Best drop in?

[TrailBrake]

Originally Posted by MTZL

I will stick to OEM or K&N. No maf problem so far with K&N.
However, my K&N was hand-me-down. Since the corner of the plastic gotten so brittle it broke apart. It had small damage in that corner when it was given to me, time to buy a new one. (my guess was the guy just force the filter in/out)

AFE filters have a softer rubber gasket which is more forgiving than the hard plastic frame that K&N uses. It also doesn't have that plastic bar across the center.

[Scarab23]

hey guys so i got the HKS filter and as promised heres a short initial review of it.

I have only had it for 2 days now, but in that 2 days i drove back to university, 300 km away, along with some other city driving, so i do have some kilometres on the thing.

I have had no MAF problems with it whatsoever, no lights have been thrown, and the car isn't running poorly. now, I'm running stage 2 on the accesport, so I'm not sure how it would react differently on a stock tune, if it all (many people run it on a stock car just fine though)

as for the filter itself, people have been saying they are worried about its filtration capabilities, which i was too at first, but as i said earlier, theres more than meets the eye with the filter. just taking a glance at it, it appears like one solid piece of foam which would be pretty iffy, but once you take the filter out (a feature the HKS has) you'll notice that it is actually a 3 ply foam filter, each section of different thickness. Im not too worried about the filtration. I watched a youtube video that someone posted on evom comparing the different filter types (paper, cotton, oiled vs non oiled, and foam) by doing a filtration test and they showed that the foam was the best filtration out of all even when using 3 times the test dirt in the test than the other filters.

another thing i like about the filter, is that it doesn't have the gill like structure that the paper and cotton (or whatever the material is) filters have. The reasons i prefer this are:

1) the dirt/dust has to go through a 1.5 inch section of foam to get through the filter vs a 1/3 cm piece of paper or cotton.

2) since it isn't gilled, leaves/debris doesn't get caught deep inside the folds, it just sits on the surface and as easy as cake to remove/clean.

Now, i haven't had any other aftermarket performance filters, so i can't compare this to anything other than stock performance wise. I can tell a little, that it is higher flowing than stock thus hp gains, though it may only be in my head because theoretically i know it should give me slight gains.

some people like the HKS solely because it makes your BOV louder and engine louder, though i can't shed any light on this because i installed a new BOV at the same time as installing the filter so i can't compare it.

So far so good with the HKS. ill make sure to report back later to review anything new i find with the filter. next time ill go to a different brand solely to give myself something to compare it to, to help you guys who are looking to buy a filter.

p.s the filter looks badass in the engine bay, it has a red HKS sticker thats on the side that shows when in the air box. pretty cool XD

[Exyia]

I don't really like HKS purely because it doesn't filter much. I mean, it's supposed to FILTER by function, otherwise why run a filter at all? Sacrificing filtration for an extra 1-3hp at most seems silly to me

and also it's non-reusable

[Mkid]

It is reusable... You can clean it out with air. Even if it wasn't, its only like $30 a filter so its not a big deal to buy a new one if you need to.

[Scarab23]

Originally Posted by Mkid

It is reusable... You can clean it out with air. Even if it wasn't, its only like $30 a filter so its not a big deal to buy a new one if you need to.

yeah the filter comes apart and is really easy to clean and reuse. i have still yet to have any problems with it

[Exyia]

could have sworn it wasn't, hmm, my mistake

[Skyline Fever]

If you really want to know how well a filter works, you should get used oil analysis, and see the amount of silica that increases over time. The lower the increase, the better the filtration and engine life.

I read a variety of tests at bobistheoilguy.com and I have decided that when I replace my filter, I will buy an AFE pro dry.

I have installed K&N filters on many MAF equipped cars without a problem because I oil the way the manual tells me to, but I am switching away because I have simply discovered something better.

[TrailBrake]

AFE does make a higher-quality filter than K&N. Tighter fit, better gauze compound, deeper pleats, soft rubber gasket, etc etc etc.

[MTZL]

A side from shape of the air filter

there are two things air filter is supposed to do.

-Trap particles & debris from entering the engine
-Let air in

Now those two things are oxymoron.
You get more flow & you sacrifice filter.
You get more filter but sacrifice flow.

I have also looked into foam filter. Never used one & When I bought my second evo x turbo the guy threw in Perrin foam filter dripping with oil.
Maybe I will test it out after I degrease it & re-oil lightly.

Dry filter may offer more flow but at the cost filtration.

Unless they're special new nano material.

PS: I dont sell air filter. :P

[Mkid]

Haven't heard of the AFE. Can anyone write a review on it?