K&N comparrison

Got this from another site.
I've always had the opinion of K&N as flowing WAY more air
than the engine could ever use, and it does because the
holes so big that dirt goes right through it. Most OE air filters will flow far in excess of the engine's
actual demands at WOT and most can hold a considerable
amount of dirt before air flow is reduced. The idea that adding more air flow capability at the air
filter will create more horsepower is false. The only time
air flow will affect horsepower is at peak rpm at WOT. Most
engines never see this operating condition. Personally, I consider K&N filters in the same catagory with Turbulators, cow magnets, and HHO generators. Unless you do alot of mud bogging.


https://www.dieselbombers.com/chevy...l-forum/16611-duramax-air-filter-testing.html

May be true.
If so I think the illusion that perfomance is increased is worth it in itself, sort of like how a car always seems to run better after a good cleaning and vacuum

Who says turbulators and cow magnets don't work?? :rant: :smilie_happy:

when your dealing with a mortor that has fixed timing like the 1100s air flow and exhast proably are not going to improve performance much .....and suold remain stock if the setup was good to begine with ......but in 1000s with complete adjustability you have to have complete adjustability to go with what ever you might be doing to timing and such....personaly i dont think the 1000s were ever set up right from factory and can be made to run a lot better with tinkering just so many things that didnt work together very well .....weak ignition being the worst...exhast to restictive....carb problems and on and on......

honda relized this and the 1100 was realy fine tuned to eliminate these things and they did a great job in my opinion....pretty dam good package if things are up to par.....

on the 1000s air flow ...timing ...exhast can be tweaked to run run much better than stock to go with the hotter cams and bigger carbs.....

ive never had k&m filters on anything but ive read some of the claims and i to think this is BS the stock filters seem great and the ones on 1000s are realy big compared to the 1100s ....i think they did this for an oil catch .....anyway i dont think its going to do anything to make more power without doing other things that cant be done on 1100s......

I put the K&N filter back on my bike last month and I did see an increase in throttle response, but the I agree with the test that it will allow more fine particle dirt through.

In the commercial marine industry, we use a similar concept filter as the K&N but it is called an AirSept filter (basically an oil impregnated filter). When used on diesels in this environment (mostly dust free air) it increases air intake by 15%. With the turbo chargers and aftercoolers it makes a big performance difference when the engines are run at full RPM, full load for 24x7 operations. Were talking 3000 hp per engine average so the incease in fuel efficiency of about 5% with the AirSepts adds up when you are burning an average of 180 gallons of fuel per hour per engine! Thats an average of 9 gallons per hour per engine. Doesn't seem like much, but when you muliply two engines running 24x7 for an avergage of 210 days per year, that adds up to 90,720 gallons saved at $4.10 per gallon for a total of $371,952 saved for one vessel. Then multiply that by a fleet of 36 vessels and your talking $13,390,272. saved by the company in one operating year for just changing to the AirSept filters!

I know we will not see that kind of savings on our bikes, but I just wanted to show an example of where these filters do make a fairly big difference.

Here is an example of the type of tug that is 3,186 hp on one engine. The propeller diameter is 13'6". Check out my deckhand Ben standing under the propeller (he is 6'2"!)

I guarantee when they did that test with the K&N they didnt bother to oil it
Of course if the filter is dry it doesnt filter out dirt as good and flows too much air

Whoa...hold on a minut....."COW MAGNETS"?????? :headscratch: :headscratch: :headscratch:


:smilie_happy: :mrgreen:

I agree with the statement that most engines won't really benefit from a filter that is supposed to flow more air than the factory one does. Of course, there are some off-shore made filters that will bog the engine down, too....
I sure can't see the justification of spending the extra $$$ for an oil impregnated, cotton based air filter for meself.... :nea:

wow gerry thats a monster water tractor ..... pretty neat to see one that way :shock: :mrgreen:

mcgovern61":bqtnjd86 said:

I put the K&N filter back on my bike last month and I did see an increase in throttle response, but the I agree with the test that it will allow more fine particle dirt through.

Click to expand...

How deteriorated was the one you took out? What else did you do to the bike?

mcgovern61":bqtnjd86 said:

In the commercial marine industry, we use a similar concept filter as the K&N but it is called an AirSept filter (basically an oil impregnated filter). When used on diesels in this environment (mostly dust free air) it increases air intake by 15%. With the turbo chargers and aftercoolers it makes a big performance difference when the engines are run at full RPM, full load for 24x7 operations.

Click to expand...

There you go. WOT in a dirtless environment. And I failed to go into artificial aspiration. There is truth to the K&N advertisements, but it's a waste of money on a daily driven street machine. Like a Saturday morning myth. IMO more harm than good.

So, bottom line, maintenance -- as usual -- is key to performance!
If you use a K&N (I don't, by the way -- changed both bikes I've owned AWAY from them), clean it and oil it regularly. If you use the standard (and cheaper) paper filter, check/change it regularly.
Either of them will cause you a hassle if you don't keep them 'right'.
Is that about it?

oldhack62":149jsaqi said:

So, bottom line, maintenance -- as usual -- is key to performance!

