Air filter K&N or Wix
Rolled the dice and bought an Amazon Warehouse Chinese cold air intake for $42. Figured the bent aluminum tube was the most crucial part of the set up apart from the air filter so I bought a K&N air filter to replace the crummy one that comes with it. Makes some nice induction noises now.
I clean mine in a bucket with simple green, and re-oil with whatever motorcycle filter oil I have on my shelf. I do this once a year. Keep in mind, your filter does basically nothing after all the oil is saturated with dirt.I've had the recharge kits before and simple green is both cheaper and works better. I've been doing this for many years and have never had one degrade, as it is a very gentle cleaner.
The k&n cleaner has a lot of warning labels on it so I imagine it's a lot more powerful than soap and water. Plenty of dirty oil came out of mine when I cleaned it. I also rinsed mine with water and aired it out. Also need to re-oil the filter and let it dry in the sun and set in for ~ 12-24 hours to cure. Be careful on this step to not add too much oil.I plan on changing my K&N filter after ~3 years, just to be safe. I've had filters (from other brands) come apart on me in the past.
Well I'm glad I use Wix filters after seeing this test for my engine air and cabin air filter.
Project Farm has some really good reviews - and for most people, the Wix is the best daily driver. The K&N it seems letting in more particles may not be the hearsay and this does make a case for this being a legitimate concern.
Works like a charm I love it and highly recommend!
I installed K&N. Great replacement for the stock filter. Noticed a bit more induction whistle and the car definitely feels like it breathes better.
IMHO the performance gains from the K&N are marginal at best, especially on a 1.8 litre motor. It's less hassle to just replace the paper filter element every year with a freash one than cleaning the cotton filter annually. the K&N will likely require eight years to get your return on investment. Besides it you live anywhere where it's dusty you going to be doing your motor harm... I read about farm trucks with these installed the puke their motors because fine particles are getting into the motor. YMMV.
I just did the switch to a K&N filter recently on mine. Did not notice any difference. I remember feeling a greater difference in my VR6. Maybe its the fact one is N/A and the other F/I.
IMO they're not worth it. Modern intake systems flow fairly well, adding a K&N filter will provide almost no benefit. Hell even adding an aftermarket intake these days add nothing but sound. they can also get oil residue on the MAF sensor which can be expensive to replace.
Over cleaning a K&N does more harm than good. K&N's need dirt to be effective. Clean K&N's let through too much dirt, until they become effective.
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