They had a display set up with a OEM filter (unknown brand) and a like replacement K&N Filter.
Basically a box with two muffin fans and some balls in tubes on the exhaust.
With the OEM filter in place, the balls barely went up the tubes.
With the K&N Filter in place, the balls went all the way up the tubes, graphically showing that the air flow through the K&N was less restrictive than the OEM Filter.
That out of the way, would it be a good idea the next time I change the air filter in my 95 Maxima, to move to a K&N Filter, for better/increased air flow?
FWIW, the K&N Filter looked to be of better mechanical manufacture than the OEM Filter on display.
When you say OEM, do you mean genuine Nissan? K&N filters have been discussed at length on this and alt.autos.nissan groups...do a search and you find out that there are varying opinions on this like just about everything else ;)
There are a lot of ways to make that work by applying different conditions on the OEM filter - I would have looked carefully for any little text stating "dramatization" or something. Maybe it's real, in which case I'd want to know how much filtration quality I'm trading off to get it.
The K&N filter had fewer filter pleats thna the OEM unit, so should it have had better air flow?
Consider this.
If you laid out the filter media from both filters, flat on a flat surface, the OEM filter would cover a greater area than the K&N.
Given that the muffin fans each move 150CFM of air, a larger area for the air to flow through, such as that of the OEM filter should produce less restriction to the air flow and thus provide greater air flow, if we were to assume thta the media the two filters were made from was comparable.
Kind of like the bigger pipe lets more water through.
So, if the K&N air filter with a smaller filter area lets more air through, then the actual media of the filter is a more porous material and thus lets more air and other stuff through.
I guess I have answered my question, the K&N air filter will let dust and stuff into your engine that the OEM filter will not.
OEM from whom and what micron size was the paper? I can promise you K&N found the most restrictive aftermarket filter they could find for this display.
And guess what, window screen will flow more air than the K&N..
And 'other stuff' is the key word. Buy dealer filters and forget about all the hype and displays the people pushing these thing have.
THis is only a benefit if you are too lazy to change the filter regularly. No one in their right mind would leave *ANY* filter of any kind in for a million miles...well except maybe you...
Great; the engine "sounds" stronger. No gas mileage figures, no Horsepower increase figures, no figures on filtration levels...but it sure sounds stronger! I'll spend all my money on something that makes my engine "sound" stronger...yeah right!
"Special Oil" that will not degrade after a million miles on the road? And now you say to change the K&N at 50-100,000 miles? What happened to the million mile model? You certainly are a good little consumer...pony on up and spend all your hard earned cash on snake oil...wasn't it P. T. Barnum that said "There's a sucker born every minute"?
Good! Keep your K&N, with the special oil, and I'll gladly keep using standard filter that take the gunk with them when I throw them away. I want something that cleans the air entering my engine, not something that can levitate ping pong balls higher. I bet you have one of those "tornado" devices in the carb, right?
Coincidentally, I have this bridge that I am selling....
I just love it when people take someone's words and turn them around to try to make themselves look smart.
OK.. Let's see if I can make this simple enough for you to understand it. Bear with me, I'm not used to explaining car stuff to kindergarteners. Yes, the K&N filters are guaranteed for 1 million miles. NO, that does not mean you stick the filter in the car and leave it there for 1 million miles. You have some maintenance to do to keep it functioning at it's peak. However, unlike paper filters, these filters do not require being trashed and replaced every 10,000 miles. They are (is this word too big for you?) REUSABLE. You take the filter out, clean it and replace it. K&N suggests re-oiling the filter after
50,000 - 100,000 miles. You can clean it every day if it makes you feel better, but I would HOPE you'd be smart enough to know when it's dirty. The benefit to having a REUSABLE filter is that *I* don't have to shell out more money every 10,000 miles for a NEW filter. Oh yeah, and my car breathes better too. The idea behind the oil is that it helps the filter trap MORE gunk than a dry paper filter can. Think about it, how much dust can you pick up with a dry paper towel?? Spray some cleaner (or even water for that matter) on the paper towel and see how much MORE dust you can pick up. Same principle. I never said the OIL that comes on the filter lasted 1 million miles now did I? See, if you read what people say instead of inserting your own words, things make more sense. I said the FILTER is GUARANTEED for 1 million miles. It may or may not last that long, but I'll never have to buy another on during that time because if my filter fails, I get a new one... FREE.
Ya know what, just forget everything I said. You'll misunderstand it and turn it around anyway so why bother. I've already lowered my standards more than I wish by just replying to this post. Just keep shelling out the dough every 10K miles for your paper filters. The trees might hate you, but I'm sure there's some folks putting pleats in paper for $7 an hour that will thank you for not putting them out of work. As for me and my car, we're happy with the purchase of a K&N. If you think that makes me an idiot for buying it, then so be it. I'm not going to lose any sleep over what you think of me.
They are the type of fan used in electronic equipment to make air flow through it.
If you own a desktop PC, the brick like fan in the power supply of your PC is in fact called a Muffin Fan.
They come in all sizes, from the little guy that is sometimes used on top of a CPU heatsink, up to over 12 inches in diameter.
In the VAX 6000 system, we had a large 48VDC Muffin Fan that was the size of the cabinet, it was located in the middle, sucking air from the bottom and pushing it up through the top. It moved a hug volume of air.
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