Does specifically a K&N air filter provide better filtration? Does a K&N air filter give you more MPG? Will a K&N Air filter give you more horsepower?
It’s obvious that people will spend anywhere from $50 to $300 for a K&N air filter all the way up to their High Performance Air Intake Kits on the belief that it will increase MPG and horsepower. Keep in mind, that the auto manufacturers are aware of the K&N air filters and have a much much more extensive research laboratory than K&N, and not one auto manufacturer installs a K&N air filter in their vehicle. Not ONE! In this MPG and horsepower war from one vehicle to another, wouldn’t a manufacturer want to increase its MPG and horsepower by simply installing a K&N or some very similar style air filter? Not ONE manufacturer believes that a K&N air filter will increase MPG or Horsepower!!!
I’ve read probably thousands of threads of people who installed K&N air filters and some claim 10% better MPG and more power. Others claim identical MPG and the ‘SOUND’ of more horsepower, but no real HP benefit. Seems nobody can really state what is happening with the air filter. Are K&N owners having buyer remorse after spending $50 to $300 and just claiming they are getting better MPG and Horsepower to justify this expense?
Why isn’t there an absolute test, to test an air filters efficiency? Well, there is. It is called the ISO 5011 test. If you want to test your Purolator, Baldwin, AC, K&N, or AMSOIL air filters it will cost you about $1700 per filter, to send them in and have them tested. For that price you would have real data about your filter. These ISO 5011 machines cost upwards near $300,000.00.
The ISO 5011 standard (formerly SAE J726) defines a precise filter test using precision measurements under controlled conditions. Temperature & humidity of the test dust and air used in the test are strictly monitored and controlled. To obtain an accurate measure of filter efficiency, it’s very critical to know exactly the amount and size of test dust being fed into the filter during the test. By following the ISO 5011 standards, a filter tested in England can be directly compared to another filter tested in California. The ISO 5011 filter data for each filter is contained in two test reports. Capacity Efficiency and flow restriction.
Without boring you about how the test works, suffice to say they add a controlled amount of dirt to the filter while monitoring its flow capacity. They also monitor the amount of dirt passing through the filter. Various filters were tested being the: AC Delco, Purolator, Baldwin, K&N, and AMSOIL.
Comparing the AC Delco (rated the best from the test results) to the K&N: The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before reaching its max restriction while the K&N and AMSOIL filters each ran for about 24 minutes before reaching their max restriction. Another interesting bit of information is that the AC Delco accumulated 574 gms of dirt and passed only 0.4 gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221 gms of dirt but passed 7.0 gms of dirt. Comparing the K&N to the AC Delco the K&N plugged up nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt. The AC Delco filter which passed the smallest amount of dirt and had the highest dirt capacity and efficiency but also had the highest relative restriction to flow. Obviously the better filtering media is also the most restrictive.
Have you tried taking a K&N air filter right out of the box and compared it to an OEM air filter? Try holding them both up to the light? Which has larger holes that you can see light coming through? It will be the K&N. Get out your magnifying glass and examine both filters again? You can actually see the small holes and gaps in the K&N. Dirty air can get through these holes. Also, try typing into GOOGLE the words ‘K&N Scam’. You don’t get one or two sites, but you get the Corvette Forum, Audi Forum, Nissan Forum, Chevy Forum, Suzuki Forum, BMW Forum, Jeep Association, Ford Ranger Forum, Acura Forum, and on and on and on.
Think logically for a moment. Your engine needs the correct amount of air and gas for combustion to happen. An air filter is not a turbo or super charger and cannot force more air into your engine. To be honest, when studying the K&N website and their research, the visions of the infomercials of the Tornado air intake that PROMISED more HP and more MPG popped up in my head. You can still purchase these Tornados on the Internet, but don’t.
Your engine needs filtered air with as little restriction as possible. That’s a difficult balance to obtain as all air filters start to restrict air flow the more they accumulate dirt. Can this filtration be achieved with an OEM paper filter? Honda and ALL the other car manufacturers believe so. Do you think Honda wants their engines being damaged by a cheap air filter if they didn’t work?
I’m going to stick with the OEM or perhaps an AC Delco air filter. I cannot find any justification for spending $50 to $300 to upgrade to something that not only does not appear to benefit my stock engine, but there appears to be logical rationale not to use it. Honda believes so too. If I spent $300 on a K&N high performance air intake kit, and then spent hours more on the installation, I might become defensive by this article. It’s likely that people with K&N air filters wash them frequently which would minimize the amount of passing dirt. Likewise, the K&N high performance air intake kits do give a stock engine a much more aggressive look when you pop the hood to show off your engine.
Logically, how can adding a K&N air filter ADD more HP? Or give you better MPG when comparing a new K&N to a new OEM air filter? They both pass the same amount of air to make up the 14.7-1 air fuel ratio your vehicle needs. It makes no sense and therefore falls into the same category as the Tornado above.
I also have a problem with dealing with a company who starts out their advertising for their filters claiming wild MPG and HP gains. If they are going to lie to me about that, then who knows what else they are going to lie about. I won't deal with a scam type company.
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