I'd like to upgrade from the stock air filter on my 2005 Impala 3.4 v/6 base. It runs ultra smooth and quiet BUT can I go to a cone shape like a K&N type with adapter for fitting? Better airflow etc. See many on an auction site with blue cone shape filters.
Air Filter option
- Thread starter Lee4212
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It runs ultra smooth now right? The cone type won't do anything except make more noise. A stock 3.4 doesn't need a "hi-flo air filter". Fram,Wix,GM, etc will do better job of filtering air anyway. Stick with what you got.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Your engine is basically a vacuum pump. It will suck as much air as it needs. Most of those filters suck in hot air from the engine compartment and are actually hot-air-intakes. And when it rains they'll be sprayed with water. Any power added is just the placebo affect from it making a little more noise. You could take the filter out and it won't add power.
Keep the stock filter.
Keep the stock filter.
Replacing your stock cold air intake with a warm air rock catcher is certainly a downgrade. There is no performance gain from a high flow air filter on any stock un modified family car.
I highly recommend you look at this data
Spicer air filter test
I highly recommend you look at this data
Spicer air filter test
I tried K&N air filters with their filter oil. After a year I go a OBDII code that turned out to be tiny amounts of K&N oil on the MAF sensor!
Under normal driving conditions, any major brand paper air filter is fine. Air flow is set by your foot on the gas pedal. If you drive a GM V6 hard enough, you'll break it before you'd "feel" the difference of a K&N filter.
Adding a K&N filter kit is a "feel good" "look good" deal. Kids with "rice racers" do it all the time and die when they fly thru a guard rail at high speed! Sorry man!
Under normal driving conditions, any major brand paper air filter is fine. Air flow is set by your foot on the gas pedal. If you drive a GM V6 hard enough, you'll break it before you'd "feel" the difference of a K&N filter.
Adding a K&N filter kit is a "feel good" "look good" deal. Kids with "rice racers" do it all the time and die when they fly thru a guard rail at high speed! Sorry man!
I'll post the charts for the lazy clickers 
The OEM filter on almost any car you can buy will flow more than the throttle body. There is no RAM Air effect below perhaps 100 mph, and if you are regularly travelling at that speed (and above, because the effect is weak at "only" 100) you need to properly place the intake and be very anal about any change in direction. All deviations, even small ones, from a straight line will reduce and possibly eliminate any RAM effect.
Place the intake with a bell-shaped scoop where your front license plate is. Route it to the throttle body or carb butterfly with gentle turns and if possible, no turns along the way. Move the license plate somewhere else. Now drive faster than 100 and you're golden.
If you're not willing to to the above, forget the idea of any performance improvement with an aftermarket cone filter setup. Unless your goal is to move the intake above the waterline you intend to ford. Don't forget the exhaust while you're at it. Your truck won't go faster, but will wade higher streams.
For those who say that you can use the high pressure area at the base of the windshield (aka the Chevy Cowl Induction system), well, you probably can't. Test with a manometer and see where your pressure gradients fall.
It is a good spot on some cars, but definitely not all, and in some cases is one of the poorest areas to pick up air. Generally speaking the more "dirty" your windshield rake angle is, the more likely it will offer the required pressure. So the newer your vehicle, the less likely it will work, basically.
As for cooler air, although underhood temperatures can be high, generally speaking they only are static enough to matter in stop-and-go traffic, an operating condition where you won't be asking the motor to offer much power. Once you are travelling faster than perhaps 40 MPH the air underhood is being refreshed by cool outside air anyway, and remember the benefit of cooler air is more power at Wide Open Throttle (WOT) and high power operating conditions. At part throttle there is little benefit.
I like an oil-coated cotton filter (like the K&N) but it's generally not a performance improvement. In some situations where the breathing capacity of the motor has been substantially increased, a revision of the flow capacity might be in order. Kits from companies like K&N are often the easiest way to achieve that. Even then, a higher-flowing OEM unit, perhaps one designed for a larger motor, is just as likely to work.
Place the intake with a bell-shaped scoop where your front license plate is. Route it to the throttle body or carb butterfly with gentle turns and if possible, no turns along the way. Move the license plate somewhere else. Now drive faster than 100 and you're golden.
If you're not willing to to the above, forget the idea of any performance improvement with an aftermarket cone filter setup. Unless your goal is to move the intake above the waterline you intend to ford. Don't forget the exhaust while you're at it. Your truck won't go faster, but will wade higher streams.
For those who say that you can use the high pressure area at the base of the windshield (aka the Chevy Cowl Induction system), well, you probably can't. Test with a manometer and see where your pressure gradients fall.
It is a good spot on some cars, but definitely not all, and in some cases is one of the poorest areas to pick up air. Generally speaking the more "dirty" your windshield rake angle is, the more likely it will offer the required pressure. So the newer your vehicle, the less likely it will work, basically.
As for cooler air, although underhood temperatures can be high, generally speaking they only are static enough to matter in stop-and-go traffic, an operating condition where you won't be asking the motor to offer much power. Once you are travelling faster than perhaps 40 MPH the air underhood is being refreshed by cool outside air anyway, and remember the benefit of cooler air is more power at Wide Open Throttle (WOT) and high power operating conditions. At part throttle there is little benefit.
