K&N Performance Filters

I'll respectfully disagree.

If there is ANY data (unbiased, not from K&N) that supports claims that:

1. Horse power is improved during actual driving
2. Filtration efficicency is improved.

I'd like to see it. If anyone has a link, please post it....

Most dyno studies I've seen are 'hood open' at WOT (wide open throttle). These test compare the stock filtration system which pulls air from OUTSIDE the engine compartment. The K&N pulls in air from INSIDE the compartment, which during REAL DRIVING is MUCH hotter that outside air. For every 10 degree rise in instake air you loose a few HP (hotter air is less dense, which is why they put intercoolers on turbos..) Close the hood, allow the heat to build, and you are loosing HP with the under hood air intake.


As far as cleaning: If the filter doesn't get dirty that quickly, where is the dirt going?

"So if in the MDX the air filter is the most inefficent part of the equation, changing
it will improve enging preformance, if it isn't no noticeable gain will be achieved."

If you replace "inefficient" with "restrictive" then I agree ABSOLUTELY.

Questions:

Who ducts cold air into their bolt-on K&N?

Who thinks Acura would place a restrictive air filter into the path of an otherwise 'unrestricted' intake system, thereby loosing a few HP?

Maybe, I suppose.

Now, if we want to 'fes up, and say we just like the way it looks, that's OK.


Ard

PS Fireblade- more air into the combustion chamber doesn't make your engine run cooler- all things being equal it will run LEANER, but then again the PCM will adapt to the new air-fuel mix and compensate....

Dak-

I guess my 'beef' is the blind adoption as 'truth' many of the trendy items folks buy into-

In this industry, EVERYBODY is looking to separate us from our $$$. From Road and Track to the websites to dealerships to performance shops to.... They all spend HUGE amounts of money to get us to WANT their products. Sexy shapes, models and placement ads in 'fast and furious' all combine to influence the market. Many vendors sertainly don't want actual data to confuse the issues.

Problem is, to get noticeable improvements takes A LOT of $$$. (Start with a new ECU and go from there...) As long as we all realize this, we can concentrate on the stuff that matters: DVD players and good looking wheels.



Ard

xtreme-

How much better 'linear acceleration' did you see?

Did you measure this with a stop watch? or is it just an impression?

(Open all windows in a car, and the driver will estimate his speeds consistantly higher. Is the change in sound of the K&N a psychological factor?)

Or, is it real?

I am truly taken with the overwhelming lack of hard data on the K&Ns. Their website seems to ONLY refer to ONE jeep that had a 26 Hp increase. Given the millions they are selling, wouldn't there be at least one other car with a similar gain.

Any data?

Ard

Clay said:

Ard,

You have to look at the vehicles we're talking about here. I don't think some one will pay $100 dollars for dyno time to test a K&N filter on an MDX. Take a look at car craft, hot rod, CHP, there are tests seems like monthly on intakes. Granted it is on a dyno inside a garage with a fan blowing, but there are plenty of tests out there. As for factories putting restrictive filters on their vehicles, you're darn right they do. Paper and plastic is a hell of a lot cheaper then cotton gauze and aluminum. That's what it comes down to with the factory is cost, if they can build it cheaper and sacrifice a few HP then that makes good sense to them. They also have to meet certain requirements and they don't want to make their engines loud, that's why they put the air silencers in there to quiet them down. The amount of power K&N's produce is negligable, but you pair that with a larger MAF, cats and exhaust, then you get your power increase, air in = air out. And if you can lower the temp of the air going into the intake that's just free hp right there.

Click to expand...

show me ONE bonafide Dyno test showing that JUST the airfilter will increase the HP on a vehicle in real-life, closed hood driving.

You'll have to admit that there is no "larger MAF, cats and exhaust," for the MDX... so what we are talking about HERE IN THIS FORUM is adding a K&N to the MDX and expecting it to improve performance. 99+ % of the K&N sales are to folks that simply bolt that ONE change in.

I'll reiterate: given the 'specsmanship' among the SUV manufacturers, why would Acura leave all that "free hp" there simply for lack of a better airfilter??? The new 2003 retooled the intack and exhaust runners: that cost hundreds of thousands, and might have added $100 to the cost to mfg...you're claim is that they didn't need to do that, just added a'cotton gauze and aluminum' instead of paper and plastic filters.... hmmm.


I'm just jealous I didn't think of it as a business.

Ard