Are performance panel filters any good on octy vrs? Obv i know you can get the cold feed systems ect... Jst wondered if uprated panel filters are any good on them

if you are thinking of a sport air filter, that fit in the original filter housing, you might aswell save yourself the cost of a sports filter and get a new ordinary filter. there is no measurable increase in power, this has been tested time, and time again, without significant results.
Also, a sports filter, very often is a oiled filter, which might stick to the "fly-by-wire" which measures the amount of air going into the engine, and thus might give your car a loss in performance over time, as it might affect air/fuel mixture because the signal from the fly-by-wire unit is incorrect. 

I can't guarrantee that this is applicable to the vrs, but I reckon it got a FBW just as most other cars of this era. and standard air filters are usually just as good as sports filters. the only minor difference might be engine noise, a sport filter is louder... but not much.

As above I would not bother.  A Bosch paper filter is £7, just replace it accordingly.  Better filtration.

The MAF measures the air going into the engine, but isn't really what makes the engine FBW/DBW. Drive-by-wire normally refers to the throttle body being controlled by a motor rather than by a cable directly connected to the accelerator pedal.

 

I believe the MAF does have a small wire in it which is used to sense the amount of air going into the engine and I wouldn't use an oiled filter because of that. Other panel filters will claim to allow better air flow but I'm not sure this is possible without reducing filtration.

 

I use standard filters in mine.

Well you guys have put a downer on things for this guy, I have a piper panel that came with my car and can prove they do work as on my old 530i bmw I put a k&n panel in as you cant get a open induction kit for it and I had a eml light on as I had a leak in the exhaust, new filter provided so much more air the light went out for a couple drives while the ecu relearned the airflow!

Have a search on youtube for k@n as their demos are very interesting.

I just removed my piper for a ramair induction setup I got off here and other than the noise and a small throttle response gain there aint much in it.

If your planning a remap over 210bhp id avoid the panel but for a cheap upgrade its worth it imo

Thanx for the replys chaps ☺ i might jst leave it for now then. Just want whats best for the engine tbh! Its getting mapped soon hopefully, and has a de-cat downpipe n forge splitter valve on. Also be getting a better exhaust

Well you guys have put a downer on things for this guy, I have a piper panel that came with my car and can prove they do work as on my old 530i bmw I put a k&n panel in as you cant get a open induction kit for it and I had a eml light on as I had a leak in the exhaust, new filter provided so much more air the light went out for a couple drives while the ecu relearned the airflow!

That's not proof. You'd need to do a back to back dyno test with a new standard filter and a new K&N filter.

 

Also K&N filters are oiled so more likely to cause MAF sensor issues.

Thanx for the replys chaps ☺ i might jst leave it for now then. Just want whats best for the engine tbh! Its getting mapped soon hopefully, and has a de-cat downpipe n forge splitter valve on. Also be getting a better exhaust

With a decat you will see more from a open filter and id suggest a silicone inlet pipe as well as the standard ones are known to restrict airflow.

As for everyone going on about oil in filters your only suppose to lightly spray oil when cleaning one for reuse, even fresh out the box its a light oiling to aid particle collection, if your maf sensor is getting sticky with oil someones used to much! Panel or induction kit its no different as most use oil and you will never find a tuner saying use the oe paper filter if your aiming to up power. Dont also forget piper and k&n are lifetime filters if correctly looked after

That's not proof. You'd need to do a back to back dyno test with a new standard filter and a new K&N filter.

 

Also K&N filters are oiled so more likely to cause MAF sensor issues.

Let's not get into a row but back to back dynos without either mapping the car or letting it learn any changes will show no gains or even loses with most efi cars, end of the day if you feel things are better then no proof needed, its not always about power and I have never fitted a filter and not felt a improvement in throttle response and pickup lower down the range, id agree if a car only has the filter changed you probably wont notice anything but with exhaust upgrades and tune its worth every penny

Boy I must be lucky, been using OILED K&N Filters for the last 14 years and never had a faulty MAF. :think:

Never knew about the silicone inlet pipe thing b4,i will look in2 that aswell

If you really want a performance panel I'd go pipercross, no issues with oil as they use different cleaning regime (that is if oil IS an issue when k&n are done properly, as it appears Andy has done).

Ive had a pipercross panel filter in for nearly 3 years and 23000 miles and never had no issues with oil & maf damage.. Because ive never cleaned it.

I have a pipercross one seems good for what it is, no issuses here.

I used to work it a tuning company and we sold hundreds of Pipercross and K&N ones , but so much Bhp gains , but better throttle response

For the money , yes get one and I always ran Pipercross in mine , then after 40k bin it and buy new

Sarah

I used to work it a tuning company and we sold hundreds of Pipercross and K&N ones , but so much Bhp gains , but better throttle response

For the money , yes get one and I always ran Pipercross in mine , then after 40k bin it and buy new

Sarah

That's what I did over 2 cars, never actually cleaned a Pipercross one either.

How do you get better throttle response from a panel filter?

How do you get better throttle response from a panel filter?

Oh I don't know ☺️

Sarah

How do you get better throttle response from a panel filter?

 

I reckon either placebo effect or just a similar difference between a normal air filter at the end of its service life and a new one.

How do you get better throttle response from a panel filter?

 

Press the LOUD pedal harder  

The MAF measures the air going into the engine, but isn't really what makes the engine FBW/DBW. Drive-by-wire normally refers to the throttle body being controlled by a motor rather than by a cable directly connected to the accelerator pedal.

 

I believe the MAF does have a small wire in it which is used to sense the amount of air going into the engine and I wouldn't use an oiled filter because of that. Other panel filters will claim to allow better air flow but I'm not sure this is possible without reducing filtration.

 

I use standard filters in mine.

yes, you're right. I'm sry, I was thinking of the MAF sensor, and the small filliament in it might get affected by oil residues from sport filters etc. I notice I happen to mix the acronyms in english car language a bit:P

Also, the manufacturer (in our case Skoda) have calculated the required dimensions for the air filter to the volume of the engine, and a standard air filter cleans the air better, and have pretty much no resistance in it as long as its not completely clogged.

I'll be servicing my car in the next few weeks. I'll pop a normal panel in and see if theres a difference

Sometimes these things are just nice to have. I remember feeling like it made more difference in my old normally aspirated V5 than in the vrs. It just felt more free if you know what I mean, all very marginal though I guess. Strikes me though that like performance panels or not they are less restrictive because they allow for better flow into these air boxes below the panel as there aren't any folds of paper immediately behind the duct, and the air doesn't get as disturbed because it doesn't have to fight with folds before it gets anywhere. And I dare say that if you pick one of each up, put your hand behind and blow through it you'll probably feel more air on your hand through the performance panel (don't quote me though I've never done it).

However, all that said, how that better flow relates to any benefits in performance is marginal, whilst I expect there is a slight improvement, I seriously doubt it's anywhere near the manufacturers claims of 5bhp or whatever they say these days.

All that said, each to their own, if you want one, buy one but treat it as a long life filter rather than as a performance modification and you won't be disappointed.