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Sweet, 600 rpm lower :)

DVad3r

DVad3r

Diamond Member
I bought a new air filter for my car yesterday (K&N) and tossed the old one. When I opened up the box it was so dirty and filthy, it was digusting. Below the air filter when I took it out was a bunch of shit, leaves, dirt, grime, pebbles, and even a plastic jug cap from God knows where, I was like WTF!!!

I vacumed all that shit out, blew it through and put in the new one. What a difference lol, on the highway I'm getting 600 rpm lower traveling the same speeds. I guess all that junk was making my engine work harder?
 
haha, that is pretty bad...you should clean it every oil change IMO, and change it every 40k or so...more frequent if you drive on dirt roads.
 
Well this K&N claims to have a lifetime warranty, so every air filter interval I take it out, wash it according to their directions, oil it up again, and pop it back in. It seems to be far superior in quality to the old one in there, that one was total junk, felt like cotton swabs inside lol.
 
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

You only need to re-oil every 10,000 or so miles, and a K&N brand kit costs $14.95 and lasts for three cleanings.

To me, it's both a convenience factor and a price factor. Additionally, with my tune and modifications I needed more flow, and your blanket statement is vastly incorrect - I'm sure some models are just for show, but mine has a significant increase in airflow, or so my tuning application shows. It's not something you can just make up.

In hindsight, I probably would just get a green filter if I did it again, however.
 
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

K&N definitely flows better, I've seen enough independent dyno testing to attest to that personally. As to filtering, I don't believe the claims that it's either better or even as good as a paper filter, so not really sure if I'd recommend them very easily.

I'd rather have reduced airflow but good filtration over open airflow and minimal filtration.

If you want to know how well paper filters flow, cut one apart and try to breathe through it. It's doable, but you can feel the resistance of the air passing through the paper.
 
I think the filtration is the same as my old one, but it definetely has better airflow. Whether it's because it's a K&N or whether it's because I cleaned out all the shit that was there, I don't know, but I have a feeling it's a combination of the two factors. Either way I'm really happy and I'm going to be getting a K&N filter for my motorcycle also next year. Going to ride on the stock one this year.
 
K&N are great for filtration....once the oil has trapped all the dirt and completely clogged the fliter...which is technically what it is supposed to do. It's also great for trashing a MAF. I speak on the last part from experience.
 
Originally posted by: Saga
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

You only need to re-oil every 10,000 or so miles, and a K&N brand kit costs $14.95 and lasts for three cleanings.
Click to expand...

What? If I recall, K&N's recommended cleaning / re-oiling interval was higher, I want to say 50K miles...maybe this has changed. As for the cleaning kit, I spent about the same amount at some place like Pep-Boys and it came with a couple of big pump-spray bottles which were good for much more than three cleanings. You only needed a couple of ounces of each fluid and these were probably 16oz bottles. Are the kits you're referring to different from that?
 
Originally posted by: geno
Originally posted by: Saga
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

You only need to re-oil every 10,000 or so miles, and a K&N brand kit costs $14.95 and lasts for three cleanings.
Click to expand...

What? If I recall, K&N's recommended cleaning / re-oiling interval was higher, I want to say 50K miles...maybe this has changed. As for the cleaning kit, I spent about the same amount at some place like Pep-Boys and it came with a couple of big pump-spray bottles which were good for much more than three cleanings. You only needed a couple of ounces of each fluid and these were probably 16oz bottles. Are the kits you're referring to different from that?
Click to expand...

You are right it's 50 k miles or something like that. That's the one I have, dish out close to $ 70 bucks for it at Canadian Tire.
 
I have the K&N filter on my Grand Prix .. works good. It should be cleaned say once a year on average. Now I need to do mine when spring gets here in a few weeks or so.
 
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

K&N definitely flows better, I've seen enough independent dyno testing to attest to that personally. As to filtering, I don't believe the claims that it's either better or even as good as a paper filter, so not really sure if I'd recommend them very easily.

I'd rather have reduced airflow but good filtration over open airflow and minimal filtration.

If you want to know how well paper filters flow, cut one apart and try to breathe through it. It's doable, but you can feel the resistance of the air passing through the paper.
Click to expand...
Initially, it does, but after just a bit of dirt gets in one, the flow drops to the same or lower than a good stock-type filter. All this while allowing more dirt to pass.

Plus, even if they DO flow better, that doesn't make a difference in power, mpg, or seat-of-pants feel. They do NOTHING but let more dirt in.

Trust me, (and any independent test) the air filter isn't what is holding anyone's stock engine back.

For the price of a new drop-in K&N filter and a re-oiling kit, you can buy a bunch of stock filters, and have less dirt getting into your engine.
 
Originally posted by: JJ650
K&N are great for filtration....once the oil has trapped all the dirt and completely clogged the fliter...which is technically what it is supposed to do. It's also great for trashing a MAF. I speak on the last part from experience.
Click to expand...
This is what I'm afraid of and why I've stuck to Puralator filters.
 
The only filter upgrade I've ever seen that's really made a difference is one that pretty much replaced the whole airbox. It let you get a significantly larger filter area. Otherwise you're better off getting the OEM paper filters.
 
Not a K&N fan at all. Ran one in my truck, found a layer of dirt behind it after a few thousand miles. The K&N went in the trash. If you really think your engine needs more air, install a bigger air box and a bigger filter.
 
The factory airbox is already plenty large enough for the throttle body with a clean filter. You won't get any more air through that hole.

If you want more air, get a bigger throttle body, or push the air through your current one.
 
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: angry hampster
K&N doesn't flow or filter any better than a cheap foam filter. Washing and re-oiling the filter makes it flow worse.
Click to expand...

K&N definitely flows better, I've seen enough independent dyno testing to attest to that personally. As to filtering, I don't believe the claims that it's either better or even as good as a paper filter, so not really sure if I'd recommend them very easily.

I'd rather have reduced airflow but good filtration over open airflow and minimal filtration.

If you want to know how well paper filters flow, cut one apart and try to breathe through it. It's doable, but you can feel the resistance of the air passing through the paper.
Click to expand...

Depends on the car. If the car comes with a restrictive air box, then you'll see gains.
 
K&N are junk. As already said they let in a lot more dirt and flow very little more. The only real place you may see some gains is at wide open throttle, and that is with a dyno.
 
There is really no way in the world that an air filter change could result in 600 rpm lower at the same speed. RPM are directly tied into the engine's turnover rate, which is directly going to the wheels via the transmission, so if the transmission has not changed, and the wheels are going at the same speed, the engine is also going at the same speed, regardless of whether it can now go at that same speed with less effort.

I try to always use OEM for oil and air filters.
 
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