Ok, I'll start with the K&N, I'm wondering if there is anyone with proof that K&N actually hurts performane on an LS1 car? I cant imagine why or how if they actually flow air better than a stock paper filter, they would hurt, yet I have seen people on this site say they will cost you HP?
It doesnt seem to make since to me.

Also becuz gas is an issue these days, is the Tornado worth it? I remeber when these guys first came out roughly 8 years ago as a little company and now they are well known, they even got a consumer best buy award (something like that) awhile back, anybody spend the $60 on one?

 

seriously? K&N filters and paper filters are almost the same, accept you don't have to replace a K&N filter. Don't see it as adding power.

The tornado is just a ricer POS. Don't fall for it.

 

The tornado is worse then the K&N. K&N doesn't add hp alone, but it's reusable. A while back there were dyno results posted showing a hp LOSS with the tornado something like 1 hp but still... why pay money to shove metal in your air intake?

 

Well, see as far as the only benifit being that you dont have to replace it goes, that is good enough for me, but I have seen people say it will take away HP, that why I am asking about the K&N filter. I also belive it does allow more air though even if it doesnt add HP, I fell for the displayed floating ball trick long ago.

As for the Tornado, I can imagine alot of ricers buying it simply because it's sold at auto zone(the performance shop of all ricers) There was some people in the LS-1 tech saying they were getting more than or almost 300 miles from a full tank. while people who were'nt were avereging 220 a full tank.

 

lol I don't know about that. That's over a 33% increase in gas mileage. That's more then the companies (outrageous) claims. K&N filters get away with saying they add something like 18 hp when your lucky if it adds one.

I could see the K&N costing you power IF you over oiled it.

 

Get the tornado, turbonator, MAF "chip", fuel atomizer and run pure oil additives. Or give me the $ and you'll see the same gains.

 

lol

 

I personally tested my car with the following:
Day 1:
Stock LID
MTI LID
AC Delco Paper Filter
K&N Filter
Amsoil Filter
No filter

Day 2 (approx 1 month later)
Stock LID
MTI LID
Stealth LID
AC Delco Paper Filter
K&N Filter
Amsoil Filter
K&N Filter for Stealth (same as used on a Vette. Much larger surface area)
No Filter


The results.. across the board, with lid and without my car was capable of pulling runs back to back and kept the numbers withing +/- 1 hp per item tested.. Meaning if I pulled 325.4 with the Lid and paper filter, then next pull was was within 1 hp +/-.

So now that I had consistancy, I tested.. each one several pulls, each one on two different days..
Same outcome.. I consistantly lost 3rwhp with aftermarket filters and even with no filter..
Why? Well, the best I can come up with is that the airflow is disturbed and not optimized by the aftermarket filters.. Which leads me to the Day 2 test. Well, if you are just changing them out, maybe they need time to get the computer adjusted.. Ok, valid thought, so I drove for about a month with a K&N filter in the car. ok.. Tested.. Same results.. Why? again.. the only thing I can think of besides the fact that paper does flow more air, is that it must have a better flow pattern for the air as well..

The stock AC Delco is a paper media based filter
The K&N is a cotton gauze media based filter
The Amsoil is a foam media based filter

If the MIT Lid gained 8rwhp over the stock filter the same setup, MTI with K&N vs Stock with K&N would yeild the same gain from the LID and no gain from the filter. If I compared Paper filter vs K&N with either the MTI or the Stock airbox, there was consistsant 3rwhp more produced by the paper filter.

The same paper filter stayed in my car all the way till I had 39K Miles. I had subsequently run 13.1's @ 108 on a hot April 1 day with that filter. It was changed when I got a new AC Delco filter for my Bday on April 2nd 2004.

Now comes the arguement about the "never have to buy another filter again"..

Scenario one has avg joe with car and in need of replacement filter.
Avg Joe gets in car, goes to auto parts store and purchases said filter for around $8-$15. Avg Joe could then opt to replace part in the parking lot and be done or head home and do said swap. Time : about 5 min install plus drive.

Scenario two has Avg Bill with car with K&N filter in need of cleaning..
Avg Bill then removes said filter from car and begins the cleaning process.
After the filter is washed clean, he then must wait for the filter to "AIR DRY". On a hot summer day that will still take a couple hours. Once the filter is dry, its time to oil it.
After a short time, the filter must be checked for spots where there is insufficient oil and must still be cautious about putting too much oil on said filter because that could case some MAF errors on the sensors..
Finally.. some 2.5 hours later or more, the K&N filter is clean, and reoiled and ready to be installed again.

Now, some of you dont mind doing this. I used to do this on all my cars.. Until I decided to dyno test. Then I said no more. My time is way more valuable than that. I would rather have 2+ hours to do other stuff than spend messing with a filter.

For those who want to have a reusable filter, the Amsoil one is better IMO.. Its recharge/cleaning kit only costs a few bucks as opposed to K&N's $10 kit. It looks way better being that is it straight black all over and the seams seem to be very high quality.


Good luck with whatever you personally choose for a filter.. I made my choice..

 

Wow, thats the answer I was looking for from this post. the reason I originally asked was because it sux to go buy a paper filter knowing youll be throwing away a $30 K&N filter, so I wanted to be sure.

Physco Cabbage did I ever buy some seats from you a couple of years ago? I believe they were Corbeau? Just wondering.

 

nope.. and dont throw the K&N away.. someone always buys them off EBAY!

 

I have the foam amsoil air filter and am satisfied. I have heard that the oil on the air filters can mud the maf sensor and Im about to clean the maf soon, and see if this is true, because it can cause the car to stumble, people have said.

One thing I did notice going from paper to foam air filters. Is that after a few weeks the in box is cleaner with the foam filter then with the paper. and you can see -with foam air filter in my car- the dirt and stuff the foam filter catches.

Anybody besides me run a foam air filter?

 

Good reading - excellent post!

 

yay for a waste of $50


so wait...

did your results mean that a lid is useless too?

 

my butt dyno tells me that a lid is NOT worthless.

however, my K&N filter is the only one that can fit in my box anyway, so like it or not i'm stuck with it. At least i never have to buy a filter ever again!

 

I dont know guys,the first thing I ever bought for my 3.1 bird was a K&N Filter.I noticed a lot of gain.As weird as that may sound,I noticed alot of midrange gain around 3000-5000 RPM.Slightly better throttle response also,not to mention the deeper intake sound.I bought a FRAM "Airhog" for my pops for father days.He dropped it in his Eclipse (03 5 Speed) and also noticed a gain.I'd say they were definatly worth the $40