K& N Filters

edprush

Platinum Member
Sep 18, 2000
2,541
0
0
I figured someone would have asked about these by now on the forums.

I've heard great things about K&N Filters but I've never tried one.

Have you used them and did they provide any increase in performance for your vehicle?
 

996GT2

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2005
5,212
0
76
They increase airflow at the expense of decreased filtering quality...so, in short, they aren't worth the money for a daily driver.

Edit: In most cars the filter housing and piping is where most of the restriction comes from, so if you simply drop in a K&N to the stock filter location, it probably won't give you any increase in power while letting more unwanted particles pass through to your engine. To actually gain a few more horsepower, you would have to use a K&N in conjunction with an aftermarket intake system.
 

Maximus96

Diamond Member
Nov 9, 2000
5,388
1
0
i buy them for the reuseability(sp). i have them on all my cars. i don't notice any increase in performance or mileage or any of that bullsh!t.

 

woodie1

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2000
5,947
0
0
Originally posted by: edprush
I figured someone would have asked about these by now on the forums.

I've heard great things about K&N Filters but I've never tried one.

Have you used them and did they provide any increase in performance for your vehicle?

Generally speaking they do very little. I've used them and would not recommend you spend the money.
 

SVT Cobra

Lifer
Mar 29, 2005
13,264
2
0
Originally posted by: 996GT2
They increase airflow at the expense of decreased filtering quality...so, in short, they aren't worth the money for a daily driver.

Edit: In most cars the filter housing and piping is where most of the restriction comes from, so if you simply drop in a K&N to the stock filter location, it probably won't give you any increase in power while letting more unwanted particles pass through to your engine. To actually gain a few more horsepower, you would have to use a K&N in conjunction with an aftermarket intake system.

Exactly. Good Advice
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
9,359
2
0
They aren't worth it at all IMO. Unless you are going to get a bigger MAF and throttle body the extra air won't do much. It's like opening your mouth wider in an attempt to get more food down your throat - your throat is only so big and can only move so much food at once - regardless of how big you open your mouth.
 

ayabe

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2005
7,449
0
0
You will maybe notice a difference in mileage or butt dyno if your stock filter is extremely dirty, otherwise without a tune you most likely won't notice anything.

Although they are reusable, over time the oil that is used on them can foul the MAF and cause you problems.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,154
58
91
They are worthless. Your stock paper filter already flows more than your engine can suck in, and it's MUCH better at filtration than a K&N.

What are stock replacement filters....5 bucks? 7 bucks? A K&N is what...40 or more? So you can go through 7 or 8 air filters for the price of a K&N, plus your engine will be getting cleaner air to boot. And unless you live on a dirt road, 7 or 8 air filters should take you well over 100k miles.
 

SVT Cobra

Lifer
Mar 29, 2005
13,264
2
0
Originally posted by: Pale Rider
They aren't worth it at all IMO. Unless you are going to get a bigger MAF and throttle body the extra air won't do much. It's like opening your mouth wider in an attempt to get more food down your throat - your throat is only so big and can only move so much food at once - regardless of how big you open your mouth.

Well actually the throttle body usually is not the problem. But, great analogy.


Also Pale Rider...Are you a member of the apache squadron? And, have you ever played DF2?
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,542
920
126
Originally posted by: chucky2
Read through the following link and then make your decision:

ISO 5011 Duramax Air Filter Test Report

Chuck

Now that I am not doing the tests and my objectivity is not necessary, let me explain my motivation. The reason I started this crusade was that I was seeing people spend a lot of money on aftermarket filters based on the word of a salesperson or based on the misleading, incomplete or outright deceiving information printed on boxes and in sales literature. Gentlemen and Ladies, Marketing and the lure of profit is VERY POWERFUL! It is amazing how many people believe that better airflow = more power! Unless you have modifications out the wazoo, a more porous filter will just dirty your oil! Some will say " I have used aftermarket brand X for XXX # years with no problems. The PROBLEM is you spent a chunk of ching on a product that not only DID NOT increase your horsepower, but also let in a lot of dirt while doing it! Now how much is a lot? ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY is TOO MUCH!

