Air Filters
 

?

I use the Amsoil EA Air filter. I haven't opened up the engine so I can't say this filter works better than a paper filter. What I can say is that Amsoil guarantees the filter for 4 years or 100,000 miles. This is realistic compared to the 1 million mile of the K&N filter. Also cleaning is a breeze, you either vacuume the filter or use compressed air, no oil or washing. Good luck on your selection.

Who drives a car for 1 million miles anyway?

I have a foam air filter simaler in design to what amsoil used to sell, but made by a differnt compeny, and have been compleatly happy with it, if they made a micro fiber air filter that fit the VX then I would get it, when I replaced my throttle body I looked in my intake, and with the foam air filter on there for at least 100,000 miles of use befor I bought the car, it was extreamly clean, much cleaner then my motorcycle intake after the K&N that I have replaced with foam.

I think it had the brand name of "Turbo" something, the printing was hardly readable when I got it, and after washing it was compleatly gone.

FE vs. Selection
 

I'm not sure if there's any solid data out there on paper filters vs. high-flow designs. I run a K&N factory cone replacement, and I'm not sure at all if it helps or hurts. But, it's taken a lot of abuse through the miles of experiments: Hot air intake, damp conditions, etc. I hear that it helps at WOT/high flow operation and not much else.

Honestly, I'm thinking about going back to paper by Fall. :o

RH77

The biggest problem with any oil element filter (K&N included) is that the oil in the filter will get sucked into the intake thus gunking up any airflow sensors you've got in there. I was running a K&N on my truck, started having rough idle and mixture problems, pulled the airflow sensor and found it gunked up with oil residue.

bowtieguy -

I switched from K&N to Wix because of this thread :

K&N Air Filters/Synthetic oil.
https://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?p=66435

I can't honestly tell you that it increased FE, I just don't know, :( . But I think I am being nice to my car. And if Nascar uses Wix, then maybe there's something in that.

Toyman321 -

I never heard the oil/gunking part. Glad I changed out!

CarloSW2

I ran a K&N, saw no difference in power or fuel economy. If it did make a difference in power, the SOTP meter didn't feel it, and they are a pain to clean and reoil properly. And, I've spoken to a lot of people who found dust in their intake path after switching. I went back to paper, it's a lot easier than the mess with oiling the K&N. Total waste of my money too, the filter and the oil and cleaning kits cost the same as paper filters in the same amount of time, especially when you take the dollar cost of your time into account.

For the record, I've driven one vehicle almost 400K miles, and my mom's truck is over 400K miles now. Just about halfway to a million. And the way they are overcomputerizing new cars these days, I imagine my little 87 will see more than a million miles while I own it, barring any accidents.

Not driving General Motors products, chiefly.

My Previa has well over 300k on it, still runs great. Never replaced any major parts - just wear parts like brakes, bearings, and hoses. :)

Colin

Size doesn't matter
 

No disrespect, but the size of the vehicle isn't necessarily directly proportional to its collision/impact rating. Crumple zones, design, ABS, airbags, stability control, etc. help out considerably. Check out the IIHS ratings...

'95 88 Ratings
'95 Honda Accord
Same ratings, for example.

Fun fact: the Mini Cooper is safer in a frontal collision than a modern-day F-150.

RH77

Frontal collision with a barrier, right? In actual collisions between vehicles there is a momentum factor. Still, the ratings have value, and I especially like watching the videos at the IIHS site.

rh77 -

I think there is a big hole in frontal collision tests. The working assumption is that the car you are crashing into is the same year/model. Therefore, it's always a Mini colliding into a Mini, not a Mini colliding into an F150. I think this is something like what Bill is talking about (momentum).

For the side collision, I think the test is uniform, aka a 3000 pound object.

Please correct me if I am wrong!!!!!!!

CarloSW2

I use a K+N drop-in panel filter in my SVT. Various dyno tests show a modest increase in power (ca. 3hp), but considering it's almost as much as with most popular intake systems (4-10hp) and a whole lot cheaper, it works for me. Gas mileage hasn't changed much, but I like the idea of not having to buy a new filter all the time.