Performance Air Filters: A boon or a pain

[inder.cool]

Performance Air Filters: A boon or a pain

About Air Filters:
A particulate air filter is a device composed of fibrous materials which are usedd to removes solid particulates such as dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria which might enter the engine from the air.

Performance air filters:
Performance Air Filters like from K&N are designed to increase horsepower and acceleration while providing excellent filtration. They are made from high quality material that ensures long lasting durability. These filters are washable and reusable and fit into existing factory air box.


Regular Filters(Factory Fitted) Vs. Performance air filters

Factory fitted air-filters are designed in a way that filters maximum possible dirt particles from the air before in enters the engine, the main drawback here is the factory fitted air filters restrict air flow to the engine because of its high filtration capacity and thickness.

On the other hand, here performance filters fill the gap, It provides the ideal balance of filtration and air flow, the end result being better engine performance and efficiency. It lets more air inside for fuel combustion but due to its material the harmful dust particles present in air do not enter the engine and hence damage the engine parts.


Points to Note:
In order to extract out the maximum benefits out of a performance air filter one must also increase the Jet size of the carburetor which in turn should let more fuel in for combustion and there by faster power generation.

P.S: Jets are used to control the flow of fuel which is devlivered to the engine for combustion.

In case, the jet size of the carburetor is not increased from its stock configuration then it makes the engine lean and may lead to production of less power than does the normal air-fuel mixture. It may also lead to over-heating of the engine.



Pros and Cons of Performance air filters:

Pros:

1) Increased power - due to faster fuel combustion.
2) Increased filteration of air coming in.
3) Less maintenance required.
4) Not required to change at lesser intervals(can consider cases of Fi bikes).

Cons:

1) Decreased Mileage of the vehicle.


Hope i was able to cover up every point

[Aryan]

Topic Moved and Approved.

[yuv_biKING]

that was informative... xBHP rocks... thanks inder..

[k2cool_87]

nice one inder....very informative....

[niranjanvaidya]

This is seriously good information presented in easy to understand way.

@Mods: can we have a general sticky thread on bike internals and suff like that (Dont know if it exists). This thread can be an excellent opening to it,

[aarunn]

thanks for this valuable thread

[Xenologik]

Ill differ from the standard stuff.. I've had a K&N air filter on my cbz-xtreme and the benefits were not good enough compared to the damage it was doing. I just had a better mid range (60-80-90 acceleration)

1) The filter is delicate and washing it with normal water ruins it due to salt deposits. Also the filter needs a liquid to be applied over it after cleaning which isnt cheap.

2) Cleaning with a hard brush is a strict no-no. You'll damage the filtering cloth / membrane.

3) During rains, if the filter is not enclosed then water gets easily inside the air intake duct.

4) You'll have to sacrifice a lot on the fuel consumption front otherwise the engine will run hotter than it should.

5) Cold starts can be a headache if your AFR is lean.

Ill not go for a K&N performance air filter again Don't know if there are "other" types of air filters around (like the uni filter) but this freeflow air filter is not for me.

[goldie]

wat about the jetting....

wat sizes should be done compared to the standard...

[Thunder]

Performace air filters are a Greater boon for the Cafe Racers,,,,, Drag Racers....
They are strictly No No for the Commuters and Tourers.....
Most of the Bikers use thier bike for the Traffic Signal GP's, Touring and Commuting on the go.....Performance Filters will increase the Maintenance of the Bike when compared to the Stock Maintenanceof the Bike.

Many Riders have the Habit of Testing it first and then throwing it Next......But its advisable not to even Test it unless you are an Performance Freak who wanna Ruin your Engine,,,,

[inder.cool]

I just had a better mid range (60-80-90 acceleration)

True this..coz of its nature of producing instant power..and after that if the bike will have to do its bit by pulling further.

1) The filter is delicate and washing it with normal water ruins it due to salt deposits. Also the filter needs a liquid to be applied over it after cleaning which isnt cheap.

2) Cleaning with a hard brush is a strict no-no. You'll damage the filtering cloth / membrane.

A separate oil/liquid comes, which is used only to clean such filters..so why use the normal water for its cleaning.

3) During rains, if the filter is not enclosed then water gets easily inside the air intake duct.

Its always recommended to put the filter inside the air box, so if its kept there..then it wont be a problem in the case mentioned by you as above.