Others are persuaded by the claims of aftermarket manufacturers that their filters filter dirt "better than any other filter on the market." Sounds very enticing. To small timers like you and me, spending $1500 to test a filter sounds like a lot. But if you were a filter manufacturer and you believed your filter could filter dirt better than any other media on the market, wouldn't you want to prove it? Guess what. Test your filter vs. the OE paper. It will cost you $3000 and for that price you will have the data that you can use in your advertisements. Your investment will be returned a thousand fold! EASIER than shooting fish in a barrel! So why don't these manufacturers do this? Hmmm? Probably not because they would feel guilty about taking more market share.

Now I am not saying that ALL aftermarket filters are useless. A paper filter does not do well if directly wetted or muddy. It may collapse. This is why many off-road filters are foam. It is a compromise between filtering efficiency and protection from a collapsed filter. Now how many of our trucks collapse their filters from mud and water? However, if a filter is using "better airflow" as their marketing tool, remember this....Does it flow better? At very high airflow volumes, probably. BUT, Our trucks CAN'T flow that much air unless super-modified, so what is the point? The stock filter will flow MORE THAN ENOUGH AIR to give you ALL THE HORSEPOWER the engine has to give. And this remains true until the filter is dirty enough to trip the air filter life indicator. At that point performance will decline somewhat. Replace the filter and get on with it.

Hopefully the results of this test will do 2 things. Shed some light on the misleading marketing claims of some aftermarket manufacturers and/or give us new insight on products already on the market that are superior to our OE filter. I stand for truth and will eat my words publicly if my statements prove wrong. I appreciate all of the help and support that you members have offered in this project. It would simply be impossible without your help. A huge thanks to Ken at Testand for his willingness to take on this project. I would be spinning my wheels from here to eternity without his help.

Summary: These filters let more dirt into your engine, clog up sooner and cost quite a bit more while providing almost no benefit.
 

HannibalX

Diamond Member
May 12, 2000
9,359
2
0
Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Originally posted by: Pale Rider
They aren't worth it at all IMO. Unless you are going to get a bigger MAF and throttle body the extra air won't do much. It's like opening your mouth wider in an attempt to get more food down your throat - your throat is only so big and can only move so much food at once - regardless of how big you open your mouth.

Well actually the throttle body usually is not the problem. But, great analogy.


Also Pale Rider...Are you a member of the apache squadron? And, have you ever played DF2?

Must be another PR.
 

themisfit610

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2006
1,352
2
81
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
They are worthless. Your stock paper filter already flows more than your engine can suck in, and it's MUCH better at filtration than a K&N.

What are stock replacement filters....5 bucks? 7 bucks? A K&N is what...40 or more? So you can go through 7 or 8 air filters for the price of a K&N, plus your engine will be getting cleaner air to boot. And unless you live on a dirt road, 7 or 8 air filters should take you well over 100k miles.

QFT.

I had one, saw no gains, and recently ripped it out in favor of a good old fashioned paper filter. Works great. Less dirt in the engine. Win.
 

SVT Cobra

Lifer
Mar 29, 2005
13,264
2
0
Originally posted by: Pale Rider
Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Originally posted by: Pale Rider
They aren't worth it at all IMO. Unless you are going to get a bigger MAF and throttle body the extra air won't do much. It's like opening your mouth wider in an attempt to get more food down your throat - your throat is only so big and can only move so much food at once - regardless of how big you open your mouth.

Well actually the throttle body usually is not the problem. But, great analogy.


Also Pale Rider...Are you a member of the apache squadron? And, have you ever played DF2?

Must be another PR.

Oh just curious, because Pale Riders is the nickname of the Apache Squadron stationed in Kentucky
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
10
81
No. OEM paper filters are cheap, generally easy to replace, and filter much better than most oiled filters.
 

zixxer

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2001
7,326
0
0
+1 on K&N being dirtier.