I like an oil-coated cotton filter (like the K&N) but it's generally not a performance improvement. In some situations where the breathing capacity of the motor has been substantially increased, a revision of the flow capacity might be in order. Kits from companies like K&N are often the easiest way to achieve that. Even then, a higher-flowing OEM unit, perhaps one designed for a larger motor, is just as likely to work.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
That 'test' is as anecdotal as me telling you I've used K&N air filters (as have millions of consumers) since the 90s on various vehicles. Zero MAF issues, zero dirty intake tracts, and the few Blackstone UOA tests conducted have shown Si levels in line with paper type filters. Most times I've gone with drop-in panel K&N filters though. If you like the increasrd induction sound, go with the cone filter OP. Keep the box in case you don't.
I'm not an advocate for anything other than OEM, but the K&N paranoia here is astounding.
I've run k&n's in three cars I've owned. Took the one out of the civic and went back to the paper filter. Never had an issue with MAF sensors getting fouled up.
If you want more noise and don't mind the extra dirt then go right ahead.
If you only want to do maintenance stay with a paper filter.
If you don't mind getting creative, a large Donaldson HD filter in its own box with some pipe and joiners, and you have more airflow and less dirt, noise level varies depending on design & install.
If you only want to do maintenance stay with a paper filter.
If you don't mind getting creative, a large Donaldson HD filter in its own box with some pipe and joiners, and you have more airflow and less dirt, noise level varies depending on design & install.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: Lee4212
I'd like to upgrade from the stock air filter on my 2005 Impala 3.4 v/6 base. It runs ultra smooth and quiet BUT can I go to a cone shape like a K&N type with adapter for fitting? Better airflow etc. See many on an auction site with blue cone shape filters.
As has already been mentioned, you do not need a "high flow" air filter. The stock filtration setup will be more than adequate to satisfy the air consumption needs of the engine and will likely be setup to draw cool air from outside the engine bay, unlike many of these cone swaps.
I'd like to upgrade from the stock air filter on my 2005 Impala 3.4 v/6 base. It runs ultra smooth and quiet BUT can I go to a cone shape like a K&N type with adapter for fitting? Better airflow etc. See many on an auction site with blue cone shape filters.
As has already been mentioned, you do not need a "high flow" air filter. The stock filtration setup will be more than adequate to satisfy the air consumption needs of the engine and will likely be setup to draw cool air from outside the engine bay, unlike many of these cone swaps.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Lee4212
I'd like to upgrade from the stock air filter on my 2005 Impala 3.4 v/6 base. It runs ultra smooth and quiet BUT can I go to a cone shape like a K&N type with adapter for fitting? Better airflow etc. See many on an auction site with blue cone shape filters.
As has already been mentioned, you do not need a "high flow" air filter. The stock filtration setup will be more than adequate to satisfy the air consumption needs of the engine and will likely be setup to draw cool air from outside the engine bay, unlike many of these cone swaps.
Lots of truth there in general for most modern cars/trucks. Interesting discussion though.
Originally Posted By: Lee4212
I'd like to upgrade from the stock air filter on my 2005 Impala 3.4 v/6 base. It runs ultra smooth and quiet BUT can I go to a cone shape like a K&N type with adapter for fitting? Better airflow etc. See many on an auction site with blue cone shape filters.
As has already been mentioned, you do not need a "high flow" air filter. The stock filtration setup will be more than adequate to satisfy the air consumption needs of the engine and will likely be setup to draw cool air from outside the engine bay, unlike many of these cone swaps.
Lots of truth there in general for most modern cars/trucks. Interesting discussion though.
wemay
Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted By: Bud
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I'm not an advocate for anything other than OEM, but the K&N paranoia here is astounding.
You hit the nail on the head.
+2
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I'm not an advocate for anything other than OEM, but the K&N paranoia here is astounding.
You hit the nail on the head.
+2
There's no paranoia, I just posted data that shows you a K&N is highly inferior to proper paper filter.
Leave it alone. Might as well throw your $$$ down a rat hole.
All that has been mentioned......plus this===>Isn't there a temperature control flap on all cars which mixes ambient temperature air with that drawn through a heater stove mounted around the exhaust manifold?
ERGO the designers of the vehicle have covered that base?
ERGO the designers of the vehicle have covered that base?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: Kira
All that has been mentioned......plus this===>Isn't there a temperature control flap on all cars which mixes ambient temperature air with that drawn through a heater stove mounted around the exhaust manifold?
ERGO the designers of the vehicle have covered that base?
Not on anything I've owned that hasn't had a carburetor. The last vehicle I owned that was so equipped was a 1986 Olds wagon with a 307.
All that has been mentioned......plus this===>Isn't there a temperature control flap on all cars which mixes ambient temperature air with that drawn through a heater stove mounted around the exhaust manifold?
ERGO the designers of the vehicle have covered that base?
Not on anything I've owned that hasn't had a carburetor. The last vehicle I owned that was so equipped was a 1986 Olds wagon with a 307.
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