AFE Pro Dry versus Wix

[c3po]

I picked up a Wix air filter yesterday for about $11.00 I could get an AFE Pro Dry air filter for about $49.00 or so.

Does the AFE Pro Dry

1) Filter better than a Wix
2) Flow more air than a Wix

When you clean the AFE Pro Dry I am sure if you vaccumed it out it would not degrade its performance, but would washing it out degrade its performance over time. I am sure in the long run that having the AFE would eventually save you some money.

 

[chambers]

According to the tests S&B ran here dry filters and here wix vs. acdelco vs. s&b the wix will filter better and flow less than the AFE dry. After reading as many of these test I could find online then looking for UOA's for each type of filter it seems that filtration efficiency doesn't necessarily translate to good silicon numbers on UOA's. Most everyone will say stick w/ paper for good filtration and unless your running an aftermarket intake that is probably the best bet. For aftermarket intakes I'm really liking the volant powercore filters made by donaldson.

 

[zulu]

Filter Better: NO (for every test that says yes, I can show you one that says no)

Flow Better: Than a clean Wix, no. Than a dirty Wix, yes.

Honestly, except for the AFE being reuseable, there is NO gain whatsoever by switching to a high flow filter. Paper filters on stock or even mildly modified vechicles flow significantly more CFM than required. 99 times out of 100, the intake design itself is the limiting factor in flow restriciton. Changing air filters results in little to no measurable gain.

Purchase a new Wix every 30-50K at $11 each vs. 1 time $49 for the AFE. You'd have to drive 150K plus before you break even on the AFE. My humble $.02

 

[c3po]

I guess I will be sticking with Wix air filters, thanks for the info.