Verdict: Best air filter?

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Originally Posted By: veryHeavy
It used to be AC Delco based on the numbers, but what is the latest BITOG verdict?



The 3 year old one with significant caking....lol
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Toyota OEM is best.

+1

Cloth based filter is providing better flow and durability than common paper filter.
 
OEM Mitsubishi for me! I've bought numerous filters and the OEM is king for my application.....

Good hunting!
 
Originally Posted By: LEADED
Instead of K&N use chicken wire where needed

They aren't that bad...

I think people mess up with k&n by cleaning them way too often. You're not supposed to touch them for 50k miles.

Anyway, way better than chicken wire lol
 
Depends what you need as to what is best.

If you need max air flow, K&N or others made similar would be at the top.

If engine protection is needed... yes I hear people say MAF sensors get stuffed and other people say thats user error because there are thousands of happy customers using K&N.

Only thing is... go off-roading with a k&n air filter where dust is high with a K&N and you will soon see it is the worst for protection.

For customers that sell cars every 50-100k, sure, the K&N is great and therefor happy customers, but that engine wont last 500k like it would using other filters, so eventually someone is going to end up with that car down the line and the engine is going to go on them prematurely due to K&N being used by 'previous' owners.

So this is why people still stick to OEM paper filters as they are designed to protect an engine rather than focusing on performance (if any is even gained changing air filter).

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.
 
Originally Posted By: Wreckage
Depends what you need as to what is best.

If you need max air flow, K&N or others made similar would be at the top.

If engine protection is needed... yes I hear people say MAF sensors get stuffed and other people say thats user error because there are thousands of happy customers using K&N.

Only thing is... go off-roading with a k&n air filter where dust is high with a K&N and you will soon see it is the worst for protection.

For customers that sell cars every 50-100k, sure, the K&N is great and therefor happy customers, but that engine wont last 500k like it would using other filters, so eventually someone is going to end up with that car down the line and the engine is going to go on them prematurely due to K&N being used by 'previous' owners.

So this is why people still stick to OEM paper filters as they are designed to protect an engine rather than focusing on performance (if any is even gained changing air filter).

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


IIRC, most of the stuff that runs in gravel pits, mines, boring equipment....etc runs some form of Donaldson filter. Their PowerCore filters are 99.98% efficient, making them the most efficient filters on the market. They have other offerings as well, but the issue is that they do not make direct-fit automotive filters and retrofit kits are of limited styles and can be problematic to place on many vehicles.

Regarding your "max air flow" posit, that's only relevant if the factory filter is a restriction. Generally that's almost never the case. The factory airbox or intake plumbing will usually be more of a restriction than the filter, making slapping in a "high flow" K&N an exercise in futility. This can be easily measured using a restriction gauge or even a simple vacuum gauge.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Wreckage
Depends what you need as to what is best.

If you need max air flow, K&N or others made similar would be at the top.

If engine protection is needed... yes I hear people say MAF sensors get stuffed and other people say thats user error because there are thousands of happy customers using K&N.

Only thing is... go off-roading with a k&n air filter where dust is high with a K&N and you will soon see it is the worst for protection.

For customers that sell cars every 50-100k, sure, the K&N is great and therefor happy customers, but that engine wont last 500k like it would using other filters, so eventually someone is going to end up with that car down the line and the engine is going to go on them prematurely due to K&N being used by 'previous' owners.

So this is why people still stick to OEM paper filters as they are designed to protect an engine rather than focusing on performance (if any is even gained changing air filter).

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


IIRC, most of the stuff that runs in gravel pits, mines, boring equipment....etc runs some form of Donaldson filter. Their PowerCore filters are 99.98% efficient, making them the most efficient filters on the market. They have other offerings as well, but the issue is that they do not make direct-fit automotive filters and retrofit kits are of limited styles and can be problematic to place on many vehicles.

Regarding your "max air flow" posit, that's only relevant if the factory filter is a restriction. Generally that's almost never the case. The factory airbox or intake plumbing will usually be more of a restriction than the filter, making slapping in a "high flow" K&N an exercise in futility. This can be easily measured using a restriction gauge or even a simple vacuum gauge.


What i said stands in regards to the "Filters" themselves. What you or someone else has done with their air box etc to make use of the said filter... that is not what the OP was about. It is about which "Filter" is best. It is up to you to make your air box, intake etc make use of said filter.

I like the uniflow Aus because they provide 20-24% more air flow than Toyota OEM at the same time as filtering better than a Toyota OEM filter.

This filter will never be the reason of your engine performing poorly (increased air flow) and nor will it be the reason for a prematurely worn engine (Has better filtering than OEM).

So to me that is best as you cant go wrong with either air flow or filtering.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Wreckage


What i said stands in regards to the "Filters" themselves. What you or someone else has done with their air box etc to make use of the said filter... that is not what the OP was about. It is about which "Filter" is best.


