"Don't Bother Changing the Factory Filter"

[tortzorz]

Most times it's just wasting money

by Julian Edgar

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_2232/article.html

We’ve been saying it for years but it’s a message that doesn’t seem to have widely got through. Nine times out of ten, dropping an aftermarket filter into the standard factory airbox is not going to get you any more power.

None.

Zilch.

Bugger-all.

Factory airfilters have excellent flow and they’ve also got filtration that matches the car manufacturer’s stringent criteria. Put a different filter in the box and not only will there be almost certainly no improvement in flow, there’ll also be an unknown decrease in filtering efficiency. That’s a pretty dumb combination to pay money for.

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read the rest of the article and it kinda goes against everything everyone else is is saying
any comments?
im still very speculative of this article and i still plan on putting in a k&n on my 300zxtt, but can anyone shed any light on this? mayb give a more accurate, less biased explanation?
i did notice it sed 'Putting an aftermarket drop-in filter in the factory airbox seldom improves flow."
so if im putting a pop charger in my 300 am i meant to change the airbox?

[k3smostwanted]

well written article.

but for arguments sake, have you ever seen the k&n demonstration. they have a plexiglass box which is supposed to resemble an airbox. then they have a tube connected to the back of the box with a ping-pong ball in the middle of the tube. between the air box and the ping pong ball there is a small fan placed with no air leaks. then they switch on the fan with a brand new stock air filter in the front of the "air box" with the stock air filter, the ping pong ball barely crawls up the tube. then, they simply pull the stock air filter out and place the k&n filter in place, the ping pong ball then rise to the very top of the tube and stays there. obviously the k&n filter was letting more air through and at a faster rate. i thought there was a trick, like maybe the fan was switched to high or something. but let me tell you, there is no trick.

also, if you think about it. k&n claims and guarantees Hp gains right on the box. so you would think that after all these years, someone would have put together an argument and sued them for false advertisement and made themselves a hell of alot wealthier. the person in the article obviously thinks he has a good argument so why doesnt he bring it to court and get his thousands of dollars for suing k&n? just all seems fishy to me. just my 2 cents.

[tortzorz]

heh yeh definitely things i was considering
my speculation on that article was pretty high considering on the SAME SITE there was a DIY article on installing a cone filter lol

[probehtr300]

lol thats funny, but yeah i assume its just talkin about drop-in filters and i think a pop charger will still give you HP, ive got a single pop charger in the mail right now, it should be tuesday and i cant wait.

[longlivetheZ]

I have a 9" cone on my car and I know it'll flow more air than my little 3L will EVER need...

[Zgringo]

FYI I've eMailed Julian Edgar and told him in no uncertian terms, he's full of shit, and provided him with documents to back up my challange to his artical, and his reply was, " 9 times out of 10", and that I used the statement, " Seldom improves flow".
Writers like some people on forums write shit that's not true or without facts to backup what they say, and try to make people believe, God comes to them with questions.
For a long time I was a Tech. writer, and trust me, when you write something in a tech. paper and your wrong with any part of a statement, your whole artical goes to crap.
A good example of crap posted by the so called Demi-Gods on another Z site caused 3 owners to blow their engines, which resulted in a law suite against the website and the author of the artical. It doesn't help the owners of the car much, but at least, maybe the'll recieve some money for their loss. Personally I don't believe in law suites, I'd kill the SOB.
Alot of people on the web aren't dumb, but just don't know, and when advice is given without facts or knowledge, I'm just glad it doesn't involve airplanes or we'd have planes falling out of the air.
Julian Edgar's artical is wrong, without fact, and just plane BS.

[Hodo]

I agree with Zgringo on this one. I hate to say this but there will be SOME power gains do to proper changing of the type of airfilter you run in a stock air box. The factory filters are often cheaply made and not at al inducive to making power. They are engineered into the cars design to keep it at a certain mark so the manufacturer can comply with certain goverment ratings and restrictions. Thats one of the reasons why European cars have higher horse power engines, they are just meeting different regulations, and daily driving compliances. We in the US of A are limited for the most part on how fast we drive on our open highways to about 75MPH.... and thats speeding in most places. In Europe on the Autobahn the speed limits in areas where they have them, which is becoming more and more common is about 60MPH after conversions. But once out of urban areas and on the open Autobahn there are no speed limits, just minimum speeds. This means the Z32 in europe can cruise and get passed in the slow lane at 150MPH! Yes there are faster cars in Europe..... nothing sadder than getting passed by a Peugoat on the autobahn..... at the time I was in a Fiesta so I was going 80 at best.

[DeleriousZ]

this is why i love the pzc forum.. chaulk full of very knowledgeable(sp?) people. has the guy e-mailed you back zgringo?

[Zgringo]

Originally Posted by DeleriousZ

this is why i love the pzc forum.. chaulk full of very knowledgeable(sp?) people. has the guy e-mailed you back zgringo?

Yea, he said he didn't say they didn't work on all cars, just 9 out of 10 cars, and that he used the words "seldom improves flow". I eMailed him back some dyno tests with different filter changes I personally made myself and told him hes still full of shit.

[DeleriousZ]

did he ever actually prove that statement? or did he just toss out a bs number out of nowhere?

[Yaggus]

Originally Posted by Zgringo

Personally I don't believe in law suites, I'd kill the SOB.

That is one of the koolest things ive read on this msg board.

You can soooo tell you dont live in America...

[Hodo]

I live in the US and I dont belive in law suites either.... or killing them either, they dont learn from those. I belive in taking body parts. They learn that way.

[Zgringo]

Originally Posted by DeleriousZ

did he ever actually prove that statement? or did he just toss out a bs number out of nowhere?

He never proved shit, I think he pulled the numbers out of his ass, and he never answered my 2nd eMail. Writers (some) are like lawyer's. You know how to tell when there lying? Their lips move.
Good writers well always be good writers, and research their topic before printing so not to make a mistake. Example of a mistake gone wrong because good research wasn't done was CBS's mistake on some papers about Geo. Bush. It has cost them dearly for that fuckup.
I have a friend who proof reads writers for fact, not correctness before it's put to print, because it's not good for a publisher to print BS cause the'll get caught.

[higherlevel]

I have a K&N 9 inch cone filter, a little louder at idle but definately a must.