Those things are a waste of money. Just a gimmick.

 

Quite ineffective, huh? If they were good, we would see more people discussing them. You have a point.

 

From Google: K&N filters only seem to produce notable results in performance orientated cars, and work best in the clean environment of race tracks. The K&N is not worth the extra money compared to ordinary air filters.

They will not damage your engine, but they can do damage or at least coat the Mass Air Flow sensor from the oil they put on the filter than can separate and contaminate the wires of the MAF.

 

The oil you use on those filters will screw up your sensors. You really don't need that. Just a gimmick.

 

I disagree.

First, there aren't multiple sensors that can be impacted. The MAF is the only sensor exposed to internal engine air that doesn't normally see oil. Everything else past the throttle body is subject to PCV flow which passes through more oil in a single oil change interval than you'd apply to an oiled air filter in the lifetime of the car.

Second, I believe the 'problem' everyone talks about with MAF oil contamination stems from people not understanding how to re-oil it. It's not supposed to be so wet it's dripping oil. I get it though, people make mistakes and could over oil once on accident but don't want to re-wash it again. The fix is simple though, a can of MAF cleaner is like $5 and is big enough that the can will probably rust throgih before you use it all.

Third, even if someone were still hardcore anti oiled air filters, there are other options to make the setup the OP is talking about- there are brands of air filters which run with much less oil than a K&N or you could even use a dry cone air filter. Running a CAI doesn't have to be K&N filter or nothing.


My experience with oiled filters has been across 4 cars and nearly 350k miles. I've only ever had a single MAF failure (99 GTP) at about 100k miles and it wasn't due to oil buildup on the wires, it was due to an internal wiring break causing the MAF to occasionally drop to 0.

Also keep in mind that OEM oiled air filters are a thing now too. If it was so detrimental, you'd think they wouldnt come as factory equipment on a warranty covered vehicle.

 

The crux of the matter is that this is "boy racer stuff" like the fart cans on Civics. They do very little for the average person. If it makes 3 more HP it would be amazing. It's just something easy to bolt on to make you feel like you are hot rodding your car. And yeah, years ago I had one too. I also feel better with a filter made with quality media in filtering out particles that can hurt your motor. They may be OK for racing, but in the real world on the street I would not use one. It's also doubtful you would ever know any difference unless you spent some money on a dyno, and I bet the gains on a low HP motor are marginal.

 

I completely agree gains would be minimal on the OP's car, but so is literally almost any mod on a L36. The only mods that make any notable power gains are a cam, a top swap, spray, or a turbo.

But if someone doesn't have a grand + sitting around and still wants to do something, then IMO a CAI is as good a place as any to tinker. At least a DIY CAI can be done for under $100 and is generally still usable on bigger and better setups if sized with future mods in mind. So at least it's not massive amounts of money in the trash like some other mods can be.

I guess I just hate to always be the person saying 'your L36 will never make any real power without boost' even though its completely true.


I'm not at all advocating some kind of turbo guard gross debris screen. But there's no reason someone can't build a CAI and still buy a filter with similar filtering size as stock. There are tons of filter options out there today - oiled or dry.

 

You can also use Pledge. Smells great and keeps them supple. I was at a high end interior shop in Nashville that does BMW, Mercedes, etc. and just happened to ask them. I was floored. That's what they told me to use.