno....... power came back, oil control issue gone.

 

[jamie]

They are a waste of time for most all uses. The only thing they may be of use is slightly less oil dilution in an alcohol application or if your rig see's alot of idle/putzing around time.

 

[gtxracer]

Like most of you that posted, I gave them a try many years ago and had no noticeable difference. At the time the cost and return didn't warrant further use, in my opinion.