The Best Air Filter Poll

[gcart2]

The Best Air Filter?


So C'mon What do all of you think about your filters.

If you voted "Other" please explain witch filter and why you like it.

[klutch]

I LOVE my UNI Filter! lol

[gcart2]

Yeah i like my Uni too. i just like sparks the most because they are so easy to clean.

[tri5ron]

From what I've learned on the forum here, and reading the article below,
I am tossing my K&N, and replacing it with a UNI.


http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/180100

[gcart2]

Originally posted by tri5ron
From what I've learned on the forum here, and reading the article below,
I am tossing my K&N, and replacing it with a UNI.


http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/180100

Good Man, Good Man. K&N's suck.. literally

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by gcart2
Good Man, Good Man. K&N's suck.. literally

only if you're lazy.

[klutch]

I hated my K&N too... the UNI is much easier and keeps things out much better. I love it!

[gcart2]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
only if you're lazy.

nah do to K&N i had to rebuild my motor.

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by gcart2
nah do to K&N i had to rebuild my motor.

you can't possibly blame the K&N for your negligence. i have had one in mine since i've owned it, along with my old 250, and i have never had an issue. a little preventative maintenance goes a long way. :rolleyes:

[klutch]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
you can't possibly blame the K&N for your negligence. i have had one in mine since i've owned it, along with my old 250, and i have never had an issue. a little preventative maintenance goes a long way. :rolleyes:

Either way i would rather my foam filter :D

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
you can't possibly blame the K&N for your negligence. i have had one in mine since i've owned it, along with my old 250, and i have never had an issue. a little preventative maintenance goes a long way. :rolleyes:

My K&N let fine dirt into the intake boot like a mother, and I am very anal about maintenance. Cleaned, oiled properly and it always let very fine grit through. I gave up and went UNI foam and haven't had a problem since.

I really think it's no coincidence, just the nature of the beast with K&N's. I run one on my truck and I just recently cleaned/oiled it. Both before/after cleaning I held it up to a light and you can see tiny little holes where air is able to freely penetrate. They also have a lot thinner surface area for dirt to pass through.

Foam filters create a thick network of zigging and zagging "cells" where dirt is able to be trapped. The oil on the filter helps this even more. Foam filters seem to filter better/catch more material because the incoming air has to travel through a more dense network of cells before it can get to the intake tract....therby spending more time "getting through" the filter. With the K&N, it is just a thin sheet of cotton that is oiled.

I voted UNI, but any foam filter is going to "filter" the best.

Can of worms opened....:blah:

[gcart2]

Originally posted by NacsMXer
My K&N let fine dirt into the intake boot like a mother, and I am very anal about maintenance. Cleaned, oiled properly and it always let very fine grit through. I gave up and went UNI foam and haven't had a problem since.

I really think it's no coincidence, just the nature of the beast with K&N's. I run one on my truck and I just recently cleaned/oiled it. Both before/after cleaning I held it up to a light and you can see tiny little holes where air is able to freely penetrate. They also have a lot thinner surface area for dirt to pass through.

Foam filters create a thick network of zigging and zagging "cells" where dirt is able to be trapped. The oil on the filter helps this even more. Foam filters seem to filter better/catch more material because the incoming air has to travel through a more dense network of cells before it can get to the intake tract....therby spending more time "getting through" the filter. With the K&N, it is just a thin sheet of cotton that is oiled.

I voted UNI, but any foam filter is going to "filter" the best.

Can of worms opened....:blah:


Pipeless, yes i can blame K&N because like Nac i am crazy about keeping thiese things clean and oiled. i have switched to sparks racing foams and not had a problem.

[NacsMXer]

This was copy-pasted from a different site, but I thought was relevant for this topic.

"The thing that most people forget about hi-flow air filters is that they get that flow by opening up the pores and allowing more crap to get ingested by the engine. I change my oil very frequently for that reason, not because the oil itself is shot."

If you think about it, that extra flow has to come from somewhere...

