K&N panel filters worth it?

[Alpine]

Tried doing a search for topics on K&N filters but was unable to obtain any results.

A friend of mine who owns a 2005 Corolla fitted one of these things and swears by it, claiming it has improved performance, fuel consumption and the fact that he will never have to buy a standard paper filter from the workshop again.

So really.....how good are K&N panel filters over the stock item? Is it worth the money and do they really work like the marketing spiel says? I am trying to work out whether or not that since they supposedly allow more air into the engine so it breathes better, does this mean more dirt could also get in??

Out of interest I found brand new ones suitable for my car for $79 + $10 postage. Is this a good price?

[Drew]

$80 plus postage is about right for most cars

You don't have to replace them just clean and oil them instead; sounds easy? It will probably take you all day the first time as you have to let it fully dry before oiling and you will probably over oil it the first time which means you have to start over again :P

I have K&N in all my cars; so they must be good :P

As for performance and economy they are better flowing than most paper filters so you might see increased performance; you might not

[shadou]

uhhh let's see OEM paper filters changed over at every 40,000km over a K&N filter that needs to be washed and re oiled when dirty. I think K&N would be the better choice here.

[SiReal]

heres my story.

K&N - After a bit of usage i started getting poor fuel consumption - up to 100kms less than usual. so I put on my pod then changed to my stock filter and back up to 500km per tank. both pod and stockie increased my consumpton - which imo, is better than alittle bit of extra performance which is hardly noticable anyway.

not to mention the fact u have to clean it. i just cbfed. now its for sale.

[Encor3]

It will end up to be cheaper, coz you dont have to replace it\throw it away, just clean it witha cleaning kit. I use to have one and it was noticeably better. because it would just let the engine "breath" alot easier. Throttle responce was greatly increased, fuelconsumption dont know awbout, improved performance.. only marginally.

[Alpine]

heres my story.

K&N - After a bit of usage i started getting poor fuel consumption - up to 100kms less than usual. so I put on my pod then changed to my stock filter and back up to 500km per tank. both pod and stockie increased my consumpton - which imo, is better than alittle bit of extra performance which is hardly noticable anyway.

not to mention the fact u have to clean it. i just cbfed. now its for sale.

Hmm...that really is an interesting story, and quite contrary to others. Anyone else notice symptoms like this?

[Ph@t-G]

I recently installed one and I immediately I noticed a difference in the throttle response being more responsive and revs a lot smoother as well right across the band.

In terms of fuel consumption I have still yet to find out but it'll make sense as a higher air flow will decrease the need for more petrol to ignite.

[SiReal]

Mind you, it was probably dirty, but only having used it for less than or approx 10,000kms, i didnt expect it to reduce economy that dramatically.

[Alpine]

Any opinions on the level of filtration of dust with a K&N as compared to a stock filter?

[Encor3]

i couldn't compare i bought my car 2nd hand with old stock filter and tb was dirty as a mofo.

i changed filter after10,000 and that was quite dirty so i guess it works well

[SiReal]

heres the underside of mine after ~10,000kms

[shadou]

that's clean as a whistle should see one I pulled out of a gsr 3 weeks ago that was completely black O.o tried compressed air but ended up dumping some degreaser on it then washing it for 5 minutes