New K&N's for the entire fleet

[yaris0128]

In the last week Ive gotten a K&N filter for all my vehicles in my sig. I have yet to see what kind of gas mileage improvements I have potentially gotten in the cars since the weather is so nice Ive been riding my bike but in the bike OMG what vast improvement so far. I dont know if its a fluke but in my little Ninja I got 65mpg the first tank with the K&N. Aside from one off run of getting 67mpg Ive never broken past 62mpg. So right off the bat Im impressed with my new filter. Ive never broken 50mpg in my del sol and have gotten close with 49mpg so I think this will be my chance to hit the big five oh in a car. The yaris I dont care, that car sucks. Bought that filter out of pitty lol.

 

[Grant11]

No no. Even I know K&N air filters are bad. Bad boy.

 

[Chris142]

I'm sorry...

 

[Rand]

how exactly does a K&N give you more mpg in a fuel injected computer controlled car?

less air = less gas

more air = more gas.

less restriction = less throttle

more restriction = more throttle.


it doesnt change the fuel air mixture or anything....

and be careful if you reoil.. most use too much oil which causes maf issues etc. Of course if you use to little it turns into swiss cheesecloth and lets dirt through...

I mean theoretically if the paper filter was dirty and a large restriction ...you might pickup a couple HP at full throttle, but most paper filters arent really restricted until 40k+ miles unless you live on dirt road.

I just had mine out at 12k.. tapped it a couple times it still looks 99% new and I had 700+ miles on dirt/stone roads.

 

[earlyre]

oh boy did you choose the wrong board to post this...
place is full of K&N Haters....

I have 'em on both the cars in my sig, mainly cuz i like the idea of a lifetime filter,something i can wash and re use, not sending it to a landfill every 50k miles(or so)
(and on the Neon was there when i bought the car from my Brother, he put a CAI on it.)

if i saw a lifetime oil filter that i could be convinced filtered as well as the regular,and wasn't a total PITA to clean out, i might consider that too.
and Rand, good advice on the re-oiling, but dude is AT LEAST 50k miles from having to do that.

 

[bullwinkle]

I can attest that in a under-sized air filter app that pulls LOTS of air-a drop-in aftermarket filter makes a BIG difference. My '06 Ram Cummins had a foam-overlaid Puro AF, sucked in the restriction gauge & spewed tons of black smoke/partially burnt fuel, with the S&B aftermarket it's been great, restriction gauge hasn't moved, no dusting in the air intake tubing. But if I was in a dusty area...

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Grant11
No no. Even I know K&N air filters are bad. Bad boy.

Let's be objective and fact-based.

As a user of K&N filters in both of the vehicles in my signature, I'm inclined to defend them a little bit. In most cases, a properly oiled and installed K&N air filter will do a perfectly fine job. I have UOAs to support this in my two applications.

With that said, by no means do I think K&N filters are better or will result in increased fuel economy or horsepower. If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably stick with high-quality paper filters. But since it's already a "sunk cost" and they're doing a fine job for me, I see no reason to change.

 

[Audios]

Has anybody put serious miles on an K and N? We had one in an Audi A4 with over 125k on the filter and I could not get it clean over 2 days of scrubbing and applying the filter cleaner. Had to order a new filter since you could see the embedded dirt in there. Any type of warrant yon that?

 

[barlowc]

In that 125K, had you ever cleaned it?

In my current vehicles, I've only run the filters around 50K so far. I recently did the first cleaning on each and they cleaned up like new. I have a thread with some pictures here .

In a previous vehicle, I used a K&N for just over 100K before I sold the vehicle. Again, cleaning at 50K, it came out like new each time.

 

[Grant11]

You've used one air filter for 50,000 miles? Does your car still start? Does it warm the earth 10 degrees every time it starts?

 

[GatorJ]

K&N bashing is very common around here. Most of their concerns, especially the MAF sensor fouling, are nonsense. Ignore them.

 

[boxcartommie22]

yaris, great purchase!! you will notice a big difference and get great protection!!! far better then any cheap paper air filter..gator is 100%correct!!

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: Grant11
You've used one air filter for 50,000 miles? Does your car still start? Does it warm the earth 10 degrees every time it starts?

The recommended interval between cleanings for a K&N is 50K miles. The car starts fine and, no, it doesn't run abnormally hot or anything of the sorts. To a point, the dirtier the filter, the better the filtration, without sacrificing air flow.

Again I must state (because I'm just waiting for someone to swoop in and start bashing K&N filters) that in no way, shape, or form and I saying that K&N filters are superior to high-quality papers filters. I'm just saying that if used and cleaned properly, in most applications they are every bit as good.

 

[mechtech2]

As far as I know, testing has shown a 3% average increase in particulate matter with K+N over conventional filters.
I think it really matters WHERE you drive. Some places are really dusty .
One test that is valid for us is to simply look at the intake downstream. Any perceptible dust on the walls is a tell that the filter in not up to it's job. This test is not valid for a few days driving. Because it will be clean anyways.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
One test that is valid for us is to simply look at the intake downstream. Any perceptible dust on the walls is a tell that the filter in not up to it's job. This test is not valid for a few days driving. Because it will be clean anyways.

In the case of my two vehicles, after about 4 years and 50K miles on each, the intake on the clean side of the filter had zero dust as tested with the proverbial "white glove". But I have read where K&N users discovered a fine black dust in theirs. However, with those users, there's the unknown of whether they would have found the same using a standard paper filter.

 

[widman]

If you want a lifetime filter and no dust ingression, put on one of these Donaldson PowerCore. This one on my T100 has 140,000 miles on it and hasn't hit 5% full yet. Most of those miles oar on dirt roads.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Grant11
You've used one air filter for 50,000 miles? Does your car still start? Does it warm the earth 10 degrees every time it starts?

on my old Hyundai Sonata,(y2k 2.4l) I,Personally, and the quickie lube (i was unenlightened to the zen of the oil change back then) visually checked the stock paper air filter every OCI(3k religiously) and i would check it anytime i Topped off the Oil (it used a quart every 1k-1500 mi)
it only started showing signs of being Dirty @ around 50k miles. @ which point i went ahead and replaced it cuz it had 50k miles on it.(summer...'04?)and that fram filter (CA8766) I installed was still in there when i sold it in feb. '10, w/ 110k mi. and still looked good.

 

[yaris0128]

Im shocked with the K&N hating. They are good filters. If they were really a bad product then after all these years a company that doesnt sell much else than filters would have gone under a long time ago.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Rand
how exactly does a K&N give you more mpg in a fuel injected computer controlled car?

less air = less gas

more air = more gas.


You need to put a restrictor in your car's air intake that has only a 1/2" opening for air to pass through. Following your logic, this will increase mileage.

Which is, of course, nonsense.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Audios
Has anybody put serious miles on an K and N? We had one in an Audi A4 with over 125k on the filter and I could not get it clean over 2 days of scrubbing and applying the filter cleaner. Had to order a new filter since you could see the embedded dirt in there. Any type of warrant yon that?


Over 100K on the K&N in my Caddy...been cleaned and reoiled three times now, had no trouble getting it clean. The one in my Jeep (which has the FIPK) is due soon, it's getting pretty dirty.

UOA on both vehicles indicate that the K&N's filter just fine.