[glamiskid395]

Originally posted by NacsMXer
This was copy-pasted from a different site, but I thought was relevant for this topic.

"The thing that most people forget about hi-flow air filters is that they get that flow by opening up the pores and allowing more crap to get ingested by the engine. I change my oil very frequently for that reason, not because the oil itself is shot."

If you think about it, that extra flow has to come from somewhere...

thats true. i clean my filter and change my oil every 5-10 hours of riding, thats 1 weekend in the dunes.

when you looked through your filter and saw all the little holes, did you happen to have oil on it? if not, the oil helps 'fill' these holes and holds the dirt/dust.

K&N filters ARE high maintenance, so if your lazy, dont get one!

[XXXRACER165]

I put other down as my choice, I have a White Brothers Power filter (two stage foam).

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by glamiskid395
thats true. i clean my filter and change my oil every 5-10 hours of riding, thats 1 weekend in the dunes.

when you looked through your filter and saw all the little holes, did you happen to have oil on it? if not, the oil helps 'fill' these holes and holds the dirt/dust.

K&N filters ARE high maintenance, so if your lazy, dont get one!

I looked at the filter up to a light both with a dirty/ factory-oiled filter and a freshly cleaned/oiled filter. I over-oiled it by accident when I cleaned it....the thing was completely saturated in oil and you could still see numerous holes with light coming through after it sat on some paper towels for a few days.

If you hold up a foam filter to a light, I can guarantee that you will not see outside light passing through in the same fashion.

The fact of the matter is that I am comfortable running a K&N in my truck on the street since you don't drive through the same plumes of dust you see in off-road conditions. Dust on the street is extremely light in comparison. In my case, it's whoever is in front of me on a dry, dusty MX track creating thick clouds of dust.

I am not comfortable with running that same filter on my quad with the conditions I run it in. I have, and many others have seen what happens when you push a K&N to its limits first-hand...they pass fine dirt.

If you don't ride through thick dust, or other "extreme environments" for an air filter, then the K&N would probably filter just fine on your quad. In the case of air filters, I say pick the right tool for the right job ;)

[BlasterEaten250]

Those new non oil motoworks filters look nice, expensiveee though.

I run a K&N with outerwears for sandy dusty conditions. The outerwears keep out so much dust you can see it covered at the end of a dusty ride but the filter is clean.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by FoxHondaRider
I run a K&N with outerwears for sandy dusty conditions. The outerwears keep out so much dust you can see it covered at the end of a dusty ride but the filter is clean.

Outerwears keeps out BIG dust particles, but the micron-sized particles pass through no problem. When I did run a K&N on my quad, it had an Outerwears on the filter, and another Outerwears sealing the airbox. Still fine grit in the intake....what can I say :o

[my88r]

i prefer foam:eek2:

k&n for the truck.

[monte433]

Don't knock K&N 1984 atc 200x 2nd owner countless hours in all conditions, original bore and rings still running, sold last year still running strong, K&N sice new, heard fron the guy I sold it to last month he had to finally change the original spark plug.

1978 chevy 4x4 378,000 miles K&N from 100,000 on when I bought it sold it 10 years ago and still running god knows how many miles.

1988 GMC 2500 278,000 bought new, just sold K&N since the day I brought it home, still running strong well over 300,000 miles.

2000 Chevy Blazer 210,000 K&N since new, still own.

1995 Chevy S10 256,000 K&N since new,still own.

1976 Chevy Dually 276,000 miles K&N since I bought it with 76,000 when I bought it in 1992 running strong towing almost every weekend when there isn't any salt on the roads here in Ohio.

2000 400EX 2nd owner original bore and piston easily 2000 + hours, K&N since new still running strong.

You can talk about air filters all you want but the secret to making something last is change the oil, change the oil , change the oil, it doesn't need to be the best oil , just fresh oil and filters often.

200x changed the oil every ride cost on the average over the years about $3.50 a change.

