How bad are eBay cone filters?

[TinyVoices]

It's very popular to buy an eBay cold or warm air intake because they are essentially the same as the name brand tubes but for 20% or less of the cost. I have run them on some of my past cars but always had a quality filter laying around to run in place of the one that comes in the kit. I am currently running a $35 eBay intake tube on my mr2 with an AEM dryflow I had sitting around. So essentially I have an AEM intake for almost no cost.

My question is, what if you bought the eBay kit but used the filter included? What happens? Poor filtration? Doesn't last as long? Let's assume the filter does not fail completely or fall apart.

Anyone ever run one of the very cheap eBay cone filters?

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: TinyVoices
Poor filtration?


Yes, anytime you can see daylight through the pores in the fabric......


They work GREAT for what I use them for: Pre-filters.

One on my wood chipper (Big 80 HP unit) before the oil bath air cleaner, another on my tractor when making hay.

I don't trust them for use as the ONLY filter - just too much dirt gets past. I had them on the turbo inlet on my Mustang drag car, and I was astounded how much dirt was getting past.