K & N Air Filters Good Or Bad?

Status
Not open for further replies.
10 4,,if a K and N is not dirty,,where do u think the dirt went, yep down in ur engine,,,it aint rocket science there guys.
 
Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
K and N, sells u the sizzle and u dont get steak. Me and a bunch of expediters ran them over a year and trashed them, went back to Napa, all we got was more deep throated engine noise and no mpg increase.. a fool and our money is soon parted. oh yea, and all that cleaning kit thing u gotta do, taint worth it boys, but I was gullible too.


Again: I have used them. They do not help on all vehicles...they do on many. They are worth consistent, repeatable power on my Caddy. They are worth power on my wife's Grand National. They are worth a 100 degree EGT drop in both my diesel F-350's.

The one in the Caddy has paid for itself easily three times just in filters I have not had to replace. It's still fine with ~115,000 miles.
 
A free flowing filter only ever delivers anything at all when the butterflies are wide open.

And they aren't wide open in slightly less than 100% of most road vehicle applications
 
I don't know about you, but during that 1% of the time that I'm at WOT, I want as much power as possible from my truck. The free flow filters and low-friction intakes can help provide that power.

When dealing with the K&N intake kits, let's not forget that they typically provide colder air to the motor due to better placement and/or a heat shield. This has nothing to do with the filtration and everything to do with air density.

And finally, I'll say it, the kits paired with a free flow exhaust just sound great.
 
I recall buying an Offenhauser "Dual Plane" intake manifold for modified street ride back around 1980. Since it was a "performance" intake it offered improved throttle response and acceleration over a stock manifold. Except for the part where my stopwatch said the exact opposite. And quantified it to boot -- no need for "feels quicker" subjective evaluation on my part. In short, snake oil can come in a bottle....or a can....or a manifold....or even a "low friction intake" that absolutely blows away anything Detroit can engineer, I presume. I'm not saying that K&N intakes and such don't work well, I'm simply suggesting that just because they claim they're improved doesn't mean that they're actually improved. (I’m still trying to figure out what “With Z-7” was in those vintage bottles of Pennzoil, since VOAs proved they had the exact same chemistry as Valvoline, etc. at the time. Perhaps only Pennzoil’s now-deceased 1960s marketing posse knows for sure about that mysterious Z-7.) As for K&N filters, simply hold one up against a bright light (even a brand new one), notice all the pretty little “stars” of light (I call them “holes”), and carefully insert the filter into its proper housing (I call it a “trash can”).
 
I used oiled foam Uni filters on my Kawasaki.

Same kind of stories back then as I hear about the K&N now.
"They don't filter well enough...you're causing premature engine wear...blah blah blah..."

The engine was fine at 83,000 miles. The transmission? Not so much. I think running at Texas Raceway more weekends than not caused the damage to 2nd gear more than the filters allowing anything through did.

The K&N panel filter has been in my PT-GT for about 70,000 miles now. Hasn't assassinated the MAF. Change in MPG? Zero.
 
I wouldn't be so narrow minded.

We all know that there is no "one size fits all" oil, so why would there be a "one size fits all" filter and intake systm? These systems can and do work on my cars.

Detroit engineers compromises. They trade off a free flow intake for one that reduces noise (see: mufflers). That's fine, however I don't mind the extra noise if it gives me more power at high RPMs.
 
Originally Posted By: Axeman
We all know that there is no "one size fits all" oil, so why would there be a "one size fits all" filter and intake systm? These systems can and do work on my cars.


I tried a K&N on my Town Car years back. I was happy with it. It didn't turn it into a Mustang for performance or an Escort for fuel economy, but I wasn't looking for that. I put on a lot of miles, and it saved me some maintenance issues. I kept an eye on it, and never ended up having to clean it before I sold it.
 
I put the Fram AirHOGG back in my car today. The car seemed to be running sluggish with the paper filter, but with the Fram AirHOGG, I get quicker acceleration and a smoother idle. I don't ever plan on cleaning the filter for the simple reason that it never gets dirty.
21.gif
Perhaps the reason it never gets dirty is because it's letting all the dirt into the engine.
shocked2.gif
I have a choice between suffocating the engine, or letting it breath with an air filter that doesn't filter the air.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
On the high boost turbo cars, they work well. Some testing with a filter downstream shows the K+N allows some fine dirt to pass, as does the OEM filter. The bottom line: The K+N is not as horrible as some make it out to be.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm

the above came from this link:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm


I had a k and n on my truck and i had to wash all the intake ducting in my bathtub cause it was soo dirty inside. Have had a wix paper filter for about 7 months and not a spec of dust in the intake. Ill never use one again.
 
Originally Posted By: TC
"K & N Air Filters - Good Or Bad?" Ever since I went into a Pep Boys many years ago, took a new K&N air filter out of the box and held up against the ceiling's fluorescent lights, I said "No way, Jose!" (Apologies to Jose'.) And I feel the same way today. When holding it against the lights I could see dozens of tiny, sand grain sized "stars" where the light was coming through. Plain n' simple, I call those "HOLES." (Apologies to Courtney Love.) To use an engineer's techno-speak, "No air filter should have holes in it." That's bad, m-OK? (Apologies to South Park's Mr. Mackey.) You want “high-flow” for a street car? Just by any good, name brand paper+synthetic filter and change it out well before the mileage called for.


Dude: Did you think to look at it under magnification? Signed, Jose
 
"Dude: Did you think to look at it under magnification? Signed, Jose"

No. No magnification. I assume the holes would have simply looked bigger, that's all, with nothing learned. After that post, I pulled out a new Purolator VW air filter (made by Mann) I had in the garage and held it against a light with the result of....no "stars"....no holes....just closed, very uniform media, with no sprayed-on oil needed to make up for those pesky holes.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I put the Fram AirHOGG back in my car today. The car seemed to be running sluggish with the paper filter, but with the Fram AirHOGG, I get quicker acceleration and a smoother idle. I don't ever plan on cleaning the filter for the simple reason that it never gets dirty.
21.gif
Perhaps the reason it never gets dirty is because it's letting all the dirt into the engine.
shocked2.gif
I have a choice between suffocating the engine, or letting it breath with an air filter that doesn't filter the air.

I've heard that the Airhogs actually filtered pretty well. I don't think I'd be afraid to run one.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top