400EX change oil and filter about every 10 to 12 hours

All the trucks oil were changed every 3,000 miles or less, cleaned the air filters greased the front ends (I have never replaced tie rod ends, ball joints, idler or pitman arms on any of my trucks)
changed the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles( all automatic) they never have needed any work.

Changed the gear oil in the diff. every 100,000 miles and have never have had any problems.

Sorry for the long post but I guess the moral to the story is if you have had problems running a K&N air filter you need to look elsewhere for your problems.

:)

[Barrymaxx]

I put my 400ex K&N on my car, and put a real filter, a uni on my quad.

I personally used a k&n, and was not happy. However, thats just my oppinion.

But for all you guys that ride coal like me, we need foam.

[zr7cat]

I just ordered a Uni filter for mine.

[monte433]

Barrymaxx I do almost all of my riding near Portage PA. so I'am no stranger to coal & rocks.

Its all upkeep. Keep the filter maintained and it will last you and your engine will last you forever. However if you shrug off cleaning it when it gets dirty and say i can go 1 more ride thats when you have problems. And for those that said they even had the outerwears not only on the filter but the outerwears air box lid and still got dust. Hmm could it be that it came tyhrough your snorkel? I removed my snorkel and plugged it and took the lid off my air box. i run a K&N with the outerwears on the K&N and soon to be on the lid I made. I highly doubt the dust is going to go through 2 outerwears and a filter when 1 outerwear catches so much dust its craz. When I had a foam I would have to clean it almost every ride because the dirt and dust collected so bad on it. I put an outerwear over the stock filter and the outerwear caught so much dust the stock air filter didnt have any dust on it. It took so many rides for it to get dirty. Maintainance my friends, key to anything lasting and going strong.

[monte433]

Fox HondaRider thats all I was trying to say, I my 45 years I have probably changed enough oil to buy a small Arab country but it has all paid off on what I have not had to repair or replace on all my vehicles. lol

[Gatekeeper]

Most the late model dirt track cars Ive seen run K&N/outerwears. The dust can be unreal sometimes and those guys trust k&n to protect a $10-20 thou + motor. I think I'll trust it.

[UNBROKEN]

yeah but isnt those motors getting frequent rebuilds ^

[gcart2]

Originally posted by UNBROKEN
yeah but isnt those motors getting frequent rebuilds ^

i believe so.

[gcart2]

since this is an air filter post i guess ill talk about the new non oil one.

I dont see how this would work. the add said they were water resistant. does this mean when you go to wash it that its going to ruin it? I mean what makes it resistant? lets say they spray something on there to make it resistant. well than all you do is wash it off. so i dont see how it could be resistant to water.

next problem is air flow. if its such a great filter that it doesnt need filter oil then dont that mean that your air flow is going to suck?

I dont see how this thing works.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by gcart2
since this is an air filter post i guess ill talk about the new non oil one.

I dont see how this would work. the add said they were water resistant. does this mean when you go to wash it that its going to ruin it? I mean what makes it resistant? lets say they spray something on there to make it resistant. well than all you do is wash it off. so i dont see how it could be resistant to water.

next problem is air flow. if its such a great filter that it doesnt need filter oil then dont that mean that your air flow is going to suck?

I dont see how this thing works.

I don't know if it's the particular filter you're talking about, but a lot of forced induction car guys have noticed decreases in rwhp on the dyno while using AEM's new "dry flow" filter. It apparently needs no oil because the pore size is so small, so you see a greater restriction to flow in turn.

[krt400ex]

im running the twin air...much better than the k&n. i had a k&n, always cleaned it after five hrs of ride time, always oiled it. i used the cleaning kit everything right...and i still got dirt in my intake...

[yellow400ex05]

I also run a Twin Air filter. Isn't a UNI basically the same size as a Twin Air?

