K & N Filter
March 15th, 2009, 9:12 AM
#1
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K & N Filter
Ok...I have wondered this for years...
I have always put K&N Filters in my vehicles. Everyone says you get a few HP and better mileage. My doubt lies in the mileage department. The last truck I added a K&N to was a 2007 Dodge Ram with a 4.7 V-8. The mileage immediatly dropped 1.5 mpg. It seems to me that when you add more air the computer will add more fuel to compensate, thus lower mpg but more power. With CAFE laws always hammering the manufacturers, if an air filter bumped up your MPG, why couldn't the Big 3 put them in at the factory and be able to use that better MPG to their benefit?
I mean the reality is that the Big 3 are always looking to gain an extra 1/2 mpg...
Anyone got any insight???
I have always put K&N Filters in my vehicles. Everyone says you get a few HP and better mileage. My doubt lies in the mileage department. The last truck I added a K&N to was a 2007 Dodge Ram with a 4.7 V-8. The mileage immediatly dropped 1.5 mpg. It seems to me that when you add more air the computer will add more fuel to compensate, thus lower mpg but more power. With CAFE laws always hammering the manufacturers, if an air filter bumped up your MPG, why couldn't the Big 3 put them in at the factory and be able to use that better MPG to their benefit?
I mean the reality is that the Big 3 are always looking to gain an extra 1/2 mpg...
Anyone got any insight???
March 15th, 2009, 11:40 AM
#2
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Its just one aspect of cutting costs. A paper media filter might not cost but $2, whereas on some vehicles, cotton media filters would cost $20
Save $18 each on 1 million vehicles... $18million
Also its to help companies like K&N and Airraid. If everyone had a factory cold air intake, then how would they sell thier product. There is legislature in every area to protect a niche in the market.
Save $18 each on 1 million vehicles... $18million
Also its to help companies like K&N and Airraid. If everyone had a factory cold air intake, then how would they sell thier product. There is legislature in every area to protect a niche in the market.
March 15th, 2009, 12:22 PM
#3
Short answer is a CAI will decrease mileage. I have a K&N CAI, I know. I appreciate the additional revs and horsepower when I need it, but if you get careless, it can cost you a lot of mileage.
I cannot say whether just the K&N filters influence mileage either way.
I cannot say whether just the K&N filters influence mileage either way.
March 15th, 2009, 6:25 PM
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Its just one aspect of cutting costs. A paper media filter might not cost but $2, whereas on some vehicles, cotton media filters would cost $20
Save $18 each on 1 million vehicles... $18million
Also its to help companies like K&N and Airraid. If everyone had a factory cold air intake, then how would they sell thier product. There is legislature in every area to protect a niche in the market.
Save $18 each on 1 million vehicles... $18million
Also its to help companies like K&N and Airraid. If everyone had a factory cold air intake, then how would they sell thier product. There is legislature in every area to protect a niche in the market.
March 15th, 2009, 10:45 PM
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Maybe I am one of the few that have seen an inprovement after installing a CAI. I was getting 15mpg average (highway) and after installing a S&B CAI and a Flowmaster catback system I started getting 16.5 avg. Go figure.
March 16th, 2009, 7:22 AM
#6
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18 million is a drop in the bucket if it saved them 1 mpg on each vehicle sold. And GM, Ford and Dodge dont give a hoot about aftermarket companies. the big 3 can afford way better lobby folk that the aftermarket folks. The other posted answer states what I have suspected CAIs give you power but hurt your mileage.
If there were no laws protecting the aftermarket industry, then the automakers would have forced them out of business.
March 17th, 2009, 2:52 PM
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Coke and Pepsi are big, but there are lots of other smaller companies in that market.
Same in the beer market.....
I could go on and on but you get my point.
Fact is that the aftermarket world is a specialized market. The big 3 are in the car building business, not the car customizing business.
Don't get me wrong, I am glad there are alot of aftermarket companies out there...I buy lots of their products, I just like to keep the claims they make realistic.
What started this thread was a K&N question. After some research, even K&N doesn't claim in ANY of their advertising that the use of their products increase fuel economy. I am sure they would love to make the claim, they just know that no science would back it up.
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March 21st, 2009, 8:59 PM
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It's all about price. One mile a gallon increase doesn't mean anything to the car companies. They don't have to pay for the mile per gallon decrease. They would have to pay for the increased price of filters, however. The paper filters are very cheap and the k and n filters are not. Why don't they put a high performance sound system in every vehicle, cost. Why don't they put a turbo on all their vehicles when it's pretty much free power? Cost. It is, indeed, about cost. And only cost. They want to make the cheapest vehicle possible that is still up to the standards and make the greatest profit possible. When you think the paper filters might cost them $2 but a cotton-oil-dripper-maf-clogger-filter is $25 for them to produce, the numbers quickly add up.
March 22nd, 2009, 1:43 AM
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but the cost is not a factor for the manufacturers in this case. they spend hundreds of millions in research to get 1 or 2 mpg more out of a car.....i.e. many models now come with mobil 1 oil which cost 4 or 5 times as much, but they feel it is a superior product.
i love k & N and have used many of their air filters in many vehicles,and it is proven that they help with more ponies, but not more mpgs under normal circumstances.