K&N Panel Filter.

[Flashie]

Hi All, I have just been to my local tuning centre to have a look around and ended up coming out with some Aero wipers and a K&N Panel filter on order. The problem is I have come back and done a search for K&N filters on here and they don't seem very popular, should I cancel the order and go for a PiperX or Green instead?

[ScoobyChris]

I've used K&N, Green, and ITG and to be honest, they're all much of a muchness. If I was to go out and buy one tomorrow, it would be a K&N because they seem to be much better made (ie they fit the air box properly and form a seal) as well as cheaper and more readily available. I currently run a K&N in my Mondeo.

My only advice is dab the filter with some kitchen paper before fitting it as sometimes they seem to be overoiled when they arrive - the oil is red in colour so should be easy to spot.

Chris

[Pimpmyskodia]

i would cancel it mate, from experience, the K&N filters seem pretty naff, pipercross or green cotton filters are very popular, the foam/cotton filters offer more dust protection and generally seem to perform abit better imho.

[Flashie]

Thanks for your reply's, The only reason I went for it was because K&N was a well known name. I was told the there was not much difference between the two but the K&N had a Million mile life span which seemed pretty good if a little over kill.

I was also told I would need to re-oil the K&N is this not the case with the Green filters?

[ScoobyChris]

You need to re-oil both the Green and K&N. Did mine today and is dead easy

Chris

[dino21]

there is no such a difference betweet these filters,,they`re almost all the same,,i have k&n in my evoIX and im happy,fit good ,can rev longer .in my old furbie rs i had KD (king dragon) and i was happy too.

[Bodge]

K&N are the best filters. just look at whats more popular in motorsport and with people that actually work with engines. i wouldnt have anything else.

a proper quality proven design from a long respected company.

[Taxi 219]

Well said

[Pimpmyskodia]

i found with the K&N panel filter performed alot worse in my 1.6 golf than the pipercross :S

And various garages told me that the foam filters just perform that bit better, but just going off personal experience,

[Flashie]

Well I think I will let the order stand, if I get any issues I can always replace it for one of the other brands.

I have fitted the aero wiper I perchased made by Sparco Fitting was easy and they look and work well.

Think the next mod will either be the Leon fron splitter or the Milotec Grill.

[nlsea]

J have just taken my cone filter back off my VRS and replaced it with the original airbox cos people say the cone can draw hot air from the engine.

do you get any induction sound from the K&N panel filters?

Is there any power difference between K&N panel and cone filters?

Cheers

[Flashie]

I was told when buying the K&N that I would not hear any sound difference and it would only be 2-3bhp more? I'm not sure if this is the case.

I always thought cone filter was fine as long as you had a cold air inlet and it would perform better on Motorways and A Roads.

[Pimpmyskodia]

cone filters are fine aslong as there postioned well, eg not right next to the engine or exhaust manifold.

Cold air-feeds are also good to use,

[Bowders1]

I have a K&N Panel Filter in my VRS and can say that in my experience there is a very slight increase in noise, but very slight. The Fit is excellent. I ended up de finning my airbox(smoothing it out) to increase airflow, and this has made the noise level increase a little more. The BHP gains are marginal, and this tends to be a wide topic of debate. Generally the 1.8t engines do not seem to make as much power with panel filters than other cars. It maybe that the standard filters actually work quite well or the whole airbox is restrictive and just putting another panel filter in will not make much difference. Better power gains are seen by taking the air filter out of the Engine bay were the turbo heat is and route the filter down by the bumper.

[ADOKS SRV]

I have been running piperX in mine for well over a year now and when i had my car mapped i was advised against the piperX and to go for green.Ive had no problems with my piperX and to me it just seems to be personnal opinions for what filter to go for.

[nlsea]

It seems there is some support for every type of panel filter going:confused:

And equally plenty of people saying not to use every type of panel filter going:confused:

There are people recommending all of the following:

K&N

PiperX

Green

Can anyone give a compelling reasoning on which is best as I want to buy one but am more confused than ever?!?

cheers

[shoveitpusher]

the only car i can give a direct comparison of filters on is a swift gti, origionally i bought a foam panel, can't remember the make but it was one of the known brands, fitted fine and worked well, i then replaced it with a k&n which also fitted well and seemed to filter. the reason i bought an after market filter in the first place was to reduce the number of changes rather than any performance improvements.

i found no performance differences between the origional paper, the foam or the k&n.

i have found foam filters start to break up and turn to powder, usually on the outside, (though the swift one above is still going strong on a mates car) they also burn or smoulder quite nicely if you get weld spatter on them.

standard paper are about the best flowing filters but they clogg very quickly, foam are cheaper, k&n type probably last longer.

in my opinion anyway

[AwesomeSarah]

Hi Guys

Let me see if I can help a bit

None of the air filter out will damage the MAF as some say , it is all a myth

K&N are THE market leaders and I think they will for a while not

The K&N filter is a Cotton gauze in a cage if you like

The cage is stainless so it will not rust

K&N does come with a bit of oil on , but that is to stop particles , not to go on to the MAF :( and it does work

Pipercrosss is a foam filter and does not come oiled

This was to please the masses as again the myth come in to it , but people are slowly learning now that K&n is not the reson the MAF has failed

Then there is green cotton , exact same as the K&N filter except , well the cotton gauze is green instead of red on K&N

When the K&N filter is put in to the car it will give better air flow than the Pipercross one

But give it 500 - 1k miles the pipercross one will give slightly better air flow

So it is a bit of swings and roundabouts

The K&N will need a reboost with a cleaning kit and require reoiling

The Pipercross one you can get a cleaning kit and it is half the price of the K&N one as it does not need reoiling

The K&N one comes with a milion mile warranty , oops and to tell you the truth I dont know about Pipercross , but I do know I have one in my car and it has done its job for me

I got an extra 4mpg with it and for £28 + VAT instead of cleaning it , I will just buy a new one in say 40k like I did last time

But then you see guys a panel filter will give slight BHP gains (only slight maybe 2 or 3BHP) but because it allows more air flow throttle response will be sooooo much better

At the prices that they are the price is fantastic

The main benifit is the fact that you dont have to keep replacing it , as I would replace the OEM one every 20k instead of the 40k that Skoda recomend as that is way too long

Induction kits will give a better sound

But as already has been said , try to do a cold air feed up to it , cooler the air intake , the denser the air

Wow I need a cuppa now

Sarah

[KenONeill]

I suspect that people who have claimed "oiled filters broke my MAF" had actually over-oiled their filters. If you put sufficient excess oil on them, the excess will eventually get picked up as a suspension, and would carry on down to the MAF in a VAG installation.

[ADOKS SRV]

When i got my car mapped my car was put on the rollers before and after the map, standard power was 191bhp and my tuner said this was down to a combination of my panel filter(PiperX) and always running ultimate/optimax etc fuel. After the map i got 207bhp, which is 2 more than the predicted increase.thats me experience of the piperX anyway

[briskgav]

hi guys and gals, when i bought my octy vrs mark 1 last november i was given a k&n panel filter. im only just thinking about putting it in, but not sure if its been used, and also if i do put it in do i have to oil it. thanx for listening people.

[David 8]

Is it a brand new filter ????

If it is all you need do is bung it in, if it's used you need to clean and oil it.