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by UNBROKEN
yeah but isnt those motors getting frequent rebuilds ^
Im no expert, several of my friends race/work on dirt track cars. They race in superstock classes limited by cubic inches among other rules.
Since you are limited in cubes, bore/stroke, compression, cam profile, etc and already pushing the maximum allowable bore/stroke, machining for a rebuild usually means a illegal bore size and a worthless block, and if ya win your motor gets checked by race officials.
Most of their "frequent rebuilds" involve only precautionary inspection and changing of head gaskets.
I helped work on a Limited late model 3 years ago, it ran whole season and won track championship on a sealed, high hp 358ci "Swankey" crate motor running a k&n/outerwears. Sealed means you couldnt dissassemble motor even to change gaskets or inspect without breaking seals to show motor was tampered with and now illegal.

Hey its all opinion, run what you like, my .02

[Brauap]

As I was riding HARD today, with my K&N w/ mud n that. My airboot came off (I accedently ran it like that for about 3 hours:eek: and I am affarid to see that damage!) But the airboot had a whole ton of dust. But the trails wern't dusty, they where muddy. So, I think my K&N let the dust in. But I have an oiled K&N, w/ outerwares, w/ outerwares lid!?

yellow400ex05, I was wondering the same thing. My dad has an extra Twin Air for his Polaris Scambler, and I was wondering if I can make it fit, should I do it? Its about 2x longer than the stock one, so it will be extra squished against the back. Should I, or just get a Uni? I plan on racing XC, and just don't feel safe with a K&N, with water and mud n that... :ermm:

I know why K&N users have trouble. Its not the filter its the seal. OEM has the rubber that fits over the intake boot piece. K&N just slides in not making the greatest seal. I found that out from my error in noticing it. I'm sure a lot are like that too. I am thinking of cutting the rubber piece from the stock filter and slipping that on which will seal it really good.

[400ex28]

UNI :o

[project400ex19]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
Most the late model dirt track cars Ive seen run K&N/outerwears. The dust can be unreal sometimes and those guys trust k&n to protect a $10-20 thou + motor. I think I'll trust it.

they also only run 2 or 3 heats a night, then get fully cleaned. and if the track is worth a darn there shouldn't be lots of dust.

[400ex28]

Originally posted by project400ex19
they also only run 2 or 3 heats a night, then get fully cleaned. and if the track is worth a darn there shouldn't be lots of dust.

Yea, the track here is never dusty.

[Gatekeeper]

The one track here seams to be either mud or dust. Yeah its crap

[bearair]

I'm using the Sparks for a couple reasons. One, I like the foam filter and it's easy to clean. Two, I like the aluminum insert for the airbox boot that smooths the airflow into the boot. The aluminum insert goes into the boot opening and goes in far enough that it completely stiffens and reinforces the inlet opening. Why is this important? Because like the factory filter, you use a clamp to tighten the filter onto the opening. Having a solid opening that cannot distort under clamping load is important. I liked the design which is why after researching the options out there I decided on Sparks. Well thought out and fit perfectly. They also replied to a tech question quickly when I emailed them.

[petzllampo]

Hi and hello from England UK,

I have a Pro Design Foam Pro Flow Kit on my 400ex and it serves me well, take today for instance we had sunshine, was a little cold however but the sun was glorious then it snowed before the rain took it all away so we deal with all conditions in a single day. Personally i would go for any foam kit with a protective outerwear of some sort. I have used K&N in the past and have not been impressed with them when they have gottten wet, it may not be a problem when they are sodden but a sodden foam filter seems to give me more confidence so im afraid pyscology wins the day ;)

Cheers

[tanner 222]

i used to run a k&n on my 400 but it was poop and i hated it to death. ive been running twin airs from that day on and love them. love how theyre easy to clean too

I went riding today pouring rain, I mean it actually hurt like needles when you we standing still. Hurricane type rain where its incredibly hard and stuff. Place I ride had a lot of flooded trails. Me forgetting now my air box lid is open after a few smashing through puddles of limestone dust/sugar sand/water. I stop and look realizing my air box is open. That outerwear stopped that water and comination of things not too good for an engine perfectly. After seeing that it stopped it I felt very confident in what I had.