Performance air filters test

[Eagle]

I was looking at a few performance filters and came across this website :
http://www.fastcar.co.uk/tuning/perf...r-filter-test/

they test some performance filters and also a few panel fitlers

although am not sure about the conclusions what they suggest...I understand that a less restrictive airfilter will allow more air to flow in..but I guess this is also at the cost of filtration? so the best filter is the one with medium restriction? (combine both good airflow and good filtration)

[JEZDS3]

The GSR cone filter is a double cone design, so should provide a good combination of filtration and less restriction.The material used does look similar to a K&N filter however. Plus it is a good larger size which also means better breathing for the engine.

[cyclone]

That test would be ok if you had a fiesta but you do not and there is no way to extrapolate their fiesta results to any other car. To many variables; pipe length, pipe diameter, changes in diameter, the number and the angle of the bends in system, volume of air filter box, size and material of original filter, location of air inlet to system. All that makes a difference and that's just off the top of my head. Then we get into how well they filter the air and besides mentioning this extremely important aspect and touching on how well the stock filters work the whole subject is then brushed over. No real info or data to back up their conclusions. How big of particles do they filter down to? How well do the filters flow at different points in there service life? How much do they cost? How much does it cost to service them and how often. Lot of good points for stock paper filters. Change it often and then always at peek of efficiency.
There may be other reasons to go aftermarket, intake noise, cool factor( look at my shit dude!) and I see those as being just as valid if not more so than the It's going to give me more power claims on the box! Because those are pretty much BS.

[JEZDS3]

Cum On Feel The Noize....get an induction kit Girls and Boys!

[Czar]

A little food for thought:

Are there any performance air filters ?

Do they add any BHP ?

[JEZDS3]

There are Air box panel filters and there are cone filters.

Each one would have to be dynoed individually to find out if any additional bhp had been gained.

[Czar]

Further food for thought:

How can you add any additional BHP when all you are doing is, providing a larger void volume whilst decreasing particle entrapment efficiency ?

You can't measure air flow efficiency on a rolling road (dyno)

[Superfly Guy]

This post had made me think, i've not washed my Pipercross filter out in ages, another task whilst im off next week.

[JEZDS3]

Cover all avenues, test everything,compare like for like with each filter,make sure this is done in a fair and controlled environment,test on popular makes...Ford ,Citroen VW etc make sure you have all the answers for everyone as there will always be those that just aren`t fully satisfied or perhaps feel that the whole thing is a blatant con.

[Superfly Guy]

I would imagine for the majority, "does it give me more power?" will be the decisive factor, the technicalities are irrelevant if it does. But as Cyclone eluded too, what works on one make/model may not work on another.

[JEZDS3]

That`s true and what is also true is there are differing reasons why people choose a panel filter over a cone filter as there are makes of filter too.

[Czar]

Cover all avenues, test everything,compare like for like with each filter,make sure this is done in a fair and controlled environment,test on popular makes...Ford ,Citroen VW etc make sure you have all the answers for everyone as there will always be those that just aren`t fully satisfied or perhaps feel that the whole thing is a blatant con.

You can't cover all avenues, test everything, like for like with each filter, in a fair controlled environment with popular daily driver vehicles, you have far too many inconsistent variables right there.

You can't compare a paper filtration element, against cotton, foam, dry or oiled, single or multilayer, gauze, polymer cotton, or indeed any other filtration medium.

The factory stock filtration panel is a paper element, with good particle entrapment, at the sacrifice of restricting air flow, when we introduce an aftermarket filtration element, you generally are offered an element of various mediums, cotton gauze, wet/dry, foam single or multi layer again wet or dry etc etc etc,

These elements do indeed offer less restriction to the air flow, now this is where the claims are made, to add additional BHP when in actual fact, all that has taken place, is the freeing up of the already stabled BHP from the factory stock restrictive paper element, no additional BHP has actually been added !!!

With the increase in air flow, we now have a larger void volume, and this open void volume has less capability to entrap the smaller finer particles, as the factory stock paper element, so in order to try rectify this inefficiency of particle entrapment, some manufacturers recommend the addition of oil to the filtration element, this reduces the otherwise open cell structure of the weave, to help with increasing the particle entrapment.

The issue with wet filtration elements is, they clog up very easily, restricting air flow, just like the paper filtration element !!

How do we get the best of both worlds, high air flow from large void volume, to fine micron particle entrapment, very simple answer, whichever system you choose, keep it very very clean at all times, you should never ever, fit and neglect for a year or so, if you restrict your own breathing, you suffer, so does your engine !!!

[JEZDS3]

Don`t I know it, Asthma medication is very effective especially when regularly reviewed. Like wise I will keep my DS3 air filters clean and replaced on a regular basis.

[Superfly Guy]

keep it very very clean at all times, you should never ever, fit and neglect for a year or so, if you restrict your own breathing, you suffer, so does your engine !!!

Ive probably not cleaned mine for 5k miles, and that includes a 1000 mile trip around Europe and the fact i live in the countryside complete with all the dust that the crop can throw up.

[Chris_Blue]

My KN panel filter recorde a 1.6BHP gain

But who knows, may have just been a +/- adjustment (Negligible effect)

Some induction kits really look the part tho- worth it just for that