Drmarshall, Windadct, thank you for your most informative reply. Yes, I am primarily concerned with the torus generating a strong electric field, not overly concerned with current generation. Therefore, both your replies make complete sense. I will only be using the Coil as a secondary device...
How does the mass of a toroidal top load on a Tesla coil affect performance, assuming all dimensions are similar except for mass? You see, I have one hollow aluminum torus and one torus made of heavy, mostly solid metal. Both same size, but different weights. Thanks!