Do K & N air filters help fuel economy?

[Comfortzone]

Are there any drawbacks to using them? Any other recommended mods to help fuel economy and daily driver performance?

 

[b_pappy]

I use them in everything, either the drop in type, or the high performance kits if applicable. No real mileage gains, they just breathe better, and Ken Johnson is a great guy, even though he no longer owns the company.
Bruce

 

[BILLS_XLR]

Didn't notice any Mileage increase but I just did a couple of dyno pulls with a box stock '06 XLR-V. Run 1 was completely stock... 360.49 HP 355.53 torque Run 3 is with the K&Ns installed 369.36 HP 365.16 torque. Increase of 8.87 RWHP and 9.63 ft/lbs Torque.
Bill

 

[fascady]

I have installed K&N filters on all of our vehicles over the past 10 or 11 years or so, and have seen an increase of between 1-2 mpg over the OEM pleated paper filters. It is generally not noticeable on short trips or around town driving, but on longer runs of several hundred miles with different kinds of gas it shows up. I did not see a difference in smaller 4-cyl. engines (pontiac Fiero) but in larger V-8's (corvette, Lincoln Mk8, XLR etc) it became noticeable. Did not have any of them dyno'd though. My problem is keeping my foot out of it !!

 

[lucky_topher]

I'm using the Fram Airhogs... similar, cheap, and seem fine to me

 

[JT112673]

Problem with the K&N (or any oil filter) is MAF sensor contamination... A clean fabric filter goes a long way in avoiding engine lights.

 

[b_pappy]

Problem with the K&N (or any oil filter) is MAF sensor contamination... A clean fabric filter goes a long way in avoiding engine lights.

Never had a problem with mine. That usually shows up when people over oil them after cleaning. Big thread over at a TBSS site on the issue though.
Bruce

 

[BILLS_XLR]

Don't over oil!!!

Just be sure that they are not over oiled. Too much oil can contaminate the Mass airflow (MAF) sensor . Usually they are fine out of the box. The problem arises when cleaning and re-oiling them. Only a very light amount of oil should be applied as this is one place where more is not better.

 

[fascady]

I agree with all of the above. Over oiling can be a problem; very light application, almost dry is the trick. There has been a lot of research done on this issue, I can't find the links just yet...