K & N air Filter...worth the price?

sprintrps

Member
Contributor
:
Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring
K & N Air Filter...I don't mind paying $54 for the filter, but is it worth it? What results has any members had with this filter upgrade?
 
it will be marginal in terms of gain, your savings might be based on re usability. Also, since it can be cleaned you may do it every 5k miles or even less. Keeping your filter very clean.
 
I've used K & N filters for the past ten years in my vehicles.
As far as cost savings, yes, in the long run, it will save you some money. I haven't bought a new filter in all this time.
They are easy to clean and maintain, and you can do it as often as you want.
As for any gains in performance, horse power, MPG's, etc., it's mostly hype.
You might fool yourself into thinking that your butt dyno feels a difference, but it's mostly in your mind, sorry to say.
 
No performance gains. Only benefit is reusability. Instead of the K&N, I would suggest getting the AEM dryflow air filter. No need to oil it after washing.

That said, I've used K&N filters before and I've never had issues with oil getting on the MAF. If you follow the instructions for re-oiling the filter, you would never get oil on the MAF.

Edit: I don't know if it's still available, but K&N and AEM were offering a $25 rebate a few weeks ago.
 
No. It gets oil on the MAF wires. It does not filter as well.

Contaminating the MAF sensor can happen, but it's more of a myth than an ongoing problem.
It is more anecdotal than anything else, and it's a 100% user problem.
Clean and oil them properly, and you'll be fine. I've never had that problem in ten years of use.
As for filtering, well, yes, it's probably not as good as a paper filter, but then again, that's how you get less air resistance in the K&N.
If you live on a dirt road in the country, I wouldn't use one, but for everyday city driving, they work just fine.
 
You get most of the airflow restriction in the throttle body, all the way to wide open throttle, not in the filter...
 
No K&N filters are garbage. Use OEM

Aw, come on GJ. You know better than to just make a blanket statement like that without at least explaining why you see it that way.
I've used them for 10 years with no negative effects.
Do they give the added performance that some claim they get? Not in my experience, no.
Has it saved me money in the long run? Absolutely.
Are OEM filters good? Of course they are.
K&N garbage? No.

FYI, what I did with my Nissans to increase airflow, was to reduce the obstructions in the air box and air tubes/baffles leading to the air box.
As an example, the Pathfinder has this ridiculous air intake baffle that draws air from inside the front wheel well, up through this stupid baffle system, and then eventually to the air filter box.
It was very restrictive.
I removed the entire baffle from inside the wheel well, and cut holes in the front part of air tube to be able to draw air from the front.
My homemade version of a cold air intake, if you will.
This did more to increase engine performance and gas mileage than the K&N did.
 
No. It gets oil on the MAF wires. It does not filter as well.

Oil on the MAF is user error. Too much oil and didn't follow directions. Let the filter rest over night then tap and wipe rubber edges clean.

K&N does let through larger particles than conventional filters when freshly cleaned and re-oiled. There's no dispute. However the particles are substantially smaller than the minuscule oil layer between rings and cylinder walls, bearing and journals, etc. The filters tighten up in a few hundred miles when they get 'dirty'.

Anecdotal accounts like the above on another forum said engine will need rebuilding earlier due to wear, MAF gone every filter cleaning.

'06 Ford Escape Hybrid, 292,000 miles. K&N since 2nd oil change.
 
No. It gets oil on the MAF wires. It does not filter as well.

I will 2nd the "No". I'm sure the oiled cotton filter element can flow more air and maybe catch tiny particles because of the oil, but in the long run, the K&N isn't worth the $ or the trouble.

Your ECU will compensate for the amount of air being let in past the filter; paper or cotton or other material, and the marginal increase in flow will not result in gobs of extra powwa. Don't let the in-store demonstration displays fool you.

As far as getting oil residue on the MAF...it all depends on how much oil you get on the filter. If you follow the instructions on the box, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. They (K&N) die the oil red to let you know where you put the oil. If you use it sparingly, you should be fine, but there is always the chance of over oiling.

The thing that got me was the cleaning of the filter; whether is was every 6 months or 12; if you do not have a filter to drop in the car while you are cleaning the K&N one, you cannot drive the car. You clean it hoping to not damage the filtering element, then you have to let it dry completely, and then once it is fully dry it can be oiled. So, you either have a "spare" paper filter to drop in while cleaning the K&N or you just don't drive the car for several hours.

For me, after doing to whole K&N thing on my (non-turbo) Mazda 323 LX, I found it was easier to buy good quality paper filters about every 12 months. I thought I was "saving the plant" and "making mad power yo" by using a reusable filter, but after several years of doing the K&N thing, I went back to paper filters thinking that my ONE paper filter wasn't going to hurt the planet, and how much power can a 1.6L 4cyl make anyway. Plus the paper filters were maintenance free - remove, toss, and replace.

I can buy 4 paper filters (4 years worth) for the price of the 1 K&N that will return negligible gains, if any. Yes, a K&N filter does provide an advantage, in racing, but I do not believe, any more, that it benefits the average consumer, unless you want to put the sticker on your window.

K&N = marketing hype, along with E3 plugs, Royal Purple oil, and Slick 50...
 
One thing I can say from experience, anyone with a diesel engine will be driven round the bend by turbo whistle. One RAV turbo was bad, what 2 turbos will sound like is beyond me.

It means for the gas engine you will get more intake noise which personally I don’t like. If you wonder what it sounds like, take your air filter out and drive round the block!
 
