Best Air Filter

Massive

Torque Master
Points
72
Location
Weir
Car
Clio 172 Cup
What is the best aftermarket air filter, i just noticed the K&N Advert saying the worlds best air filter however i dont think thats the case!

this is not best looking put best performing, i read a test in Fastcar i think it was where they tried out different air filters on a clio 172 prefacelift,

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?445339-Fastcar-Clio-172-Air-Filter-Test

now the dyno show the best result from standard air box and piper panel

i would have though the viper would have been best with a carbon heat sheild and air feed

they also state is would work well with cam shafts and remap, i would have though exhaust and remap would work better? as the viper is free flowing and cold air feed with heat sheild, and free flowing exhaust lets air out

i am speaking generally for most cars, as i under stand the clio doesnt respond well to this mod, however i beleive the clio with matched inlets, viper kit, exhaust and remap would do nicely :)

but more to the point what would you say is the best performing filter?

i hear good things about BMC CDA apart from Price :???:
 
OEM ones replaced every couple of months should be fine - cheap enough at around £5-£6 a shot (BMW dealer prices, other car makers might be different in pricing strategy).

The tack oiled ones have been known to cause occasional problems with MAFs. And they take ages to clean.
 
BMC CDA are actually one of the cheaper closed IKs. Look at the price of an ITG Maxogen.

TBH, looking back, I've played with panel filters and induction kits and as far as I can tell they make it rev a bit easier but that's about it.

I've never changed an exhaust but I've read a lot of evidence that a free-flowing exhaust will up the horses a bit.
 
BMC CDA are actually one of the cheaper closed IKs. Look at the price of an ITG Maxogen.

TBH, looking back, I've played with panel filters and induction kits and as far as I can tell they make it rev a bit easier but that's about it.

I've never changed an exhaust but I've read a lot of evidence that a free-flowing exhaust will up the horses a bit.

The exhaust does indeed free up some more horses! More BHP if you go from the CAT back and a few more on top if you change the downpipe off the manifold to either a larger diameter pipe or exchange the manifold altogether for a tubular one.
My rolling road experience has shown me this.
 
clio stanard are tubular :)

i think you really need a remap to pull it all togther though
 
rofl ma, the could have used more filters but i was more interested as to what people on here feel is the best filter, think i will be going for viper as its enclosed like a factory airbox with air feed but you get the lovely carbon effect
 
You'll find that most OEM systems are actually the best for the car. The only thing you can really do is change the panel filter.

You'll also find that unless a proper heat shield is used you will lose power. Most induction kits are just noise makers. You will effectively go faster by making the noise yourself and not bothering with fitting one.
 
You'll find that most OEM systems are actually the best for the car. The only thing you can really do is change the panel filter.

You'll also find that unless a proper heat shield is used you will lose power. Most induction kits are just noise makers. You will effectively go faster by making the noise yourself and not bothering with fitting one.


Sorry dont think so -

By best I presume you mean performance wise not cost wise ?

Assuming yes ; you might be right on a hyundai getz or similar but with most cars with a decent engine thats just not the case .

Most cars are built nowadays with price as one of the main driving factors , regardless of what they tell us about research and development

The result is a lot of manufacturers use mass produce parts and fit them to lots of different models (and even makes ! ) to save money

It is a fact that anything built with price as a factor can never be the best and can be easily improved.

You are possibly confusing noise with performance - Yes you can buy an air filter that goes whooooooshhh but you can also buy one thats more efficient with the same filtration (because its made out of better materials) .
Funnily enough most good air filters dont go whoooooosh

However you are spot on with the heat shield statement - hot air is worse that cold air in every way. ( theres no no benefit at all to sucking in hot air on any engine)
This kind of proves my point since very few manufacturer fit an effective heat shiled as standrad.

Manufacturers dont spend money on a heat shield and a decent filtration cos thats costs a lot more that a filter in a plastic box

The theme also applies to much of most cars .
You can buy suspension that is more comfortable and gives better handling but it is expensive and thats why its not on a standard car
 
Cotton Gauze is the best filtration medium around so get one with this for the best performance. I think you'll be looking at a panel filter though.
 
From what i've seen people with 250 bhp plus. They don't seem to have panel filters. Perhaps after a certain hp the airbox becomes to restrictive?
I don't know its just something I have noticed over on scn!
 
I think the feed pipes into the airbox are the main restriction. An air box is much larger than the air flow aperture so should theoretically flow well. The air feed pipes however are quite small in comparison.

