Best Air Filter

[JordanB7]

Hey All,

I always run a K&N oiled filter in all my f150’s but feel like changing it up a bit. Any thoughts?

 

[Mjdubs]

Either a full CAI (Rousch) for me or just plain old factory inbox.

A lot of after market ones let in more air (also more debris) and I personally would rather have as clean as air as possible by just replacing the OEM as frequently as needs be.

Most or any perceived performance on a filter or intake are at WOT. Gotta really be on it to hear it or feel it.

Just my .02. I know most would disagree.

 

[Bannerman]

Either a full CAI (Rousch) for me or just plain old factory inbox.

A lot of after market ones let in more air (also more debris) and I personally would rather have as clean as air as possible by just replacing the OEM as frequently as needs be.

Most or any perceived performance on a filter or intake are at WOT. Gotta really be on it to hear it or feel it.

Just my .02. I know most would disagree.

This has been the conclusion of my research on past vehicles. So it's about the same with Turbos?

 

[JordanB7]

This has been the conclusion of my research on past vehicles. So it's about the same with Turbos?

So you think a CAI is a good choice? Or waste

 

[Bannerman]

So you think a CAI is a good choice? Or waste

I think it's kind of a waste on MOST naturally aspirated engines, and may even be a detriment as many of them do not filter as well. But I don't know how they perform on a boosted engine.

 

[JordanB7]

Cool. Thanks

 

[Stevej_1357]

If you plan on doing a tune to the Ecoboost then a CAI will help...

In general, forced induction powerplants will benefit from breathing improvements, both inhaling and exhaling. That said, making these improvements and using the factory tune the gains you'd realize would be mostly ear candy (turbo spool, deeper exhaust tones), and a placebo effect for performance gains... maybe 5-10 HP gain from a CAI?

Add a basic tune after CAI and exhaust improvements and you could see 75+ HP gains.

Check out this video:

 

[High_Country]

Are we talking air FILTERS or an air intake system (like a cold air intake system)? Concur with what's been said so far. Be darn certain you don't buy a cheap CAI system that doesn't seal well and lets in more contaminants. If you're looking for power gains, I doubt you'd get enough to feel from a CAI system. I think you'd get much more benefit from putting that money towards a tune (5 Star Tuning?) if you're after power.
If you're after clean air, buy a good quality air filter and throw 'er in there.

 

[Stevej_1357]

+1 @High_Country ...

Just an air filter won't get you any realizable gains, so best spend your $ on a well engineered CAI system, preferably one that's been given a lot of thought with respect to the MAF placement, and a tune. With turbo engines most upgrade paths are broken up into stages and paths. Typically you have to make a path choice, i.e. max performance or daily driver with basic, reversible "bolt-on" parts. The path dictates the stages and parts, and many parts are not interchangeable between the paths.

As an example, some 15 years ago I had an AWD Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 2L turbo that I chose to upgrade as a daily driver. The path dictated the intake system (basic CAI vs monster CAI & large diameter intercooler), exhaust (2.5" mandrel bent w/ high flow cats vs port matched exhaust manifold, 3" mandrel bent piping, w/ swappable test pipe/hi-flo cat), turbo upgrade (stock with porting, polishing vs frankenstein large turbo with porting/polishing and clipping), boost pressures (3-5 psi above stock vs 10-12 above stock), etc...

My path had my little 2 liter turbo pushing about 400 HP, which was pretty damn good for a light AWD sports coupe! The performance path was producing about 900+ HP, "street legal" but not very reliable and certainly wasn't going to pile on a bunch of carefree miles.

Point is, without a plan or an idea of what you want to accomplish, you'd just be wasting money by throwing parts into your ride. Watch the video above to see what it took to get another relatively easy 100 HP out of the Ecoboost without ever touching any engine internals. They also showed that you can't do the same thing with a normally-aspirated engine (5.0L).

