[urq] K&N filters bad?

[Bob]

by the way, the stock audi filter filtered the best of all the ones we 
tested (when new), however it didnt take a whole lot to clog them to the 
point where they were restrictive. Moral of the story is to use the OE 
filter and replace/clean it often!



Bob wrote:

> Some time ago a few of us at work got together and did some bench 
> testing of the K&N and a couple others. I had a friend that worked at 
> an HVAC place and had all the right equipment. In a nutshell, the 
> conclusion was that the K&N flowed well, but didnt filter with a damn. 
> There were particles getting through that would most definitely cause 
> damage to a turbine over time.  The surprising result though was that 
> almost no oil accumulated downstream from it.  I cant remember the 
> numbers (flow rates etc) off hand but I can try to dig them up.
>
> Bob
>
> Jeff Roberts wrote:
>
>> Once upon a time, there was something posted on the net about a 
>> company that
>> tested the K&N filters for use in heavy equipment in a mine, or some 
>> such
>> use.  They concluded that they weren't a good filter.
>>
>> This doesn't really surprise me, as the filters were never originally
>> designed for these types of applications, or for use in street cars.  It
>> just so happens that one of the two founders of K&N is a good freind of
>> mine.  Way back when they started making these things, they intended 
>> them to
>> go on sprint cars and keep the large chunks out of the engines.  As the
>> engines were frequently rebuilt, long engine life wasn't an issue.  They
>> began to use them in off-road events like Baja, where making it to 
>> the end
>> of the race was the only concern.  Again, the filter was better than 
>> nothing
>> but far from perfect.
>>
>> Now, you can get them to fit virtually anything and they are better 
>> than no
>> filter at all but not as good as a typical stock paper filter.  And 
>> that is
>> if they are used correctly, which is almost never the case.  Many idiots
>> never oil them at all and those that do don't clean them often 
>> enough.  On
>> many engines (not necessarily an Audi 5 cylinder) there is enough fuel
>> standoff at certain points in the prm band that the filter gets 
>> essentially
>> washed with gasoline, which does nothing good for the filter oil.  
>> Take a
>> look at a carburetted motorcycle on a dyno sometime - you'lll be amazed.
>>
>> When you are looking to find a better filter for your car, you have 
>> to ask
>> yourself only one question.  Given that the car manufacturers are 
>> having to
>> warranty engines on new cars for a lot longer than they would like 
>> to, and
>> since the quality of the air filtration is a major determinate of engine
>> longevity, if they could find a better filter than the one they use, 
>> don't
>> you think they would use it?
>>
>> Go count how many engines are supplied new with a K&N filter.
>>
>> JR
>>
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>
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