OK, then in that context, as per my reply, the Donaldson is the best filter, as it has the highest efficiency rating.

If you DO include qualifiers such as retaining the factory airbox and the like however, then it becomes a non-starter, not being available in that form factor. That's why I mentioned it.
 
a European cold weather filter

300894_x800.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
a European cold weather filter

300894_x800.jpg



Yup, the factory filters (it had two) for my M5 looked like that, except the foam was dark grey.
 
Originally Posted By: Wreckage

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


The Unifilter filters do indeed look promising. I live in the desert and dust control is obviously a high priority. I've tried a bunch of filters - K&N (just because, but never felt really confident with it), OEM (experiemced increased restriction after not many miles), AEM Dry (best so far and really no complaints) - but always on the lookout for a better solution.

I've ordered a couple of the Unifilter units to test on my 2013 Land Cruiser 200. Thanks for the info!
thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: gaijinnv
Originally Posted By: Wreckage

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


The Unifilter filters do indeed look promising. I live in the desert and dust control is obviously a high priority. I've tried a bunch of filters - K&N (just because, but never felt really confident with it), OEM (experiemced increased restriction after not many miles), AEM Dry (best so far and really no complaints) - but always on the lookout for a better solution.

I've ordered a couple of the Unifilter units to test on my 2013 Land Cruiser 200. Thanks for the info!
thumbsup2.gif



If the Sequoia airbox could fit, then Volant has a PowerCore (Donaldson) setup that would work for your application. Best filter on the market in terms of efficiency, and amazing loading capacity as well.

Start here: http://volant.com/technology/Powercore-overview.aspx

Then use their search tool to find the kit.
 
Originally Posted By: gaijinnv
Originally Posted By: Wreckage

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


The Unifilter filters do indeed look promising. I live in the desert and dust control is obviously a high priority. I've tried a bunch of filters - K&N (just because, but never felt really confident with it), OEM (experiemced increased restriction after not many miles), AEM Dry (best so far and really no complaints) - but always on the lookout for a better solution.

I've ordered a couple of the Unifilter units to test on my 2013 Land Cruiser 200. Thanks for the info!
thumbsup2.gif


Maybe you could fit an air box that does some centrifugal filtering first? Or snorkle it to get cleaner air, or do both. My tractor has a fairly compact centrifugal "box" system made by donaldson, and I just vacuum the filter out whenever I change my oil at 100hrs and replace every 200 hrs. It never has a ton of dust in it so the pre filter spinning must help quite a bit.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: gaijinnv
Originally Posted By: Wreckage

So what is the best?

I would say a 1 inch thick foam filter that unifilter Aus make.

Use a paper filter, K&N filter and one of these, take them out, test off road where dust protection is critical... these keep more dust out than Toyota OEM paper filters do (therfore they are better than they are at protecting engine) and produce more air flow due to the nature of it's design than the OEM paper filters which makes car work better too (Something K&N talk about, without sacrificing protection like K&N but increasing it).

So I would say that in it self makes it the best filter you can get regardless of all the back and forth opinions.


The Unifilter filters do indeed look promising. I live in the desert and dust control is obviously a high priority. I've tried a bunch of filters - K&N (just because, but never felt really confident with it), OEM (experiemced increased restriction after not many miles), AEM Dry (best so far and really no complaints) - but always on the lookout for a better solution.

I've ordered a couple of the Unifilter units to test on my 2013 Land Cruiser 200. Thanks for the info!
thumbsup2.gif



If the Sequoia airbox could fit, then Volant has a PowerCore (Donaldson) setup that would work for your application. Best filter on the market in terms of efficiency, and amazing loading capacity as well.

Start here: http://volant.com/technology/Powercore-overview.aspx

Then use their search tool to find the kit.


Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think it would be a good choice.

The stock air box on my Land Cruiser is already Cold Air Intake, and the tube from the air box to the throttle body looks to be larger diameter than the Volant unit:

LC200EngineBay_09MAR17_zpsntyvezcq.jpg


ToyLC200AirFilterMonitor8_07FEB13_zps15b4c87d.jpg


Also, there would probably be some fitment issues that would require modification to the Volant unit to fit the Land Cruiser - not something I'd be keen to do on such an expensive unit.
 
Originally Posted By: gaijinnv
Wreckage said:
The Unifilter filters do indeed look promising. I live in the desert and dust control is obviously a high priority. I've tried a bunch of filters - K&N (just because, but never felt really confident with it), OEM (experiemced increased restriction after not many miles), AEM Dry (best so far and really no complaints) - but always on the lookout for a better solution.

I've ordered a couple of the Unifilter units to test on my 2013 Land Cruiser 200. Thanks for the info!
thumbsup2.gif



So how does one "experience increased restriction" on an air filter. Just curious. I've drove vehicles where the air filter was so clogged that you just about couldn't see the pleats and then installed a new filter and didn't really feel any difference. Not starting anything just want to know.
 
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