K&N Air Filters - More Tests

[canthai55]

Goes to show just how poor they are at filtering out contaminates from your intake air.

 

[Kwasaki]

I bought some aftermarket cone air filters and there washerable carbs are in tune,  and they were inexpensive. 

[transam]

I had a couple of K&N filters on my fun ride over a period of 20+ years, can't say I ever had a problem...

[liddelljohn]

done over 50,000 miles on my Ducati S4 in Thailand with K&N filter ,, now restoring the bike powdercoating frame tank paintwork etc after 19 years , also had heads off  for decarbonising and  valve seal checks and the bores and valve seats are still perfect ,,  the bottom end is solid too ..my other 4 bikes also have K&N  filter.

 

I have had K&N  on many of my bikes   the only ones that ever had problems with <deleted> getting in were old  70s Triumphs .

 

It is true that they are not eas effective at stopping certian ultra small particulates but its the air flow I want,, its always a compromise ,.

[OneMoreFarang]

And I thought the main reason for people buying them is the look and the sound...

 

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And I thought the main reason for people buying them is the look and the sound...

 

Your right and I have the same at a faction of the price, nothing new these days copies are the same, it's not exactly rocket science is it. ????

 

 

 

[transam]

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And I thought the main reason for people buying them is the look and the sound...

 

For me it was, you buy them once, clean them if necessary, re-oil, done......????

 

 

 

[Coremouse]

I put those pre-filter on my cheap cone for additional safety, though it's mostly placebo effect

 

[tlandtday]

waste of money

[Sam Lin]

This has been no secret for 20 years; K&N trades filtration for flow. Oil analysis data clearly shows that silicate levels in the oil are much higher on cars running K&N filters, meaning more dust is getting past the air filter.

[commie]

4 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

This has been no secret for 20 years; K&N trades filtration for flow. Oil analysis data clearly shows that silicate levels in the oil are much higher on cars running K&N filters, meaning more dust is getting past the air filter.

But then if you're after performance you change the oil much more frequently, so overall there's no bad effect on the engine. 

[DavisH]

4 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

This has been no secret for 20 years; K&N trades filtration for flow. Oil analysis data clearly shows that silicate levels in the oil are much higher on cars running K&N filters, meaning more dust is getting past the air filter.

I used a K&N filter on my civic for 250K kms. So'd the car last year. The engine was still strong when I sold it. I use the same filter in ym wife's swift - I do notice in that car the throttle response is much better. Still no problems with this filter either. 

[Just Weird]

23 hours ago, DavisH said:

I do notice in that car the throttle response is much better.

You mean throttle noise is "much better", that's all.  

 

Aftermarket air filters, whatever brand, do not increase anything except intake sound, noticeably, particularly throttle response!

 

Edit:  Transam's old thing excepted, of course.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Just Weird

[transam]

33 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

You mean throttle noise is "much better", that's all.  

 

Aftermarket air filters, whatever brand, do not increase anything except intake sound, noticeably, particularly throttle response!

 

Edit:  Transam's old thing excepted, of course.

For sure, 7 ltr doing 7000rpm shifts needs a lot of help..????

[Just Weird]

48 minutes ago, transam said:

For sure, 7 ltr doing 7000rpm shifts needs a lot of help..????

Yes, yes, we know....

[Coremouse]

1 hour ago, Just Weird said:

You mean throttle noise is "much better", that's all.  

 

Aftermarket air filters, whatever brand, do not increase anything except intake sound, noticeably, particularly throttle response!

 

Edit:  Transam's old thing excepted, of course.

Yes for our stockish cars stock filter usually more than enough, but the sound itself is awesome enough to promote a change????

 

Also I heard from guys modding high boost L4 even 350-400hp the panel filter would become restriction, 90's rally cars run absolutely humongous panel filter even with turbo restrictor and measley 350hp. On the other hand most generic cones have so much surface area than panel won't be issue until much later. Some big spooly bois say even standard size K&N cone would choke like <deleted> on their build

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Coremouse

[transam]

You will see with my K&N that the chrome lid was replaced with a K&N filter lid to provide more area, now ain't that cool....☺️