Aftermarket Air Filters - worth it?

[raj_5004]

These days, there are many brands of aftermarket air filters available in the market, the most popular being K&N, green cotton & pipercross.
but are these air filters really worth it?

for Rs. 5000-7000, they claim to increase engine power by 5-6 bhp. but how can we verify that? many of them who have installed these filters say that they hardly notice any difference. but at the same time, many others say there is a noticeable difference in driveability. is this difference just psycological?

and what are the disadvantages of such filters? many claim that since they allow more air into the engine & hence more impurities, in the long run, they may damage the engine. how true is this? do such filters really affect the reliabilty of the engine?

 

[amit]

in fact air filter alone does not make any significant differance.they work best when combined with other modifications.

 

[napster]

i've been using k&n stock replacement filter from the past 2years and trust me, i've seen a change in the power for sure, as it is a replacement filter, not much difference will be seen in low rpms, but once you rev the engine, you cna easily see the difference, if you go for a typhoon intake or a cold air intake, then you can see the difference in low rpms also, manufacturers claim that their filters allow more air and also they filter better than the stock filters, i have no idea about the engine reliability problems if you use a after market filter

 

[vijay]

well Raj, i dont think spending soo much on those aftermarket filters makes sense as i have been satisfied with the regular ones which are cheaper and durable as well, within those amount i can buy a couple of new ones of the regular filters without any issues.
Have heard that K&N, greencotton are getting more buyers specially for diesel engines which seems more reliable and efficient, but these works far better in europe and american countries as wheather,dust, road conditions are far different then others which is why they dont feel much difference then our current regular filters.Best thing to keep regular filters life more is to regularly try to clean them which is easy to do so which in general helps you to see longer life.

 

[raj_5004]

@ amit: infact when its installed in combination with other 'performance enhancing' modifications, we cannot be too sure that the performance benefit is because of the filter itself.

@ naps: thanks for your frank opinion buddy.

i have also heard that these filters are re-usable. i mean, if they get very very dirty, you can wash them with water & re-use them. is it true?

also, as vijay pointed out, indian conditions are very different. manufacturers install these filters keeping these conditions in mind. so will the aftermarket ones be safe enough? of course, the manufacturer warranty is void if we use aftermarket fitments but even if we ignore that, will it cause any problems?

 

[napster]

k&n can be used for atleast a lakh kms, if they get dirty, just wash them, oil them and use it again,
you get cleaning oils from k&n which make the filter new every time you wash them

 

[Crazy cat]

Swift's stock filter needs replacement only every 40k kms. For k&N, they recommend to clean every 50k kms and the clean charges is at par with new stock filters' cost. A new K&N cost about 5k. So the benefit of after market filters ain't much.

 

[amit]

plese dont count benifit in k's.its about performance!!

 

[raj_5004]

how much benefit in performance amit?

 

[vijay]

hey Raj, is anyways you are planning to change your stock filters on your scorpio?

 

[raj_5004]

vijay, i would love to do so.

but only if it benefits the car, either in performance or some other way.

and if it has even the remotest chance to hamper the reliability, i wont go for it.

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

raj 5004,After market filters do make a difference though it is slight or sometimes even psychological.

You car being still new maybe it will be difficult for you to notice the change but in the long time run it will surely help.
I had a old carb zen and 1.3 ikon which already had started loosing out on performance but installing even the stock K&N replacement filters made a pretty noticeable change in them.

The stock replacement filters do not void any warranty but the conical,CIA do i guess.

Swift's stock filter needs replacement only every 40k kms. For k&N, they recommend to clean every 50k kms and the clean charges is at par with new stock filters' cost. A new K&N cost about 5k. So the benefit of after market filters ain't much.

I have a tried and tested method of cleaning n servicing K&N filter's a home for less that 10rs.I tried it on my karizma's rc 1060.This method was posted by my friend on orkut.I have serviced my filter 4 times by that method and after the 4th service i took it to the k&n filters dealer(from whom i had bought 3 filters) so he was kind enough to observe the filter properly n said the filter is in good condition & has been serviced recently.(Told him dat a guy was selling this filter to my friend n just wanted to know if this is in good condition)

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

A BIG yes . k and n filters do increase your performance.
Practically you can feel the difference once you change it.
Also you get types in this.
Adding a free flow headers too will increase your performance.
these 2 will increase fuel efficiency too.
But with a header people do floor there pedal often to show off there machines. at this place you get less efficiency.

 

[Neil.Bhujbal]

A BIG yes . k and n filters do increase your performance.
Practically you can feel the difference once you change it.
Also you get types in this.
Adding a free flow headers too will increase your performance.
these 2 will increase fuel efficiency too.
But with a header people do floor there pedal often to show off there machines. at this place you get less efficiency.

Free Flow Exhaust don't work for diesel! The Topic creator has a Scorpio.

 

[ilango[speed thirst]]

Yes you are true.
I thought the discussion is for general


For scorpio cold air intake systems must help, a performance clutch will add to its performace.
Other costlier jobs are porting and polishing heads. but these mod jobs will do increase power but adverse in fuel efficiency and engine life.