Plus smoothing out the airbox will help. I do agree though that most high power tuned cars are using induction kits, but personally I think they would still hit the same power from an airbox. It would certainly be interesting to try this out on a rolling road.
 
Interesting thread, what we have overlooked here is not the filter itself but the key ingredient being the quality of air and volume inducted into the engine. Aftermarket kits are not always the best as they are still a design compromise working with the engine space limitations. Unless the car in question is an out an out race car of some description, you are left with compromises everywhere. Point of entry (CAF) route of piping, filter housing and then onto the throttle body. Airflow in this instance is disrupted badly and the volumetric efficiency severely impeded.

Best air filter? No idea, best system? That's a tough one, not even a rolling road will tell you that one. From experience the only way to define the best air filter is in its complete package and results data-logged.

Back in the early 90s I was developing induction kits for 750 Superbikes and latterly BTCC. The final results were staggering and helped a certain team do very well in the British GP support race one year, then the whole pitlane had the design. I have probably mentioned V.E.C.T.I.S. before, it dates back probably 20 years! http://www.vlbengine.com/syno.html

From road car experience not all OE set-ups are particularly effective, for example my MG ZS180 has an induction set-up designed for the 2.0 V6, the 180 is a 2.5. The OE set-up strangles the airflow. It has been well documented that any of three different induction kits can free up 10bhp on this engine. Personally I have used in the past, K&N, Piper, ITG, Green and have BMC CDA currently in the MG which I rate quite highly. Alot will depend on installation, quality of air and whether you'll be doing any competition work.
 
I think the feed pipes into the airbox are the main restriction. An air box is much larger than the air flow aperture so should theoretically flow well. The air feed pipes however are quite small in comparison.

Plus smoothing out the airbox will help. I do agree though that most high power tuned cars are using induction kits, but personally I think they would still hit the same power from an airbox. It would certainly be interesting to try this out on a rolling road.

I can only speak about what I know so this really is only about turbo engines

I run a high power rb engine and it is a fact that air boxes always seem to be ditched at about 400bhp.max
I will happily agree that a panel filter might be as good as a mushroom one shape but its shape isnt important .- the size of the pipe(s) and it stands to reason that a bigger pipe will flow more air

People have tried all the options. The tuner I used tried about a dozen different systems on his car and ended up with the same as pretty much everyone else
Of course the same wont be true with every type of engine.

More air isnt only filters v a box. The shape and lenght of the induction is important on a tuned turbo engine . There are also big bore induction kits which flow better just because of size .
 
Absolutely but quality aftermarket induction systems get more air through by enlarging the filter system not by changing the filter type or quality
As I said most of the performance gain with a filter is actually getting more air through it using bigger pipes etc and making sure the air is at the right temperature

Neither of the above improvments affect the filtration a jot.
 
Shouldn't do anyway. That's why I'm reticent about the drop in replacement things. They cost a fortune, cleaning them is a real bind, and OEM paper ones from the dealer are about a fiver.
 
Hope I'm not steering the thread away, but why do certain filters need oiling?

I asked the same thing when I had my first air filter, hope this answers your question - The oil provides a tacky coating over all the surfaces of the structure of the filter. As dust particles pass into the filter, they collide with the structure and are then retained in the oil coating. The oil coating also flows around the dust particles to continue to present a tacky surface for further dust particles.
If performance air filters are used in a ‘dry’ or non-oiled state, they still provide filtration of larger dust particles, and they will also retain most smaller dust particles due to an electrostatic effect. Electrostatic dust retention is much less reliable than oil retention, so if a filter is used without oil, it is very important to monitor whether any dust is passing through the filter, and to clean the filter frequently. Some dust, which can potentially damage the engine, may pass through a filter used in dry condition. ;)

 
The answer depends on what you need and how you define "best" (Remember Clinton's definition of sex).
the K&N will let more air into the engine in certain circumstances, especially if the original filter was marginal. But it will let in a lot more dust. I've seen studies, but more than that I've seen them used in of-road racing and engines destroyed before the end of one race.
For off-road, I don't know anything better than Donaldson's PowerCore. Maybe that is why it is in the Hummer and most of the big Ford pickups. I've put them on all of my vehicles where they can fit. More air and cleaner air. Got them on the two off-road buggies I sponsor (racing this today). The aftermarket one comes with 12 little cyclones in the front to separate dust. Just a little big for most cars.
Donaldson%20PowerCore%20installed_1.jpg


If you separate 95% of the dirt, then have a good paper behind it, you have maximum protection. Dirt is the big engine killer.

On the ones I can't convert, I prefer stock OEM.
 

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