I'm thinking about picking one of these up. It's not the cone, just a replacement for the long flat one I have now. I'm not looking for more HP, not trying to make the car sound cool. Just want to make the car breathe better. Is it a waste of money or will my car be happier with it?
Thanks..

 

Waste of money.

 

I've had mine for 5+ years now, clean it out a couple times a year. Fairly low maintenance. Since I reoil it each time, I still have the one that came with the car to throw in while its drying.


Its pretty subjective.

I use an HKS hi flow filter in the Evo that you throw away every 10k. The turbo spools up about 400rpm earlier. So boost comes on at 4000rpm instead off 4400rpm on a stock car. Did I actually gain anything, probably not, but it is nice to have the power a little earlier.

 

Won't sound any different . Might add a tiny bit of horsepower if you actually need the flow. We run them in the track day Manic Stage 2+ GP2's and they all dyno'd over 240whp with drop in filters inside stock air box. Bang for the buck they work better than stock.

 

I live in a dusty climate, subject to frequent "Haboob" storms and have used K&N filters for 25 years in all my vehicles. I find them easy to clean and use because the sand sticks to the filter instead of piling up after a run through the dust. With K&N a bit more intake noise results (more if you change the intake), but don't expect a significant source of more horsepower although the rpm's do spin up a little quicker.

 

You will get 11 opinions from 10 people. I use one because it is a cheap mod that makes me feel like I've done something, in reality I couldn't tell you that it does anything. If you clean and re oil it improperly you will be getting yourself in trouble with the MAF sensor.

 

There is a K&N video somewhere on youtube or their website that shows you the color of "pink" you are looking to achieve when oiling. I think they thinned out the cocktail when they went to spray cans instead of the bottle so fewer mistakes can be made. In 30 some cars I have never over-oiled them enough to affect any operation but my buddy did screw up his 2-stroke bike with the oil.

Anyway, I need this kind of air filtering in my dry dusty environment and I think Ft Worth (OP) weather isn't much different that way. I would be putting in three paper ones a year, and cleaning the foam ones just as often which seems like the same amount of work as the K&N to me. Your situations will be different.

 

That's a good point..

 

Can your air filter handle this?