For my Tremor, I'll take the daily driver path with basic, reversible "bolt-on" parts. First stage would be well designed CAI, less restrictive exhaust (cat back at first, then maybe down pipes w/hi-flo cats) and a tune. If I want more, stage 2 would be upgraded intercooler with larger diameter piping, fuel system mods (fuel pumps, injectors, maybe E85 kit), and retune. Stage 3 might be slightly larger turbos, boost controller, NOS fogger kit. I seriously doubt I'll go much past stage 1, as the cost/performance gains ratio quickly starts to get large.

 

[Kaboom256]

About install aFe's new Momentum GT CAI w/PRO 5R filter (https://afepower.com/afe-power-50-70072r-momentum-gt-cold-air-intake-system-w-pro-5r-filter)... had one on my 2017 Gen 2 Raptor and loved it. Let you know how it goes. aFe Power advertises:
+58% FLOW INCREASE, +13 HP HORSEPOWER, +15 Lbs. x Ft. TORQUE MAX GAIN

 

[Guest368]

Best filter is a clean one. CAI is a waste of money. I know cause I’ve wasted plenty

 

[Bannerman]

Best filter is a clean one. CAI is a waste of money. I know cause I’ve wasted plenty

To add to this, if it flow more air it filters less air. A clean/regularly changed paper filter is better in the long run for the health of your engine.

 

[Fozzy]

To add to this, if it flow more air it filters less air. A clean/regularly changed paper filter is better in the long run for the health of your engine.

That's only true if the surface areas are the same. You can flow more air and filter the same by increasing the surface area. You can actually filter better, increase air flow with the new synthetic filters. plus you can increase the surface area for even more flow. Look at the big Donaldson blue setups. Oiled filters are a dying breed, because they are plagued with "user error". Poor cleaning and re oiling methods.

 

[Bannerman]

That's only true if the surface areas are the same. You can flow more air and filter the same by increasing the surface area. You can actually filter better, increase air flow with the new synthetic filters. plus you can increase the surface area for even more flow. Look at the big Donaldson blue setups. Oiled filters are a dying breed, because they are plagued with "user error". Poor cleaning and re oiling methods.

Unless you can

That's only true if the surface areas are the same. You can flow more air and filter the same by increasing the surface area. You can actually filter better, increase air flow with the new synthetic filters. plus you can increase the surface area for even more flow. Look at the big Donaldson blue setups. Oiled filters are a dying breed, because they are plagued with "user error". Poor cleaning and re oiling methods.

Even a properly oiled filter does not catch as much particulate as paper. Period. And my time is too valuable to wash and oil filters anyway.

 

[Fozzy]

Unless you can

Even a properly oiled filter does not catch as much particulate as paper. Period. And my time is too valuable to wash and oil filters anyway.

Unless you can?

Yes, an oiled filter generally catches 1% less particulate matter than a paper filter. But the majority of failures in oiled filters is not the 1% extra dirt. Its user error allowing dirt ingestion.

I agree, and most don't want to clean, dry and oil a filter. You really should have two to allow the freshly oiled filter to soak in and drain. You can still buy and toss a synthetic filter. I am so lazy these days I have my dealer do all my service. When its messed up I just say " you were the last to touch it, it was your oil and filter". Plus it adds a great history for trade in or warranty issues.

Just for you oilers out there.

This K&N pre ran the Baja for a week.

Here is the underside,
The 1%'s not too bad is it? You can see a little back fire marks but pretty damn clean.

Yes you can argue these motors get rebuilt on a regular basis. But no Tremor owner will ever see this much silt in the lifetime of their vehicle, even running chase truck. If you choose to run oiled, make sure you clean it properly. Oil it properly and double check it with a light. If you are worried about dust ingestion take a white tissue and wipe your intake runs. If its dirty you are in trouble. If not, keep doing what you're doing. K&N and the likes would be out of business if they passed as much dirt as people think. Remember K&N started in 1969.

