GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was reading how a K&N air filter would improve pickup and mpg. First, has anyone used this and does it actually make a marked improvement? And second, is it a simple installation ie no major tools involved etc.

I am new to the game of modifying and improving a car but I can't resist the urge to play! Lol Thanks in advance!

It won't change your gas mileage a bit. The oxygen sensor determines the amount of fuel being added and for a given amount of air entering the intake it will always be the same. It doesn't matter if the filter is clean or dirty or K&N or anybody else's your gas mileage will be the same.

A clean or less restricting air filter will allow slightly more air into the intake at wide-open throttle. Slightly more gas will be added as a result and the engine will have a very modest increase in peak horsepower.

Cloth-based filters like K&N rely on being dampened with oil to be able to catch the dirt entering with the air. Some of this oil will constantly be pulled off the filter and will coat everything inside the intake. These cars use a hot-wire MAF sensor for the ECM to measure the amount of air entering the engine. When the wire gets coated with the oil from the air filter the MAF reading will no longer be accurate which can result in a CEL and driveability problems. I used a K&N filter for a little while bit switched back to stock for these reasons.

I'm with John. I personally didn't notice any gains so i ended up switching back since regular air filters are a little more efficient at actually filtering the air intake. With no apparent gains I figure a cleaner engine is better.

JohnO wrote:It won't change your gas mileage a bit. The oxygen sensor determines the amount of fuel being added and for a given amount of air entering the intake it will always be the same. It doesn't matter if the filter is clean or dirty or K&N or anybody else's your gas mileage will be the same.

A clean or less restricting air filter will allow slightly more air into the intake at wide-open throttle. Slightly more gas will be added as a result and the engine will have a very modest increase in peak horsepower.

Cloth-based filters like K&N rely on being dampened with oil to be able to catch the dirt entering with the air. Some of this oil will constantly be pulled off the filter and will coat everything inside the intake. These cars use a hot-wire MAF sensor for the ECM to measure the amount of air entering the engine. When the wire gets coated with the oil from the air filter the MAF reading will no longer be accurate which can result in a CEL and driveability problems. I used a K&N filter for a little while bit switched back to stock for these reasons.

And this is EXACTLY why I asked! Thanks. I will stick to stock and call it a day thanks!

Rayven01 wrote:I'm with John. I personally didn't notice any gains so i ended up switching back since regular air filters are a little more efficient at actually filtering the air intake. With no apparent gains I figure a cleaner engine is better.

I would have to agree. Logic sometimes seems to elude me lol. At least I'm not afraid to ask questions (regardless of how stupid they make me appear)

Not stupid at all! After all John and I (and many others) obviously fell for the hype. The lower efficiency isn't something they advertise very obviously, I discovered that after reading further on various forums.

JohnO wrote:Some of this oil will constantly be pulled off the filter and will coat everything inside the intake.

I haven't had this issue at all. The inside of my cosmoracing intake is cry and clean, and it's been on for about a year now.

What I mostly like about the SAI is being able to hear the engine better, because then I can tell about how many RPMs it's running at without taking my eyes off the road. Oh, and there's more room for me to work in the engine bay.