Just though I'd speak to some of the comments after my ten years of K&N use:
I have a couple of old paper filters lying around that I use for 24 hours while I go through the cleaning process. No big deal.
There is no noticeable power gain. That is a myth I'm sure.
Any stories about engine damage is anecdotal. I suspect there are other issues besides an air filter that contributed to any engine damage.
I have 15 years and 312,000 Kms on my Pathfinder, and the engine is just fine, thankyou very much. No oil consumption after all this time while using the filter.
The 2006 Altima I just got rid of was the same. Engine was just fine.
As for the intake sound, in "normal" driving it's not an issue, but when you step on it, you will get a little more intake howl.
Sounds a little bit like an old 4 barrel carb when the secondaries open up. Personally, I kind of like it. Each to their own on this one I guess..
As for cost, well, I haven't bought an air filter in ten years.
Have I saved money? Probably, but not enough to bother trying to figure it out. Maybe enough for a few cups of coffee and a doughnut....lol.
As for my new car, I doubt I'll bother going that route again.
I'm retired now, and don't drive nearly as much, so I'll just pop in a new filter once in a while.
Hope this helps.
 
Just though I'd speak to some of the comments after my ten years of K&N use:
I have a couple of old paper filters lying around that I use for 24 hours while I go through the cleaning process. No big deal.
There is no noticeable power gain. That is a myth I'm sure.
Any stories about engine damage is anecdotal. I suspect there are other issues besides an air filter that contributed to any engine damage.
I have 15 years and 312,000 Kms on my Pathfinder, and the engine is just fine, thankyou very much. No oil consumption after all this time while using the filter.
The 2006 Altima I just got rid of was the same. Engine was just fine.
As for the intake sound, in "normal" driving it's not an issue, but when you step on it, you will get a little more intake howl.
Sounds a little bit like an old 4 barrel carb when the secondaries open up. Personally, I kind of like it. Each to their own on this one I guess..
As for cost, well, I haven't bought an air filter in ten years.
Have I saved money? Probably, but not enough to bother trying to figure it out. Maybe enough for a few cups of coffee and a doughnut....lol.
As for my new car, I doubt I'll bother going that route again.
I'm retired now, and don't drive nearly as much, so I'll just pop in a new filter once in a while.
Hope this helps.

More induction noise = less engine filtration. Its best to stick to OEM because they filter better.
 
Like Buzzman said, washing a filter is a non-issue. Just slap on the OEM air filter for a day while you let the AEM/K&N air filter dry out.

My old 2010 Mazda3, which now belongs to my sister, is now over 100k miles and is still running the K&N Typhoon SRI I installed when I still owned the car. I cleaned that filter just once, when it went over 100k miles. The car/engine still seems to be running fine. I don't expect to have to clean that filter again before my sister trades it in for a newer car.

On our CX-5 I have the AEM dryflow air filter. I still have the OEM paper filter which I will pop into the car when I need to wash the AEM filter. I don't expect to have to buy any more paper filters for the duration of our ownership of the CX-5.
 
Ah, the good ole K&N discussion. They have their place, but I don't believe that's on a "normal" daily driver.
If the K&N is properly cleaned and oiled(and not done too often), there's little chance of engine failure due to use of that filter, but I chose to stick to simple paper filter and change it just often enough to make me feel good.

Change your paper filter with a suitable parts store replacement every 30-50k miles. On my old Speed6 and my current Exploder, I went about 40k miles before the first filter change. It would take about 200k miles to break even with a K&N.

As noted previously, the filter is least efficient when it's clean, so the dirtier it is, the better it filters out debris. Changing or cleaning too often is more damaging than letting it get dirty and the old "see through the filter" check is not accurate either.

Lab test results below:
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
 
Ah, the good ole K&N discussion.

Lab test results below:
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

It's a long read, but if you scroll to the results graphs and conclusions at the end, it will tell you everything you need to know.
Here's a couple of quotes from that Nicoclub article that are of interest:

--"The other filters, most notably the oiled reusable types, had an exponential loading response before reaching maximum restriction.
These filters had a lower initial restriction, but they became exponentially more restrictive under a constant flow of dirt.
This runs counter to the myth that oiled media filters actually work better as they get dirtier.--"

and:

--"The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction.
In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms.
Compared to the AC, the K&N plugged up nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt.--"

Hmm
 
It's a long read, but if you scroll to the results graphs and conclusions at the end, it will tell you everything you need to know.
Here's a couple of quotes from that Nicoclub article that are of interest:

--"The other filters, most notably the oiled reusable types, had an exponential loading response before reaching maximum restriction.
These filters had a lower initial restriction, but they became exponentially more restrictive under a constant flow of dirt.
This runs counter to the “myth” that oiled media filters actually “work better” as they get dirtier.--"

and:

--"The AC Delco filter test ran for 60 minutes before exceeding the restriction limit while the AMSOIL and K&N tests each ran for 20 and 24 minutes respectively before reaching max restriction.
In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms.
Compared to the AC, the K&N “plugged up” nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt.--"


Hmm

end of story. don't buy K&N
 
So I really need to this question. Is there any data on blown engines due to OEM replacement aftermarket air filters? Like have there been car engines that have blown up because a K&N or AEM air filter lets in too much dirt than OEM filters?

The reason I ask is because I feel like there is too much concern placed on the filtration capabilities of the filters, whereas I'm more worried about blowing up my engine due to tuning or my trans going out, both of which don't involve oem replacement airbox filters. Am I missing something here?
 
Back