Is that about it?

Click to expand...

Pretty much.

if after the filter is oiled, it has about the same performance as the HONDA oem filter. then wouldnt it be better to have a "clean and reuse" type?
thinking of the green aspect.
I didnt see any increase in throttle or gas mileage with K&N but I bought it for the re-use ability.

scdmarx":2p8vs6ju said:

mcgovern61":2p8vs6ju said:

I put the K&N filter back on my bike last month and I did see an increase in throttle response, but the I agree with the test that it will allow more fine particle dirt through.

Click to expand...

How deteriorated was the one you took out? What else did you do to the bike?

Click to expand...

The filter was 2 years old and it was not too bad, the K&N was in the '81 parts bike and it was brand new. With my experience with AirSepts, I though it was worth a try! Plus, it didn't cost me anything I still had a cleaner and oiler kit. The other things done to the bike were the swapped out '83 engine, carbs synched and floats reset (and I washed it :smilie_happy: ).

I have ridden it with both filters, tried 94 octane gas versus regular, ATF versus no ATF and regardless, the K&N seems to have more punch. (Of course it could be mental on my part because I can really hear the intakes growl real loud now when throttling up). I am in no way attached to the K&N as the do-all end-all filter, I will most likely put an OEM filter back in later. For now, the price was right for me (no cost).

Although I sell them as well as the amsoil,wix,purolator and AC delco,I am not a K&N user.

The biggest problem I have with that test is it looks like something AC DELCO put together.Unfortunitly,AC delco doesnt manufactor anything but boxes.They dont make there own filters.I can take two of the same number,and one will be made by champ industries,and one is made by purolator.That little fact to me discredits that entire test.

As for me,I will stick with a good old EMGO paper filter. k:

Tory":3t7vfyz1 said:

Although I sell them as well as the amsoil,wix,purolator and AC delco,I am not a K&N user.

The biggest problem I have with that test is it looks like something AC DELCO put together.Unfortunitly,AC delco doesnt manufactor anything but boxes.They dont make there own filters.I can take two of the same number,and one will be made by champ industries,and one is made by purolator.That little fact to me discredits that entire test.

As for me,I will stick with a good old EMGO paper filter. k:

Click to expand...

Same with oil filters. There's only a few companys that manufacture them. They're all reboxed.
Just like everything is from China and the boxes are made in Mexico.
I also felt the test was put together by AC Delco. But let me ask you this: Does AC Delco offer an oil saturated filter? Why would they not rebox a K&N to boast more power from their filters? Why did K&N finish last in all the tests, as opposed to any one of the random others? (We know why AC Delco finished first) Do you suppose AC Delco just has a hard on for K&N?

I'm not recomending AC Delco over any other brand. I will recomend a "quality paper" filter with a good seal. In my mind, a K&N filter on my daily driver is next to having no filter at all. I don't think I'm going faster. I think I'm scratching my cylinder walls.

as someone that uses k & n filters in most vehicles i have to say the filter does a good job and the only minus i give it is the wait. once you wash it the filter need to dry on its own, no heat recomended. hope you have something else to ride or drive for a few hours. i didn't buy a k&n filter because i thought it was better in any way. emgo has never made a good filter just a cheap alternative to the honda filter

I'm not recomending AC Delco over any other brand. I will recomend a "quality paper" filter with a good seal. In my mind, a K&N filter on my daily driver is next to having no filter at all. I don't think I'm going faster. I think I'm scratching my cylinder walls

Click to expand...

I agree completely. I haven't tested the K&N filters but for most applications I think they are a poor choice from everything I have read. As stated before the stock filtering system on most engines allow more than the engine needs. Unlike the little boat, trucks, autos, and motorcycles aren't run at full power 99.9% pf the time. I want a filter that is going to keep the crud out of the engine and protect it. Dirt flowing through and engine is one of the quickest ways to reduce it's life expectancy.

guys check this out.
this guy seems to be independent, and knowledgeable.
check out his results.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

looks very close to me.
defiantly not as I expected.

jdegase":225nqyqd said:

guys check this out.
this guy seems to be independent, and knowledgeable.
check out his results.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

looks very close to me.
defiantly not as I expected.

Click to expand...

Without a doubt, the K&N and oil impregnated filters do allow 1% more dirt through (even by K&N's own admission). With the road conditions around here, 1% more dirt can make a long term difference. I will more than likely get an OEM filter back into my bike. BTW, I have a K&N filter, cleaner and oil kit for sale if any one is interested! :whistling:

Good article, I have a K & N that came on my bike and have been wanting to replace it but just haven't done it yet. Well I just ordered a stock replacement, I always thought they where the best for stock stuff especially here in the Desert there's a lot of fine dust.

:sensored: all ya'll!!! I LOVE my K&N...I especially love the fancy stickers that came with it! :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: