@Frisbee Without the oil, the filtering properties of the filter are severely compromised.
Iâd doubt a dry gause filterâs dirt stopping ability, considering how much daylight I can see through it.
Beware of these overpriced" Wallet lightners",seriously if a filter like this would increase performance so dramatically,doesnt it stand to reason that some manufacturers would use them to increase performance?
Frisbee wrote:
No increase in mpgs, however, performance VERY FAVORABLY enhanced at all speeds on all vehicles (Rangers, Tacomas, Aleros, Chryslers, F-150s, Chevys).
Do you often drive at wide-open throttle? If not, then you get the identical result as these fancy filters (more air in the engine) simply by pushing the gas pedal down a bit farther, without any of the drawbacks.
I bought and used a K & N for my '89 Accord and used it for over 400,000 miles. It was a little cheaper than paper filters but I never noticed an increase in MPG. It was a PIA to clean and oil, and now use regular paper filters in my vehicles, you can get 'em on sale at Wal-Mart pretty cheap and the exchange is fast and easy. Good luck! Rocketman
âŠand cartridge oil filters. They are making a come back too. I remember changing the cartridge on my SAAB, totally by feel. I will take the throw awaysâŠsix days a week and twice on Sunday. Long live our trash !
Jeepers old @oldtimer11 That IS old. ;-()
I always hear the claim that these air filters increase gas mileage. I figure that this may be fiction, especially on a modern car. Basically the oxygen sensor and MAF will detect their parameters and the ECM will adjust accordingly. In some ways, I could see one of these filters DECREASING MPG while increasing horsepower since more air flow will mean that the system will balance out the mix with more fuel.
You might get better MPG on an older carbureted car since the fuel wonât increase with airflow unless someone tunes the jets accordingly. Of course there is the issue with running lean with one of these filters.
I agree they are more hassle than they are worth. I have never seen one ruin an MAF but have had to clean the MAF with a special cleaner meant for this purpose and blame it on the oil from these filters.
Conor
Cwatkin, it isnât fiction⊠itâs outright BS.
You are correct, in a given engine controlled by modern control systems you cannot get more HP without using more fuel. And that only becomes effective at wide open throttle. Because of the constantly-increasing CAFE requirements, manufacturers today have put a great deal of engineering into making modern induction systems as minimally restrictive as possible. Theyâre perfectly capable of providing all the air the cylinders can pull in. And, if you begin to force feed the air, you need to assess the capacity of the injectors and (depending on how much you force it) maybe even the pump.
The only way to effectively get more HP without using more gas is to go inside the engine and reduce inherent losses by doing things like lightweight pistons, lightweight connecting rods, a lightweight flywheel, etc. Theoretically, if you did not change the compression, stroke, cam profile, or any other mechanical parameters but simply replaced everything that moves back & forth (or up & down) or spins with lightweight components, youâd reduce inherent losses and improve net HP without hurting gas mileage. Of course, youâd spend a ton of cash and reduce reliability and/or longevity also.
For my car, they sell lightweight âbilletâ pulleys to replace the OEM pulleys, as well as lightweight flywheels. From everything Iâve read, they do improve acceleration by reducing rotating masses, but the engines vibrate themselves to pieces early in their lives. There are tradeoffs.
For the record, âbilletâ simply means machined from a solid chunk of aluminum instead of from a casting.
I always hear the claim that these air filters increase gas mileage.
The EPA has tested dozens of products that claim to increase gas mileageâŠthey havenât found one that does what it claimsâŠthat includes things like air-filters to things like Slick-50 and multi-point spark plugs. Not one worked.
âBeware of these overpricedâ Wallet lightners",seriously if a filter like this would increase performance so dramatically,doesnt it stand to reason that some manufacturers would use them to increase performance? "
They do in some cases. Ford used one Shelby GT 500 (the newer ones). And if you buy one of Ford Racingâs âPower packâ upgrade kits for your 2005-2014 Mustang. Itâs going to have an oil guaze air filter. low restriction mufflers, and a new ECU tune
http://www.fordracingparts.com/mustang/performancepacks.asp
Incidentally if you have the dealership install the upgrades, your warranty is not effected.
Sometimes these parts make it onto the production models as well. Back in 2008 Ford offered a âBullittâ Mustang variant. It was basically a Mustang GT with more restrained styling and different mechanical bits. It had a different air intake, and a different exhaust vs. standard GT, but had the same engine. The Bullitt had a extra 15 HP and a little more torque. Then in 2010 The new Camaro came out with well over 400 HP and Fordâs new Coyote 5.0L wasnât going to be ready until the 2011 model year. So for 2010 Ford decided to put the Bullitt-specific parts on the Mustang GT to help it be even just slightly more competitive with the much more powerful Chevy.
An extra 15 HP over 400 is ~4% gain.
So if we do a rough estimate and say 1-2% is the intake system,
And some small part of that is the filter itselfâŠ
The 3 valve 4.6L used in the 2005-2009 Mustangs had 300 HP. Thatâs why I mentioned that the new (at the time) 5.0L Coyote wasnât going to be ready until 2011. So closer to a 5% gain. Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?
FoDaddy, I suspect you already know that the increased HP isnât really coming from the new filter.
Not all of it. But some of it. On engines with forced induction you tend to see more gains. Particularly engines that werenât turbo/supercharged from the factory.
Think it was more the ecu,rather then the air filter which was probaly designed to make more racket? and for petes sakes at what rpm,plus the exhaust system.what gain from the intake,more realistically.5%? and were the pulleys the same size?Just wondering-I watched one of the info merrcial "Hot Rod " shows once upon a time they probaly put close to 2000$ worth of parts on a Camaro,Headers,hot rod tune up parts and new convertors etc,this thing had alot of miles on the clock,it might have dynoed 10-15% better,the problem was they never did bang for the buck,they attributed most of the increase to the headers and the real expensive parts,rather then doing a step by step,tuneup and replacing things like the old stopped up convertors, etc.So I still maintain a lot of this is hype
Not disrespecting FoDaddy,but a lot of manus get 1-2% claimed increase by juggling the exhaust system-I think Nissan is famous for this.
I had a Nissan truck once upon a time,that got a big hole in the muffler and you could actually feel the difference in the acceleration of the thing(its the only vehicle I ever owned that you could tell the difference on.
Not disrespecting FoDaddy,but a lot of manus get 1-2% claimed increase by juggling the exhaust system-I think Nissan is famous for this.
30 years ago before computer controlled ignition and fuel and emissions you could make increases in MPG and performance with a tuned exhaust or other quick mods. But not today.
@kmccune you would be correct. A good example is the 2002-2006 four cylinder Altimas. They had a trick muffler where under full throttle a valve/flap in the muffler would open and give the exhaust a direct path out of the muffler, it made the car noticeably louder under hard acceleration. In more typical driving the flap never opened and it remained quiet.
@MikeInNH It still goes on today. Take the proliferation of dual-mode exhaust systems on high end sports cars for example. The Corvette has an exhaust thatâs adjustable by the driver, when in âsport modeâ a flap opens in the mufflers and the exhaust basically becomes straight pipes (similar to the Nissan system I mentioned above, but itâs more complex being driver adjustable), The Jag F Type has a similar system as do some Caymanâs and 911s. The 2012-2013 Boss 302 Mustangs actually have user removable baffles in the exhaust from the factory so that you can completely bypass the mufflers if you wanted to.
It still goes on today. Take the proliferation of dual-mode exhaust systems on high end sports cars for example. The Corvette has an exhaust that's adjustable by the driver, when in "sport mode" a flap opens in the mufflers and the exhaust basically becomes straight pipes (similar to the Nissan system I mentioned above, but it's more complex being driver adjustable),
And at the same time itâs automatically adjusting the settings in the ECU.