[teaysvalleyguy]

Just curious to see if anyone actually has these air filters and if they are worth the investment. They had a display set up of them at Auto Zone and before I buy would like some info. Thanks in advance.

 

[elphaba7]

My hubby says that for street vehicles they are worth the money, but on anything that might get muddy (ATV's and such) they don't hold up as well. Hope this helps.

 

[Phil Washburn]

yes they are. i used k&n air filters on my late model stock car and they are great. i highly recommend using the k$n filter housing if you are using it on a carbureted vehicle. the housing and filter assembly will definitely add horsepower

one nice thing about a lot of the k$n filters is cleaning them....just drop it OVER/AROUND the agitater of your washer and put it thru a light cycle...they last a long time

 

[bigflathunter]

The K&N air filter is one of the upgrades that I will disagree on the arguement that it's a bunch of hype. It works on a simple principle. An engine is nothing but a really fancy air pump. It pumps air in and pumps it out. The easier it is to get air in and out, the more efficiently the machine runs. If it's easier to get air into and out of your engine, you will see an increase in mpg and horsepower. One thing to keep in mind is that if you abuse the extra horsepower you can kiss the extra mpg goodbye. You also have to consider that even if your car can get extra air into the cylinders, it still has to work just as hard to get it out. To reap the total benefit you would need to install at least a higher flow muffler.

I removed the stock void air box and filter box and replaced it with a section of 3" intake tubing and a K&N cone filter, with the filter right in front of the cool air inlet under my hood. I spliced the factory intake air temp sensor into my rig and avoided any service engine lights. Worked out pretty well, I got a few mpg and maybe 3-5 ponies out of the deal. This is on a four cylinder S10.

I also added a Flowmaster muffler to my stock exhaust. The sound is pretty good, and I got another mpg or two and maybe another 3-6 horsepower.

One thing I will say about this. You can modify a stock system to take a cone filter, or add the K&N filter to your stock box. You have to decide if you will be sacrificing air temperature for flow. The stock air filter box is usually rigged to suck outside air into your engine, but does not flow very well. If you replace that with a cone filter, you will be sucking hot engine compartment air into your engine, which may not alter mpg, but will alter horsepower. I have my cone filter set up in the corner of my engine compartment with a heat shield and right next to the outside air inlet. I also have a cowl induction hood to help vent the engine compartment a little better.

But yeah, they work. And I almost forgot - the million mile guarantee is nice. I wash my filter maybe twice a year, and if I'm on a lot of dirt roads, more often than that.

 

[rodpod]

I installed an AEM K&N type filter on my honda accord and i can tell a noticable power difference above 3000 rpm and very slight increase in MPG.

 

[Phil Washburn]

since i used the k&n on a race car, i can't tell you about economy. we had a long-rod 400cid small block with a 750cfm holley(which wasn't enough carburetor)...when we put the k&n cleaner on it, we gained 500 rpm. i mean we went from 7500rpm to 8000rpm...a phenominal gain for what we were doing...ran a LOT stronger.......'course the cleaner and housing cost around 130 bucks, but that is cheap horsepower at that level

 

[bud1110]

My wife and I used to race dirt track cars, and I had K&N Filters on them. I had a 8" cone to raise the filter away from all the heat of the motor. It performed very well.

One thing I liked about them was they were very easy to clean. I had a special cleaner to remove all the dirt, and another spray for once it dried. It was an oily substance that traped the dirt.

I know that the K&N Filter added a few more ponys under the hood.Now whether you will see any HP difference on your stock vehicle is questionable...

They are good filters though....

 

[teaysvalleyguy]

Thanks everyone for the replies, it is just going into my every day vehicle but I am guessing that with the gas prices the way they are and my driving 2000-3000 miles a week I should get my money back on one.

 

[rodpod]

2000-3000 miles a week? Thats rough.

 

[Kittyhunter]

OK, here is my opinion, like it or not. Probably going to ruffle a few feathers. Race application, worth the money. Street application, waste of money. Being a GM Technician, I can tell you, they cause problems. First case-the oil from the filter, if it's properly oiled,(and it must be to work properly) can get into the Mass Airflow Sensor and cause false readings affecting performance and fuel mileage, not to mention it could turn on the Check Engine Light. Second case-it is allowing more airflow in, in turn, the computer sees more airflow and in response adds more fuel. Better fuel mileage? I think not. Yes it would breathe better, but the bigger the breath, the bigger the shot of fuel. Third case-I have seen cases where the cold air intake setup you talked about on your S-10 moaned so bad under heavy throttle, the Knock Sensor thought the engine was spark knocking and retarded the ignition timing causing the truck to fall on it's face. Fourth, a four cylinder S-10 is not going to have any kind of noticeable performance increase from an air filter or muffler. You still have the same sized exhaust pipe coming off the engine and the same sized tailpipe going out. It is only going to flow what will go throught the smallest point of the exhaust system. It definately didn't gain 3-6 HP. And before you start saying I don't know what I'm talking about, I have been a GM Technician for 17 years and I have seen all of this in real life. And I also have a 4 cylinder S-10, it is a slug and always will be.

 

[davesoutfishing]

Look and see how much the rechargeing kit is for them verses replaceing them evey 12000 miles with a 4 dallar filter

 

[davesoutfishing]

plus note you automible is down for about 3 to 4 hours for the recharging

 

[Dak2004]

I bought a K&N for my 04 Dakota with the 4.7 and I cant tell any difference in power or mpgs! What did increase mpgs was I had a set of headers with a free flow cat and Magnaflow muffler installed.Went from a 2.5 to a 3 inch exhaust.Mpgs went from 17.4 to 19.8,as far as power maybe a little,I dont know .

 

[Kittyhunter]

Now a V-8 with a complete perfomance exhaust system upgrade, I agree, you could notice a difference.

 

[bearcat]

I put a K&N on my power stroke diesel ford. I havent noticed any preformance gains . It would be hard to check without a dyno. Fuel milage hasnt changed . I do like the fact that the filter does a better job of catching dirt and dust. I feel it is worth it for that. My truck is used on farm, so the dirt level is alot higher than typical road miles in town.

 

[JAYNC]

I put a K&N on my truck and noticed a small gain in performance, but once I put a Gibson 4" exhaust on my Z-71 I noticed a very good gain, in both torque and horsepower, especially while towing.