For all you K&N devotees, A little comparison ............. Options

[Cap'n Krusty]

Here are some comparison photos and a little math for your viewing pleasure. I might mention that you can SEE THROUGH the K&N, down in the folds.

This particular part fits a 2003 MB C320 Kompressor coupe. The K&N has 128 square inches of filter media, the Mann has 1752 square inches! That's over THIRTEEN TIMES the filtering area!

[McMark]

So? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)



But really, thanks for the comparison. Makes is pretty obvious.

[ghuff]

That less of a restriction has to come from somewhere, it comes from filtering (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Most of my friends with turbo cars literally just put wire mesh over the inlet. Then again they swap turbos ever season.

[Chris Hamilton]

Just eyeballing the things doesn't prove how well they work or don't work. Do you have some way of measuring the amount of particulate each one catches in a controlled environment?

[blitZ]

Here is another filter test. I use the Apexi which filters best. The K&N are average and not worth the hype.

Filter Test

[Rod]

Here is another filter test. I use the Apexi which filters best. The K&N are average and not worth the hype.

Filter Test

Do you use an Apexi in your 914? If so which one??

[blitZ]

I just use a cone filter with an intake from Home Depot Racing.

[ConeDodger]

I just use a cone filter with a intake from Home Depot Racing.

Trekkor??? Is that you? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

[Cap'n Krusty]

Just eyeballing the things doesn't prove how well they work or don't work. Do you have some way of measuring the amount of particulate each one catches in a controlled environment?

There are plenty of studies out there. To pass the same amount of air through a smaller area, the restriction has to be reduced. Fewer square inches of media, larger passages through that media. To increase the amount of air passing through, you have to increase those holes to an even larger size. In this case, you can SEE through the filter media. That means relatively BIG stuff can get past it.

The Cap'n

[Porcharu]

I used to wipe fine sand like stuff out of my intake pipe on my K&N 'filtered' GTI. Every car that I have worked on that had a K&N had dirt on the throttle body. My old Mustang had one and has pretty serious cylinder wall wear at 25,000 miles (I had it apart when I wiped a few the rod bearings when the oil pump drive snapped.)
Steve

Just eyeballing the things doesn't prove how well they work or don't work. Do you have some way of measuring the amount of particulate each one catches in a controlled environment?

There are plenty of studies out there. To pass the same amount of air through a smaller area, the restriction has to be reduced. Fewer square inches of media, larger passages through that media. To increase the amount of air passing through, you have to increase those holes to an even larger size. In this case, you can SEE through the filter media. That means relatively BIG stuff can get past it.

The Cap'n

[McMark]

I run a K&N, a Tornado, and fuel line magnets to maximize my engine.

[VaccaRabite]

For those of us using dual carbs, what aside from K&N is there to use as an air filter? Is there even a paper element option for us?

Zach

[ArtechnikA]

For those of us using dual carbs, what aside from K&N is there to use as an air filter? Is there even a paper element option for us?

Yes, but you won't like it...
/6's used a paper filter with dual carbs 40 years ago; 356's and 912's long before that. The filters are readily available but you'd have to do some fabrication for the housing.

[PeeGreen 914]

Just make sure your K&N is well oiled. One of the big causes for crud getting past is because of not maintaining them properly.

Unfortunatly they are about the best we have for our carbs but if you use rain hats and oil them and clean them often they will work well.

[monkeyboy]

Outerwears help a lot too. I have run a K&N on my desert toys since I got them. Always with an Outerwear on them, and I have never seen anything get past the filter. My buddies that don't run them get grit in their engines often.

I know that the K&N's don't filter that well, so I use the prefilter. It's a lot easier to clean than the K&N too.

[Borderline]

The K&N filters don't even increase the HP. A recent article in Grassroots MS has an article where they dyno test an engine and try different changes. When they put on the K&N filter they got miniscule improvement...pretty much noise level on the dyno. Anyway, they proclaimed a HP increase. I lost a lot of respect for them, but I guess they gotta keep the advertisers happy.

[gothspeed]

Great thread!!! ...... I have done flow tests of my own using paper vs K&N ....... the K&N produced zero RWHP gains over paper in my test vehicle ....... even though on the flow bench they outflowed paper by a mile ....... anyway all my tests show is the factory sized the paper elements adequately to where K&Ns did not make a difference for the better.

[pktzygt]

I read that Grassroots article, it was a BMW 335 i think. It always seems like certain mods that make power on one car don't make power on another, especially ones with new-fangled computers. I'm going to keep buying K&N's just because they are made in so many sized that I can get one to fit anything I need it to.

Ohh, and Mark... I found a tornado at the Pink-N-Pull once stuck inside the intake pipe I needed for my truck. I couldn't get it out without destroying the rubber pipe. I was pissed. The truck it came out of had the entire interior spray painted yellow and white and blue........seats, carpet, dash....everything.

[balljoint]

I run a K&N, a Tornado, and fuel line magnets to maximize my engine.

You also hang out here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[westgl]

I agree with Krusty,

Read the article that K&N puts out, it's on their site. It says that their filter's are only 80% effient, and are for racing applications only, like engines that will be torn down often!!

I would rather use something that does what I'am paying for it to do, like actually filter 100% of the crap out before it sand blasts the insides of my engine.

It's good, when you have to replace your filter, it's doing it's job.

People who use K&N filters for the street are turning their engines into expensive Vacuum cleaners.

Anyone with a K&N filter want to drive up and down my street? Because the street cleaners are on stike and it's starting to look like a beach out there. Sandy!

Just my 2cents

westgl