Use either purolator, bosch, or factory oem.

DO NOT USE FRAM.
 

imported_Shivetya

Platinum Member
Jul 7, 2005
2,978
1
0
Originally posted by: edprush
I figured someone would have asked about these by now on the forums.

I've heard great things about K&N Filters but I've never tried one.

Have you used them and did they provide any increase in performance for your vehicle?

back in the days when car engines were not computer managed, their intakes and exhausts were not computer designed, and when carbs reigned K&N was great.

Today's cars are setup in such a way that changes to intake, fuel, and exhaust, can actually be compensated for by the on board computer.

Put it to you this way, on my bike, unless I rechip it, any change to intake and exhaust causes the computer to adjust its routine to maintain what the manufacturer wants from the engine.

At least this is the occurence for everyday driving. Driving at 9/10s you will have some minor benefit of increased air flow.
 

Apex

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
6,511
1
71
www.gotapex.com
Originally posted by: 996GT2
They increase airflow at the expense of decreased filtering quality...so, in short, they aren't worth the money for a daily driver.

Edit: In most cars the filter housing and piping is where most of the restriction comes from, so if you simply drop in a K&N to the stock filter location, it probably won't give you any increase in power while letting more unwanted particles pass through to your engine. To actually gain a few more horsepower, you would have to use a K&N in conjunction with an aftermarket intake system.

I think it does depend on the application. I've seen a simple drop in swap in air filters make a difference in power (usable power under the curve greater than margin of error on dyno, not just peak).

It really comes down to application and expectation though.

In terms of unwanted particles, that's definitely true. However, how much these particles will affect your engine depends on whether or not you bother doing regular oil changes.
 

sindows

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2005
1,193
0
0
Sorry for bringing this topic off track a bit but I'm not handy with cars and seeing this thread today, I decided to take a look at my air filter. Its ~3 years old and I don't think its been changed once so needless to say, it looked pretty disgusting. However when I flipped the filter over, I noticed two yellow/goldish lines going from right-left when you view it horizontally. What are those? They looked like some sort of liquid/oil that someone squeezed out of a tube...

Also, what brand filter should I get? I'm not looking for performance filters and the car is an '04 with a ubiquitous Ford 4.6 V8 FYI.
 

SuperSix

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,872
2
0
Originally posted by: sindows
Sorry for bringing this topic off track a bit but I'm not handy with cars and seeing this thread today, I decided to take a look at my air filter. Its ~3 years old and I don't think its been changed once so needless to say, it looked pretty disgusting. However when I flipped the filter over, I noticed two yellow/goldish lines going from right-left when you view it horizontally. What are those? They looked like some sort of liquid/oil that someone squeezed out of a tube...

Also, what brand filter should I get? I'm not looking for performance filters and the car is an '04 with a ubiquitous Ford 4.6 V8 FYI.

More than likely, those lines you see are some sort of epoxy/resin to firm up the paper ribs, so it doesn't brake down and get sucked into the engine.

And for the love of all that's Holy - replace that air filter!
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Originally posted by: SuperSix
Originally posted by: sindows
Sorry for bringing this topic off track a bit but I'm not handy with cars and seeing this thread today, I decided to take a look at my air filter. Its ~3 years old and I don't think its been changed once so needless to say, it looked pretty disgusting. However when I flipped the filter over, I noticed two yellow/goldish lines going from right-left when you view it horizontally. What are those? They looked like some sort of liquid/oil that someone squeezed out of a tube...

Also, what brand filter should I get? I'm not looking for performance filters and the car is an '04 with a ubiquitous Ford 4.6 V8 FYI.

More than likely, those lines you see are some sort of epoxy/resin to firm up the paper ribs, so it doesn't brake down and get sucked into the engine.

And for the love of all that's Holy - replace that air filter!

"break."

/weeps for humanity:(