Aftermarket Panel Drop In Air Filter

[airwave]

So much had been said about the performance of drop in air filter. I'd used Mugen Oiled Drop in filter in my H/Fit (auto) and feel no difference in taking off but WOT is good. Am going to try on AFE pro dry and hopefully this one will deliver better than the MUGEN. My friend told me CAI will not improve in performance either. Any comments please

ps : my engine running on amsoil oil SSO - butter smooth oil and with stock air filter. Previous oil used asmoil ASM - engine a little noisy.

 

[badtlc]

I really doubt you'll notice anything performance wise from a panel replacement. The CAI or SRI should offer some real world gains. It is still debatable whether or not you would notice them.

 

[sciphi]

CAI or SRI are for mid-high RPM gains, like passing-power gains, and maybe fuel economy if you keep your foot out of it. There are trade-offs, one being the noise, two being the slightly increased maintenance needed for the filter. At least you get to re-use the filter.

AEM might make a drop-in for your Fit. They're a good high-flow filter.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
CAI or SRI are for mid-high RPM gains, like passing-power gains, and maybe fuel economy if you keep your foot out of it. There are trade-offs, one being the noise, two being the slightly increased maintenance needed for the filter. At least you get to re-use the filter.

AEM might make a drop-in for your Fit. They're a good high-flow filter.


That all depends on the car. My mazda saw gains the lower end because the stock intake restricted air intake at RPMs below 3000 where the SRI does not.

As for maintenance, the AEM cone filter requires far less attention then my old panel filter. I can wait at least 25,000 between cone filter cleaning where as I was needing to replace my panel filter at 15-17k.

And the sound change is non-existent unless giving it a bit of gas. Just cruising makes no difference.

 

[hi-miler]

Ok, at the extreme risk of stating the obvious and getting chastised for it, . . . here goes.
A high flow air filter or any air filter for that matter will only begin to restrict air flow when all other restrictions have been eliminated, including engine requirements. What this means is that most filters will provide enough availability of air through and including rpm's up to 4k and possibly a little above when considering all factors. If you eliminate manufacturers production restrictions, and you're doing enough rpm's to finally utilize the design characteristics of the filter, then, yes, I agree a full flow air filter would be in order. If you're not racing then get the filter that will protect your engine and at the same time provide adequate air flow. There is no holy grail of an air filter when it comes to flow, because it's never fully utilized on a stock engine.
Steve

 

[hi-miler]

PS This is old school, as I am. I'm willing to learn if someone has a different opinion or new information.

 

[badtlc]

considering a N.A. engine pulls its own air at a speed based on RPM, any restriction in the path will restrict incoming air. The only way it has no effect is if you are force injecting more air than it needs. I don't see anyway a N.A. can pull in more air than it needs.

If you were talking about a turbo or supercharger where a design could be made to force induce more air than required, that would allow for increasted restriction in the filter with no side-effects.

The question with regards to NA engines and air filter restriction is not whether it will make a differenc, because it obviously will. The question is whether the restriction is of proprtional value to the entire restriction within the whole intake. If the filter is only accounting for about 1% of the entire restriction, then no. It will not make much difference. But if the filter accounts for 20%+ of the entire intake restriction, yes. It most definitely will make a difference.

 

[sciphi]

Some designs for SRI/CAI on certain cars have the filters in very poorly chosen spots. And some cars are wicked loud with a modified intake when you get on it. That's the point I was trying to make, that it's a tradeoff between driveability and civility. It depends on the car.

From what I've heard, a small Honda will benefit a lot from less restriction in both intake and exhaust.