i understand that people use them for high boost applications, but what about using them because they are thicker? could this be considered a "reliability" upgrade or is there more to it other than them being able to handle higher boost?

 

From what I understand a 3mm seal is stronger as it is thicker however it has increased wear on the housings over a 2mm seal

 

The 3mm apex seal created more heat. I would go with the 2mm any day for a street car. 3mm for an all out race application.

 

2mm ALS, more durability than MOST of the 3mm seals, better compression, and standard housing wear. Just search, the more people that run them, the less we have to worry about seeing more threads about blown engines.

 

The only 3mm seals in a daily application, will have to be Ceramic, Anything ales will have to be race only.

 

I have been using Mazda OEM 3mm seals in my motor. About 30k miles since rebuild/install. I am about to have it rebuilt in April (not due to apex seal failure) so I'll post photos showing wear on the seals and the housings.

 

Mazda 3mm seals usually arent too bad on housings, if I were going 3mm they would be what I choose.

 

My motor has rotary aviation 3mm seals as a street car. Motor has over 30k miles including almost a year of daily driving and it's still holding up great.

 

3mm apex seals are typically used for rotors with apex seal grooves that are worn beyond spec.

 

what do you mean by aviation seals?

 

It's a brand, http://www.rotaryaviation.com/

 

Here's the thing about aviation seals:

Aviation engines are designed to run a certain number of hours. Of low compression versus seal failure, which option means the engine keeps running? (Which one keeps the airplane at least flying?)

So, with this in mind, the reason people see accelerated wear with RA seals is because they are designed not to break or fail. This extra strength however comes at the expense of accelerated wear on the housing.

However, I believe this can be mitigated by maintaining proper or sufficient lubrication of the apex seals. :-)

 

thanks guys!

 

^ this. Even at crazy boost levels 2mm apex seals do fine.

 

Yep, this will be long one...

 

OEM 3mm can be considered a reliability upgrade as they do resist detonation better then 2mm. The additional wear isn't really as much as some people lead you to believe either. However, in this day and age, there are good 2mm options if your rotors are good. Seals like ALS and goopy are better 2mm solutions and considered upgrades over OEM.

I wouldn't recommend RA super seals as after opening a motor after only ~7,000 Km of use, the housings looked pretty nasty from what they were before when I put them in.

thewird

 

OEM 3 mm is the only way to fly in my book, all upside, no downs - recently pulled the motor apart with 20k and the housings were in fantastic shape - just lapped and threw it back together

 

so the ruling is...

3mm is fine for normal boost applications but will wear the housings down more

-OR-

3mm is perfectly acceptable as a reliability upgrade as apposed to a performance one...

 

3MM seals are fine & acceptable and will NOT wear the housing down..
If your rotor is in Good shape and 2MM it will do just fine.

 

Exactly. ^

What do you not understand about the statement below?...

 

I've experienced detonation during early tuning no 2 mm would have survived and the "added wear" argument is specious based on my experience - I've owned this car for 14 years and any added resistance to detonation is beneficial

 

Super seals 2mm here !!! 605whp @ 32 psi BW S372 turbo And my friend t2 yesterday made 715whp with RA super seals and holding strong , in my next build ill be using goopy those are fantastic too !!! Have seen drag car here in P.R with 52psi and 1050 whp in a 13b and last over 45+ pases in the 1/4 mile