4) You'll have to sacrifice a lot on the fuel consumption front otherwise the engine will run hotter than it should.

The only disadvantage of using it.

5) Cold starts can be a headache if your AFR is lean.

As i mentioned earlier, after installing the filter and for extracting out maximum benefits out of it..the re-tuning needs to be done of the engine. It includes the AFR too.

Ill not go for a K&N performance air filter again Don't know if there are "other" types of air filters around (like the uni filter) but this freeflow air filter is not for me.

There are many others too, but AFAIK K&N is the best in the business.

wat about the jetting....

wat sizes should be done compared to the standard...

Normally 5-10 numbers increase in the number of jets.

Performace air filters are a Greater boon for the Cafe Racers,,,,, Drag Racers....
They are strictly No No for the Commuters and Tourers.....
Most of the Bikers use thier bike for the Traffic Signal GP's, Touring and Commuting on the go.....Performance Filters will increase the Maintenance of the Bike when compared to the Stock Maintenanceof the Bike.

In no ways, it increase the maintenance of the bike. What more additional actions are to be taken when upgrading from a stock filter to a performance one..?

Many Riders have the Habit of Testing it first and then throwing it Next......But its advisable not to even Test it unless you are an Performance Freak who wanna Ruin your Engine,,,,

I know many riders who have been using it since a very long time..

[shabbarak]

My one week expirence with a K&N filter on a Unicorn :

bike sounded diffrent at first and after a few days it sounded like my dads old Rajdoot 175.

didnt get to the up jetting part as my CBZ mechanic said a firm no for it

last but very important i wash my bike every sunday with loads of water , with a K&N on it didnt start for 2 hours after washing , until i took out the filter (a very tedious job) and dried it with a hair dryer .

next day i was on my original filter .

[abdelazeez]

My one week expirence with a K&N filter on a Unicorn :

bike sounded diffrent at first and after a few days it sounded like my dads old Rajdoot 175.

didnt get to the up jetting part as my CBZ mechanic said a firm no for it

last but very important i wash my bike every sunday with loads of water , with a K&N on it didnt start for 2 hours after washing , until i took out the filter (a very tedious job) and dried it with a hair dryer .

next day i was on my original filter .

Heck, if you were in Pune, I know someone who'd want to buy that filter from you for a real cheap rate

(Only joking... don't take it to the heart dude)

[abdelazeez]

Performance Air Filters: A boon or a pain
Hope i was able to cover up every point

Well, you got most of em right, Inder. Thanks for summing up a lot of information for people here

[Joel]

@Inder - I wonder how at all you could conclude that a freeflow airfilter will tamper the fuel efficiency. Well its not.
With the right AFR and with the increase in the the charge volume entering the engine, it will indeed improve the over fuel efficiency.
But the reality is that, almost all have no clue what they are doing with the AFR and there is no specific jet size which will work optimum for an engine at every point of time. So the engine will end up running either richer or much leaner than needed, which means its not stoich. In most cases, people end up revving their engine for the new thrills found with the Induction roar and loose the fuel efficiency.
This topic being titled, if a freeflow airfilter is a boon or a pain is indeed really confusing for newcomers.
I have been using freeflow filters on my engines since 2004 and I have always seen only strict improvements. Again, I did my part right.
To give you an idea of how much difference it further makes, I have done a back to back dyno run on my 200cc Fiero and the difference was a whooping around 1.5bhp gain on that 20odd bhp engine.
On high performance engines, airfilters alone release close to 10% easily.

[Samarth 619]

^ @ Joel: Bro, What can we say about India? Most Indian machines don't have Fi Systems that can correct AFR, to suit the filter.
Neither have we much access to alternative devices. We rely on raw indicators like plug color, temperature, performance, etc...

Take my example: I have a P180 that already has enough heat to cook food on it, after 10-15 kms of city-riding, that's when its STOCK.
Imagine a K&N in it, without a Jet change?

almost all have no clue what they are doing with the AFR and there is no specific jet size which will work optimum for an engine at every point of time. So the engine will end up running either richer or much leaner than needed,

Joel Bro, The majority faces this problem, which is like about 99.9% . So, its a disadvantage "generally speaking".
I wish you were in my city. Anyways.

Also, I had a query to you. The new Karizma ZMR has a PGM-Fi system that has about 6 sensors, including one for Oxygen Flow.
So, can it automatically optimize the AFR, if we provide it a Performance filter? Upto some extent at least?