He fortified the engine with stronger apex seals from Francesco Iannetti, known as the Giorgio Armani of apex seals.

The advantages in any engine are that the ceramic material used has a lower coeficient of friction than the more conventional ductille iron seals, and the material is a lot harder. The lower friction, means less wear to the surrounding parts (apex seal grooves, rotor housings, and side housings), and less wear to the seals due to both the lower friction, and harder material. The wear characteristics have been described to me as negligable, but initially enough for them to break in correctly.



Other advantages, are that the ceramic material has less physical mass, so requires less spring pressure to keep them in contact with the rotor housing surface at a given rpm, plus due to the lower coeficient of friction you can use more spring pressure without causing an appreciable increase in wear. Either one of the above means the engine can run at higher rpms without the seal floating, which can cause hot exhaust gasses to travel back into the intake cycle of the other rotor chamber and cause pre-detonation which is one of the major concerns in any non diesel engine.



Stock apex seals can overheat, and warp which is not a concern with the ceramic seals. The ceramic seals although not indestructable, can take a lot more detonation than stock seals. They can also stand up to a lot more boost/power output.