It's all relative to the application. We have used Hastings 1/16 1/16 3/16 budget rings for 4-5 seasons in 600hp alcohol engines with no issue. The thinner rings are better to conform to cylinders that might flex more, or have very high cylinder pressures. Think of it as a floor squeegee vs. a wiper blade. The wiper will do a much better job at following an distortion under load, including piston deformation.

In a perfect world for the occasional racer/street guy it is fine to go with a drop in Hastings ring. If max effort results are desired then the .043/1mm 2/3mm oil combos are what you want. They will live a long life if you rough hone with a proper stone to create enough "valley" for the oil stay on the cylinder walls. Too smooth of finish will wear out a steel ring in no time because the oil ring and underhook second (Napier ring) pulls all the oil off the cylinder walls. The guys at Dart do not hone ANY blocks without a profilometer in hand to check the surface finish to make sure there are enough peaks and valleys to promote long ring life AND ring seal. In my cars I have tried many different rings and .043 steel top 1/16 Napier 2nd with a 3/16 medium to high tension oils are the best combos for what we do with them. We run the snot out of them so we shoot for "big and dumb shelf type parts" that are readily available and reasonably priced.

The Pro Series is a "ultra finish" steel top with Napier rings while the Sportsman deal is typically a more conventional Plasma Moly top ring with a standard barrel face 52nd ring with no underhook to scrape oil. Either one I would use up to about 800hp beyond that I would stay with the Pro series.

Pistons have locked me into 1/16-1/16-3/16.....Mostly street so, std tension oil ring, Old tried and true stuff. Nothing fancy.

Just looking at options, and would like to figure out the manufacturing base a little better like we seem to have for so many others.

It never hurts to save a buck, and when the same parts are sold under multiple brands it's best to use it to our advantage.

Will probably go with a conventional barrel face second ring, same as always.

thanks so much for the breakdown!

Perfect. Thank you very much.

No problem man, I would invest in the Napier second if you can, it does a nice job controlling oil, everything we drive daily uses that style ring. But nothing wrong with what you are looking at using.

Appreciate the response. That's new to me.

Do tell? The more details the better.