The trick for hills seems to be to hit them as balls out as you can, given whatever approaching room you have. I guess if you are up on the pipes at that point, you shouldn't have to worry too much about being below the "hit".
Yes, from what I have seen, Toomeys seem to be pretty nice as far as craftsmanship goes. Since I only plan on the mods listed in the last post, I should be on the right path.