Air Induction - Is it worth it?

Hi All,

I have a 2007 2.0 Sport NC. I’ve been looking at replacement K&N air filters, then came across the K&N Apollo Cold Air Induction System. It looks reasonably easy to replace it myself, but I wonder if the improvements are worth. 

K&N sell the kit for £317.99. Does anyone have experience of changing to this type of system or even the K&N 57i Series Kits Performance Air Intake System.

 

Is it easy to replace and is there noticeable improvement in performance?

 

Cheers in advance.

 

Aftermarket induction kits offer very little, if any performance improvements, they sound nice though.

There I’ve got the ball rolling, some may prove me wrong

 

same here, performance improvements negligible, aural improvements nice usually…

1 Like

I fitted a pipercross panel filter which directly replaces the standard filter (it is not oiled so will not affect the sensor like the oiled K&N panel air filter).

It sounds good and as I now have a decat manfold allows the engine to breath better, but that may just be my imagination!

New about £35, I got mine 2nd hand on ebay for a tenner.

Worth a try?

Cheers

Derek

The substitution of a new induction filter/kit will, by itself, do next to nothing on these naturally-aspirated engines. Only if/when there are serious manifold mods will they have any effect…and then you need to choose carefully - avoid the oily ones!

The induction roar from some of them (while quite nice initially), can get very wearing on a long run.
I tried one, but went back to standard on a previous car.

Why do you want to avoid an oiled filter?

Oily filters tend to contaminate the MAF sensors. Had it happen on a BMW to which a previous owner had fitted one.
Aldi

As I understand it, Mk3 & Mk3.5s have their intake induction pretty much maximised anyway with a more frontal forced air set up, much more so than older marques.

Perhaps the only real advantage is aural.

 

 

The likes of the Typhoon on the NA/NB family gave a great induction howl, I used to go looking for tunnels… 

On the NC family you don’t get the same effect at all unfortunately, personally I’d spend on a replacement back box on an NC.

Thanks all. Interesting feedback. Guess I’ll just go for an improved filter in the existing box and stick my money into a Stainless exhaust. New powder coating on alloys booked for end of month and that should see me right for a bit.

Derek,been looking at replacing standard air filter with K&N been put off that because of the oil issue on the MAF sensor. Looked at Pipercross, are you sure its not oiled as i’ve read posts and seen video’s showing them being oiled.

Thanks

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpCxpn3B3k0

 

Every little bit helps said the old lady as she pee’d in the sea!

 

Richard.

What oil problem? been running mine now for 3 months and just had a remap done without problem.

John

That was very helpful thanks. Might not be a huge gain, but it’s a gain all the same. There seems to be a bit of concern about oiled filters. Do you know if the K&N is oiled? 

[quote=Lobbers63]

That was very helpful thanks. Might not be a huge gain, but it’s a gain all the same. There seems to be a bit of concern about oiled filters. Do you know if the K&N is oiled? 

 

 

It’s a cleanable filter which is oiled. I have never had a problem with them and have used them for ten years in my diesel Jeep and 5years plus in my MX5.

I suspect there is a risk but only if there is surplus oil on the filter element.

Richard.

K&Ns are definitely oiled filters (they come pre-oiled).
I also have a K&N cleaning and re-oiling kit in my garage.

As I wrote on another thread, I had a problem with oil contaminating the MAF sensor of a 1992 BMW (fuel injected straight six engine) after fitting a K&N cone filter to it.

No problems using them on carburated engines (in fact I’ve got one for an SU carburettor off my other car and I’m about to buy another one one for a Royal Enfield motorbike later this week), but I won’t use one on a fuel injected engine again.

The Skuzzle intake works. extra BHP as promised

Hi the pipercross panel air filter is not oiled, just a dry piece of foam!

Cheers

Derek

 

My Pipercross panel filter IS oiled . I expected they’d be dry. Rather than retuning it I dabbed both sides with kitchen towel to remove any excess and cleaned the Maf sensor which I’ll keep an eye on it for contamination.

Hard to say if the filter alone increased performance because I fitted a catback exhaust mid section at the same time.