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-   -   K&N Air Filter, the side effects. (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/24712-k-n-air-filter-side-effects-8.html)

Better air flow wont give any significant increase in the overall o/p with a map which is tuned based on the stock filter, however with good air flow the tuner can tweak the map further to squeeze a little bit more power overall, most imp is that, esp on a remapped car, the smoking will be reduced a lot.

I was looking at it from the Turbo-charger point of view. If the air flow is higher, Turbo will be less stressed to provide a particular boost. This can increase the life of the TC. On the other hand, Turbo will have to work harder if the air-intake is lesser / restricted.

Am I wrong or missing something? please:

Yes theoretically it will reduce the pressure before the turbo and the requirement after the turbo for the reqd pressure at the manifold so that the turbo can run efficiently and run cooler thereby increasing the life, but the bottleneck will be the stock intercooler where majority of the pressure drop happens. So I am not sure the benefit in real world with the existing intercooler. I dont think it will help to drop the pressure requirement after the turbo for the reqd pressure at the manifold will be more than 1psi. I wont say bigger intercooler is better, rather an efficient intercooler will help. However a better air flow will be a big relief in a maxed out turbo even if its 1psi. This is a tweaking option for the tuner which I was mentioning in the prev post, assuming no manufacturer will use the turbo to its max.

Woho !! I see this debatable thread has remained alive almost through a decade now i.e.- starting from June 2006 upto November 2015 !! clap:

Now when it comes to my personal experience of the K&N Air Filter here it goes :

I had Installed the K&N Stock Replacement Filter at the Cost of Rs.5,800/= in the latter part of 2014 or in the earlier bit of 2015 on my 68 BHP TDCi (Diesel) Ford Figo ZXi immediately after the 2nd Service of my car when the Odo Reading was nearing 10,000 Kms. Did this because :

- I am naturally a spirited driver and the Figo was not exciting me enough
- The OEM Filter was not lasting enough as recommended by the manufacturer and had changed it twice in 10,000 Kms

The difference that I had felt immediately after the installation of the same then :

• The engine was and is definitely breathing much better
• The 68 BHP Engine does not go out of breath
• The engine vibrations at idling (since mine is a diesel) has drastically come down
• It has definitely added that extra punch in the acceleration giving life to the slightly under powered Figo Engine
• I do not feel I am driving the same car anymore

Here are some pictures at the time of installation :

The visual comparison of the K&N Vs the Stock Filter :


The Pack of the K&N Air Filter :


After installing the K&N Filter :


The K&N Sticker under the Hood :


My car has now clocked over 31,000 Kms in which it has done the following :

• A 18 Day Ladakh Trip in August 2015 - Link : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...kolkata-7.html
• A 7 Day West Sikkim Trip in May 2016 - Link : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...kkim-baby.html
• Does regular City Runs
• Does a couple of weekly Highway Runs

Considering the above and the 20,000 Kms run with the K&N; I would like to give the following long term feedback on the same :

• Everything mostly remains the same as before.
• However, I feel that it now gets dirty a little too quickly. Though I do not know the exact reason as to why this is happening, may be the community can give their valuable inputs.
• Since, I have retained the OEM stock filter with me which is fitted on those days when the K&N Filter is given for a cleaning (as I am not much of a DIY person), it is not much of a problem.
• My Figo's Fuel efficiency is lesser in comparison to what other Figo Owner's claim to be getting. May be I am being too much of a spirited driver which is resulting in this and I presume that the result would have been the same in case it was driven in that fashion with the OEM Stock Filter
• Another observation is that, I feel that the acceleration boost which was previously initially there in the 1st and 2nd gears is now more predominant in the 2nd and 3rd gears. I guess I am a little too observant in this :D

Thus, recently I decided to shift to BMC Stock Replacement Air Filter and keep the K&N as the Back Up Filter (when the BMC goes in for a cleaning) and do away with the back up OEM Filter in order to actually monitor the difference in performance between the two Performance SRFs.

Managed to get the consignment of BMC from Bangalore for my Toyota Etios GD (Diesel) and my Ford Figo Zxi (Diesel). Sharing some pictures of the BMC Stock Replacement Air Filter of my Ford Figo here :

Opened the Pack :


The Filter up close :


The BMC Pack :


The sticker reflecting the MRP & Part Number :


This was my first experience of using performance Stock Replacement Filters and I must say that it is indeed addictive. Though opinions and experiences may vary based on the car, place, usage, driving patterns, maintenance etc. which cannot be denied. I am pretty happy with using SRFs and now I am waiting to install the BMC SRF in my Figo once it's back from the workshop as it has gone in for a warranty claim of body rusting. Will share the update soon.

