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Air Filter Brand Make a Difference??

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akshatp

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Amazon has about 8 different filters listed. I change it every 12 months, so does it matter if i get the cheapest one made by Fram or Maan?

Which of the cheapest ones is the "best" brand? (Fram, Mann, Hastings, Wix)

Any valid reason to go OE? (Motorcraft)

airfilters.gif
 
I looked at the K&N one for the customer review, and found this in the description:

Product Description

K&N's lifetime replacement air filters are designed to increase horsepower and acceleration while providing excellent filtration. The air filter is custom-designed to fit into your existing factory air box and the drop-in design means adding performance is simple. The unique design of the air filter features multiple layers of cotton fabric which capture airborne dirt particles. The filter is washable and reusable and can be easily cleaned and oiled. It lasts up to 50,000 miles before cleaning is needed.

At 5x the cost of the cheaper one, is it worth getting this "premium" filter?
 
A K&N filter passes more dirt than a paper filter. That's why it has better airflow. For a street car, I don't think they're worth it.

For a race or street/track car where you've modified the engine and will be performing frequent oil changes (every 1,000-2,000 miles or sooner) the trade-off of less filtration for better flow is a worthwhile one, but for a street car it's just plain not worth it.

ZV
 
lol, search here for K&N and prepare for lulz.....

I run whatever is cheap and change them more often, also be sure to check your intake tract to be sure they aren't letting excess dust/dirt in.
 
Air filter 101 - Get K&N only if your goal is performance in short term and don't care about long term durability. K&N filters do less filtering, thus more airflow for performance but also more dirt in the engine.

I always go with the most inexpensive one I can find among Wix, Mann or OEM.
 
The OEM filters are typically pretty decent, though I have liked the Wix stuff I've used in the past for other filters. Unless there's some specific known issue with the OEM filter for your car I'd just stick with that.

A while ago a K&N rep came in to the AT garage and tried to post some ridiculous crap about how all the bad information around about them wasn't true. They got laughed out of here.
 
I just bought a Fram for my '04 Grand Cherokee today. I didn't see any reason to spend double on something I'll never look at for another 10k miles.
 
Throckmorton said:
Read the link in my sig. In that experiment, AC Delco was by far the best, so buy that one.
Click to expand...

Also this link:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

To break down the links easily(above and in Throckmorton's sig, K&N does flow almost insignificantly more (with greater gains on huge, high flow motors and less and small motors) but the filtration is much worse. It's just not worth it. OEM usually is the best way to go. You might lose 0.5% power, but you gain much better dust holding and filtration, important if you have to daily drive your vehicle in the real world.

This is doubly important once you realize once a filter is at capacity, which is obviously faster on those performance filters. it becomes much more restrictive, so a K&N at 6 months would in all likelihood flow worse than an OEM paper filter.
 
I'm rather picky about oil filters, but air filters? They are all pretty much the same as far as I can tell, Fram vs Wix vs Stp vs OEM, they're all paper. Aside from K&N as similar oil-based filters, which I won't touch due to reasons already mentioned here, and also how on some vehicles the oil from the filter can get sucked into the intake and gum up MAF sensors and things.
 
Rockinacoustic said:
I just bought a Fram for my '04 Grand Cherokee today. I didn't see any reason to spend double on something I'll never look at for another 10k miles.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Fram is good or not, but the fact that you use them for so many miles is exactly why it makes sense to get a good one. 10k? I think had my last AC Delco for 20k.
 
Motorcraft is good shit. I don't specifically know about their air filters, but I know their oil filters are just OEM rebadged Purolator filters, basically the best there is.

No need to lose sleep over choice of air filter as long it's a OEM spec paper filter unless you live in a dusty desert area. Just grab whatever you want. Good rule of thumb for filtration test is to hold the filter up to the light and see how well you can see through it, and the more pleats the better.

More pleats = more surface area = less vacuum on the filter element with a given filtration density = less restriction, less things sucked through the filter, less chance of sucking up water if it's near the ground. eg: look for thicker (darker in light test) paper with more pleats. That's the primary reason cone style filters are popular with aftermarket intakes: more surface area without needing 2' x 2' for an equivalent panel filter, less restriction without sacrificing filtration quality.
 
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SparkyJJO said:
I'm rather picky about oil filters, but air filters? They are all pretty much the same as far as I can tell, Fram vs Wix vs Stp vs OEM, they're all paper. Aside from K&N as similar oil-based filters, which I won't touch due to reasons already mentioned here, and also how on some vehicles the oil from the filter can get sucked into the intake and gum up MAF sensors and things.
Click to expand...


Ditto...:thumbsup: (crap will build up on the MAF and you get all kinds of strange stuff going on from funky idle to poor MPG`s and everything inbetween)
 
I bought the cheapest filter at napa once, and it tore (developed a hole) during it's normal usage cycle (!!!). Never again will I buy the cheapest ones available... I use WIX/Napa gold now.
 
SparkyJJO said:
I'm rather picky about oil filters, but air filters? They are all pretty much the same as far as I can tell, Fram vs Wix vs Stp vs OEM, they're all paper. Aside from K&N as similar oil-based filters, which I won't touch due to reasons already mentioned here, and also how on some vehicles the oil from the filter can get sucked into the intake and gum up MAF sensors and things.
Click to expand...

Bartman39 said:
Ditto...:thumbsup: (crap will build up on the MAF and you get all kinds of strange stuff going on from funky idle to poor MPG`s and everything inbetween)
Click to expand...

Basically yes, but i've noticed the Fram AIR filters I used to run have poor construction. They basically are so thin that they can be torn from the handling of installation alone so I've stopped using them.
 
I wouldn't use Fram either. It's entirely possible their air filters are as crappy as their oil filters and I'm not taking the chance. Napa Gold/Wix for me.
 
Thanks folks. I replaced the cabin air filter with the Mann one. I guess it had been a while since it was last done, because the existing one was totally filthy.

Replaced the main air filter with a Fram one I already had purchased.

Thanks for all your replies and insight.
 
SooperDave said:
I wouldn't use Fram either. It's entirely possible their air filters are as crappy as their oil filters and I'm not taking the chance. Napa Gold/Wix for me.
Click to expand...

Fram is ok with me because it HAS to be better than the piece of simple screen I was using before. 😱
 
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