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I'm about to go pick up a K&N air filter to save money on filters and possibly get better gas mileage. Just wanted to see what the latest thoughts on this product are. Thanks
Quick and dirty answer: you won't have to replace it, but will need to clean and re-oil it from time to time (every few years based on mileage I would assume). As for more mpg, it's a claim that's not really substantiated. I had one in my TL, and whether I use a regular filter or K&N, my overall mileage remained the same. I run a paper filter in mine now (not OEM but OEM equivalent).
Assuming you would have to clean and re-oil every 30K or so, there's probably not too much in savings by getting one.
for me its garbage when comparing to the OEM filter, we had 5 lexus and mysteriously 3 of them have bad map and VSV at the same time after the K&N swapped into the car, coincident? I think not. I end up toss the K&N to the trash can and go with OEM, just replace every 20-30k miles and you are good. There also video on the net about how much increase the HP on the K&N, just all hype.
Cheaper to buy an OEM one off ebay/amazon/online dealer and replace it every 2 years since you drive only 15K a year. Factory one is 2 stage so it has a paper section and an oil section for better filtering. You won't gain any MPG with the K&N Filter, but you will by having a clean filter every 30K miles.
Also using a fuel cleaner like Redline SI-1 isn't a bad idea every oil change in the gas tank.
for me its garbage when comparing to the OEM filter, we had 5 lexus and mysteriously 3 of them have bad map and VSV at the same time after the K&N swapped into the car, coincident? I think not. I end up toss the K&N to the trash can and go with OEM, just replace every 20-30k miles and you are good. There also video on the net about how much increase the HP on the K&N, just all hype.
200K miles on my K&N with never an issue. I consistently average above (30MPG) highway EPA MPG estimate of 29MPG, but not sure if that can be attributed to the filter.
Most problems with the K&N come from over-oiling. I have the filter on one of my cars, no problems.
As far as mileage, don't forget the ecu will keep the A/F ratio the same regardless of the filter. This is why fuel mileage won't decrease when a filter gets extremely dirty, it will just decrease performance.
I've used K&N drop in filters and cone filters in many of my cars and never had an issue in the past. Everything from 60's muscle cars to several acura legends to a dodge stealth rt/tt, to my current cars (Toyota Highlander and Matrix). Any performance increase will be nominal at best, but they are supposed to filter better due to the oil (don't over oil, as another poster mentioned). Just clean and re-oil periodically as per instructions.
Just based on the fact that I won't have to buy filters in the future, I'm going to try this product. I drive a lot of highway miles so I'll report back on the MPG question. Thanks again for the responses.
Just based on the fact that I won't have to buy filters in the future, I'm going to try this product. I drive a lot of highway miles so I'll report back on the MPG question. Thanks again for the responses.
No MPG gain or loss using the K&N, I already take notes.
I bought into the hype of K&N filters for a couple cars a number of years ago, but haven't bothered with my TL. The big issues I have with the K&N are:
1. it doesn't filter as well as OEM paper- the filter lets in larger particles based on studies I have read. K&N claims their filter gets better as it gets dirtier- and I believe that. However, even at its best configuation, the K&N will not filter as well as OEM or Purolator.
2. the reusebility is a little hype because you need to buy a filter recharge kit to reuse it with the special K&N oil in it. If you add the cost of the filter with that kit- you're pushing $50- that's 4+ paper filters if you shop around or about 120,000 miles worth of driving. How many of you are really going to own you car that long?
3. even if you do pop for the filter and recharge kit, you then have down time because you must dry the filter prior to re-oiling it. I use to dry the filter for a couple of hours after shooting it with some compressed air. Your car is down while the filter is drying- unless you have the foresight to save an old paper filter and put back in for this period.
I did not notice any measurable performance improvement with my Maxima or Subaru Outback after replacing the filters. It felt faster because I wanted it to feel faster- much like my car feels faster today when it's clean. For the money, you get a much better performance improvement changing to a different ATF like Redline type-F.
Last edited by LaCostaRacer; 09-07-2015 at 11:44 PM.
... the reusebility is a little hype because you need to buy a filter recharge kit to reuse it with the special K&N oil in it. If you add the cost of the filter with that kit- you're pushing $50- that's 4+ paper filters if you shop around or about 120,000 miles worth of driving. How many of you are really going to own you car that long?....
Well I got a nice deal on the K&N $21.00 after rewards and rebate deductions. I already had a cleaning kit from my previous car(95' Legend Cpe). Oh and I got a nice surprise when I pulled out the old OEM filter(see pic).
In all honesty its difficult to substantiate a 1 or 2 mpg change .. too many other variables come into play that can influence it .. tire pressure, humidity, barometric pressure, terrain traveled etc etc . all would have to be identical .
All good info...and most importantly, I've made 5 posts so in a week or so I'll be able to post the oil leak I fixed in an '05 TSX that the dealer told me was the oil pump ($1,500'ish) and it wasn't.
Only posting the fix to give a little back so if someone has to research the same, they might find it useful.
09-01-2015, 01:46 PM
Looks like a lot of reviews say worth it!
^ i'm guessing a Cardinal? I'm wondering how that got in there!