You seem to be having a good run with these filters.

You mention in your post that the OEM filter did not last 10,000 kms; I'm curious as to what caused the air filter to fail?

I have been driving for over three decades now (started pretty early) & have come across a number of fad over the years in the form of engine oil additives, fancy air filters that magically improve horsepower so on and so forth.

Majority of stock engines on the road don't consume anywhere near enough air that the factory paper filter is a restriction. You need to be making some serious ponies and running a ton of boost before the filter becomes an obstruction

I'm not a big fan of these filters & stick to OEM spec filters. I would encourage you have a look at this report http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

The amount of particulate matter in the air is very high as it is in India & I would refrain from using any filtering medium that allows ingression of unwanted substance in the engine.

My two cents.

Good Time ? I would say at least not a bad one !!

Even I was shocked with the curious case of the air filter failing. I guess the manufacturer could answer this.

Thanks for sharing the link which can be an eye opener to many. However, I have been driving for almost a couple of decades now and this was my first experience of using a Stock Replacement Filter over an OEM Stock Filter. May be because of the previous cars I had driven, I did not feel the need of such an upgrade as in your case. But this one really required it thus complimented it !! So far so good and keeping fingers crossed.

I again would say, it is a subjective matter and depends from vehicle to vehicle. It's better not to be conclusive with presumptions.

Well this topic is certainly debatable and the performance gains may got to do more with feel good factor than real world increase in horsepower. In my car (Ford Ecosport) the OEM air filter is changed every 20K km with a cleaning after 10k and cost 240rs to replace. One of the compelling reasons to go for these air filters is the sound. Can you post a video of the engine note after installing the filter ? I believe this will be a good enough reason enough for many to go aftermarket. As for me i use K&N on my bike just for the sportier sound and my car still uses the OEM one.

The Ga-Ga over the sound factor of the engine note after the installation of Stock Replacement Filters is more predominant in Petrol Cars & Bikes and not so much in the Diesel Vehicle w.r.t. my experience. Yes, the idling sound in a diesel vehicle is minimized and the sweet note kicks in when you are towards red lining the vehicle.

Anyone who has installed a K&N on their XUV? Am planning to, but reading this thread, am a bit concerned. I want to keep the vehicle with me for a long time (at least another 5 years).
Below are some mods that I did:
RD Diseltronics: installed when the beast was @ 5K km | love the driveability.
Tien springs: Stiff suspension; gives a confident ride
Michelins: Have always been a michelin lover and the latitudes are amazing.
Now the K&N: Advisable?

TIA

My Linea is doing absolutely fine on K&N. It has 90000 on Odo and done > 60000 with the K&N. Check my ownership log for more info if needed.

BHPian SanC (from Kolkata) had installed the Stock Replacement Air Filter of BMC in his XUV500 (New Generation) recently !! You may PM him for details :thumbs up

I have recently updated the stock filters with BMC as stated by AJ , the first visible change could feel post the change is 1. found the sound is more soothing 2. acceleration improved 3. better response found in the highways. Over all when the car is on the move can make out that it is breathing well and hence the associated performances does improve . Thanks to AJ for helping me have it installed

Thanks Sanc for those kind words, but I did nothing literally. I just referred you the contact of Suman @ Alok Automobiles who sources BMC; having got one installed from him on my Figo 1.4 TDCi.

But it was good to co-incidentally catch up that morning at Suman's followed by the wonderful time we had over Brunch at China Town on a Saturday afternoon !! :thumbs up

Hey sk7671 !! I got hold of a couple of snaps of the Installation that was done on SanC's XUV. Sharing for your reference :

This thread has been open for a decade now and I am yet to see one response from a person whose engine failed due to the use of an aftermarket filters. No first hand experience of the same, whereas there are quite a few which says the opposite.

Additionally I have spoken to a few users as well who are extremely happy with theirs. I am getting one for myself as well very soon and as well !

In how many kilometers interval's do you clean you filter? I have one on my Brio and has run over 15,000 kms without cleaning it as I have not noticed any drop in performance or efficiency.