 

[FaKtor34]

Airaid is a dry filter made by K&N I am currently running it because it costs $12 to clean it and it's a lifetime filter. I will try to give a full review on it in the next few days but I am quite satisfied this far.

 

[FaKtor34]

I purchased an airaid dry air filter about 2500 miles ago. I decided not for power gains but for the cost. The quality was very good, the fit is excellent. I had thought about a cai but the cost isn't worth it unless you do an aftermarket tune. Then it's a necessity to take full advantage of the tune. Back to the airaid, I looked at the cost, was able to purchase for $58 which is about 2 of the oem air filters. The cost of cleaning this air filter is about $12 every 2-3 cleanings.

Now the downside of this filter, for the first 500 miles the performance lagged. Mpg went down, acceleration went down, the truck just felt sluggish, because the truck had to learn the new airflow. After the computer did it's thing and made the adjustments necessary, my mpg has actually increased back to .2 over my previous average between 2 tanks of gas. Acceleration is about 3 mph faster in just a little over 1/8th mile. This has been measured at least 10 times each and is an average of before and after.

If anything changes overtime I will post the info but so far I will have to say I am pleased with the airaid filter. For those not wanting to run a stock filter I do recommend giving this a try. The downside is when you clean it you have to let it dry before putting it back in, but just hold on to the stock filter and you can slap it back in if you need to use the truck before it has a chance to dry.

 

[Kaboom256]

About install aFe's new Momentum GT CAI w/PRO 5R filter (https://afepower.com/afe-power-50-70072r-momentum-gt-cold-air-intake-system-w-pro-5r-filter)... had one on my 2017 Gen 2 Raptor and loved it. Let you know how it goes. aFe Power advertises:
+58% FLOW INCREASE, +13 HP HORSEPOWER, +15 Lbs. x Ft. TORQUE MAX GAIN

Install complete and it sounds better and has made a noticeable improvement in both normal and sport modes. Pics to follow...

 

[Kaboom256]

That's only true if the surface areas are the same. You can flow more air and filter the same by increasing the surface area. You can actually filter better, increase air flow with the new synthetic filters. plus you can increase the surface area for even more flow. Look at the big Donaldson blue setups. Oiled filters are a dying breed, because they are plagued with "user error". Poor cleaning and re oiling methods.

Thanks Fozzy, surface areas are NOT the same in my case. A huge increase over stock.

 

[Bannerman]

Unless you can?

Yes, an oiled filter generally catches 1% less particulate matter than a paper filter. But the majority of failures in oiled filters is not the 1% extra dirt. Its user error allowing dirt ingestion.

I agree, and most don't want to clean, dry and oil a filter. You really should have two to allow the freshly oiled filter to soak in and drain. You can still buy and toss a synthetic filter. I am so lazy these days I have my dealer do all my service. When its messed up I just say " you were the last to touch it, it was your oil and filter". Plus it adds a great history for trade in or warranty issues.

Just for you oilers out there.

This K&N pre ran the Baja for a week.
View attachment 2834

Here is the underside,
The 1%'s not too bad is it? You can see a little back fire marks but pretty damn clean.
View attachment 2835

Yes you can argue these motors get rebuilt on a regular basis. But no Tremor owner will ever see this much silt in the lifetime of their vehicle, even running chase truck. If you choose to run oiled, make sure you clean it properly. Oil it properly and double check it with a light. If you are worried about dust ingestion take a white tissue and wipe your intake runs. If its dirty you are in trouble. If not, keep doing what you're doing. K&N and the likes would be out of business if they passed as much dirt as people think. Remember K&N started in 1969.

Sorry, I was on mobile and baby was clawing at my phone.

Here is a test that shows my point, that if you are using an oiled or foam filter, you are allowing more particulate matter into your engine than a paper filter, while only providing, at best, a modest performance increase. I've highlighted the relevant parts for the slow readers.


Link to article if you want to read the whole thing.