RE: do piston rings matter that much
it depends...
in the mirada's 340, ive been running the same "cheap as possible" rings since 1995 now, making around 500bhp, running low 12s...they have seen around 1300 passes and around 25,000 road miles...the compression is still fairly solid. i didnt actually get THE cheapest, but the cheapest name brand set.
there is very little true "performance gain" to be had with a 75 dollar set compared to a 20 dollar set, but in the long run, there is a much better chance of the expensive ones lasting and holding up.
do you plan to ever run nitrous oxide, a turbo- or supercharger? Are you running high compression? One advantage of the mirada's that helps the ring life is the low compression and low engine heat. my car runs incredibly cool, and is only around 9 to 1 compression, so there is less stress on the rings, thus you will generally get more life out of them.
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