New Air Filter

[Oneofthegreats]

At my last place of employment in the motor trade, we ran a number of car's back to back using either a genuine , OEM air filter & then added a K&N "panel" filter without any other mod's & the net gain

0-1hp!

WOW!

Now you may think that your saving money buying a K&N filter cause it's re usable, but have you actually thought of the overall cost & time put into one of these.

OEM filter $15-$30.

K&N Approx $70+. Plus the recharge kit $30+ (may last 2-3 recharges)

Time taken to clean, dry & re oil. Approx 2-3 hour's on a sunny day. More if it's really dirty.

Lot of time, effort & coin just for a massive 1hp & an increase in sound.

I'm not saying K&N are crap though. There complete Carb setup's do make power with proven result's cause of there venturi choke horn setups

Just not so in regard's to only a panel filter

There appeal more so to me cause of the massive amount of different types of filters they produce for custom application's.

[Paul_OH]

Guys, please all bear in mind that there is more to aftermarket filters than K&N. There are many brands with a range of qualities out there such as BMC, pipercross etc. I believe most when tested have had better flow rates than OEM with better filtration. I can't find some of the tests I read previously but will keep searching and post links accordingly.

I have used K&N on my last 3 cars (+this one) averaging 5 years and 100,000km per vehicle and have had nil negative noticeable effects. I only ran it on this vehicle for 1500-2000km or so but decided to go for a shielded/enclosed pod with inlet ducting and fitted with an aftermarket dry paper pod type filter (http://www.forgemotorsport.co.uk/con...oduct=FMIND010) as the K&N wasn't noticeable and I was looking for a bit more induction noise. I have read some owner's bad results when using K&N but the few I've seen are but the tiniest percentage of those sold (the same as VW owners, no one ever posts to say that there car is running normal and as intended).

I can also add that the inlet tract on the TSI has a PCV breather after the filter box, if anything is going to oil up the inlet system I'd be surprised if it was an overoiled filter. I will also add that it's unlikely that I'll run an aftermarket panel filter in future cars but have no hesitation in using an aftermarket specially designed pod arrangement.

It's in no way my intention to start a flame war, just to give a balanced view and most importantly my experience with using the K&N product.

[Jettinabout]

I would understand that the object of the exercise is not to get a cheaper filter but a better filter for the price so as to get better and cleaner air and improved performance for your vehicle and if it is not better than OEM then that question is answered. I have done the same myself when I lived on Cape York...with both oil and air filters...most OEM filters didn't make the grade at that time so put better ones on (6% better improvement), changed rubber suspension to nalothane etc...it all comes down to value and need.

No flame here either Paul ..good comments on this post ...not like some other posts I have been on here though ..

[Oneofthegreats]

This is my arguement against "panel" filter's. (Not any other sort, just panel filter's)

It may clean better, but how do you know that for a fact?

Even with the OEM ones, the inlet track is clean, apart from oil in the diesel's!

Unless you remove the inlet track & put it under a microscope, how will you actually know for sure if the K&N, BMC, pipercross filters are actually cleaning the air better.


Also, you replace a panel filter with a so called "high flow" panel filter. Even if they do say it's better.

But at the end of the day, if the restriction is at the air intake ie. the constrictive rad. inlet track, what good is fitting a panel filter going to do?

[Transporter]

This is my arguement against "panel" filter's. (Not any other sort, just panel filter's)

It may clean better, but how do you know that for a fact?

Even with the OEM ones, the inlet track is clean, apart from oil in the diesel's!

Unless you remove the inlet track & put it under a microscope, how will you actually know for sure if the K&N, BMC, pipercross filters are actually cleaning the air better.


Also, you replace a panel filter with a so called "high flow" panel filter. Even if they do say it's better.

But at the end of the day, if the restriction is at the air intake ie. the constrictive rad. inlet track, what good is fitting a panel filter going to do?

You can do the Used Oil Analysis to know if it filtrates as good as the OEM filter and you can measure air flow restriction with the simple flow meter.