Toyota Nation Forum banner

Does a k&n filter really help?

4K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  WilliamM2 
#1 · (Edited)
Does a K&N air filter do anything different than the stock toyota air filter? http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?prod=33-2260

It said to improve acceleration and hp lol.

I am in need of an new filter and don't know if I should get the stock toyota filter or get the K&N if it does anything different. I like the idea of a washable filter that's the only reason I am suggesting the stock toyota or that K&N
 
#2 ·
I've used them, absolute waste of money IMO. Didn't notice even the slightest difference in engine power, they might work for some cars where the intake is badly designed but Toyota in general has an excellent intake setup.
 
#5 ·
It's all marketing. Just like the Tornado device that you put in your air snorkel, and the magnetic thing that lines up the molecules of gas so they burn better.
 
#6 ·
The OEM air filter(Denso) and/or Denso's air filter are the best choice by far. I use the Denso because I like the way they are made. After market filters like you are asking about are a waste of your money. Who wants to be dicking around cleaning and oiling a K&N or other similar type wetted air filters? That type also doesn't filter as efficiently as what came with the vehicle. Regards
 
#9 ·
Had one in my Trans Am (LS1) wreaked havoc with the throttle body and sensors.
Frankly, the Fram air filters are very good, flow well and I use them on all my cars now..
 
#15 ·
Does a K&N air filter do anything different than the stock toyota air filter? http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?prod=33-2260

It said to improve acceleration and hp lol.

I am in need of an new filter and don't know if I should get the stock toyota filter or get the K&N if it does anything different. I like the idea of a washable filter that's the only reason I am suggesting the stock toyota or that K&N
As others have said, the gains are insignificant. You will probably notice a little louder induction noise.

I have a K&N on my Camry, but only for the cost effectiveness and so that I would not have to keep replacing the engine air filter every 10-15K miles (the air box can be a PTA sometimes to get back on with the 2GR-FE). I installed it at 10K miles when the first engine air filter needed replacing and have not had to buy another air filter since. I paid less than $50 for it, and right now I am at 62K miles, so I have put roughly 50K miles on it.

If I kept using the OEM filter, I would have had to purchase roughly 3-5 filters. At $15 a pop for the OEM filter, that would be roughly $45-$75 spent which means I am already either breaking even or saving money with the K&N filter and the savings will continue for as long as I have the car.

Now, I have not cleaned my K&N filter and do not plan on cleaning it. K&N recommends cleaning at every 50K miles, but I only plan on keeping it oiled rather than cleaning it. The reason being has to do with the filter letting in more dust due to the larger holes compared to paper filters. There are tests showing that the K&N lets in slightly more dust than paper filter, and they also show that as the K&N filter gets dirty it still lets through just as much air as clean paper filters because of this. Basically, the K&N filter allows more air into the engine because it is not as good of a filter as a paper filter. So to combat this, I decided to not clean the filter and only apply a tiny amount of oil every 40K miles. I checked my filter after putting 40K miles on it and you could still see light coming through a majority of the filter which means even though it was dirty, it will not restricting air flow. I do however knock out any leaves or bugs that got trapped.
 
#18 ·
Paul, I agree with what you are saying, but to be fair, the only independent lab testing that you linked to was for the filtration vs air flow ability, not for power gains. In fact, the MCM video you linked to did show an increase in power, just not enough to notice, and it was only done on one vehicle and not several vehicles as you said in your other post.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I've had K&N's on bikes in the past. Personally, I never considered it a money saving move. I consider my time valuable, and I'd rather spend $10 on a new filter, than an hour cleaning, drying, and re-oiling the filter.

Even ignoring that, in 100,000 miles, you will buy 5 replacement filters. That's about the price of a single K&N. By then I usually want a different car anyways.
 
#20 ·
So, if one were to set aside potential power loss as an artifact of a dirty filter, since modern fuel injected engines use closed loop electronic feedback, even if one's filter gets clogged as time passes, the amount of fuel is trimmed back to balance with the amount of air getting into the induction system ... i.e. does this closed loop sensor based system disconnect the many arguments, most left over from carbureted engines, related to air filters - power gain, MPG, etc?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top