How to prove a skeptic wrong...

First off , yes, this is "just another filter thread", so leave if you want.

After months of reading blah blah this and gyuck gyuck that about Afe and K&N air filters, I did something about it. I'm often the skeptic, and only 1 real way to be knowledgeable about what you say... try it.

I had 3 after market air filters on other rigs, 1 my dad's, only 1 seemed to work. So my last 2 trucks I went PFFT why bother, I'll keep my money.

I figured on a different truck, you can't always apply previous knowledge so i bought an Afe Pro Dry-s from Auto Anything, they did a great job on shipping. Idropped the filter in Friday and drove Sat /sun / today.... simply put there is no doubt the throttle responds better, it lugs less when i turn in 2nd gear, and it accelerates better, and I can almost dump the clutch w/o killing the engine. I BOUGHT THE THING to prove nothing would be different, but would have a lifetime filter!!

I don't know the mpg shift, Im going home at Thanksgiving, but with the weather the actual mpg wont be too accurate. If you have the 4 cylinder though it looks like $35 well spent , and I apologize for being a cynic and accusing some of you of blah blah.

 

What about the sound - is it louder?

 

No

 

dont some people get a little whistle with it?

and to the op did you remove the secondary charcoal filter? it helps us get air a little quicker i believe

 

I went from a stock paper to a K&N to a Prodry, and the AFE is definitely the best of the three. I definitely noticed and increase in throttle response and general drivability between the KN and AFE, and no oil!

 

no to the louder, sounds the same, yes to the charcoal filter is pulled... the fender elbow mod done too.

 

Any objective proof the throttle responds better?

Because honestly, that's about the only kind that matters.

 

No, I did not put it on a dyno, but I am able to compare back to back driving experiences. For 2 weeks I had both the K&N and the AFE and would put them in back to back and drive the same routes. The AFE "felt" better every time. I wasn't trying to make myself feel better about one over the other, since I owned both, so I wasn't tricking myself into justifying the expense. Nobody has to believe me, and no, I don't work for AFE, not even close. I just wanted to put it out there that I used both at the same time, and for my particular truck at least the AFE was the better choice.

 

I didnt think the throttle would go up quicker, just hoped the filter will yield better fuel economy. The first thing I noticed driving is that it responded a bit faster.

Objective, not really, not by a standard using test equipment, and I agree to wanting proof, I am a skeptic on the aftermarket claims and such. But it did surprise me to see the tach go up quicker, and if you are wondering i didnt drive it to test it , just drove like I normally would.
What could be objective is when I turn onto the next street in 2nd gear it tends to lug the engine a bit, its at 1000-1200 rpm.... shifting into 1st doesnt go well with these 5 speeds, it certainly does lug a lot less on those turns.

 

Even if you don't get any power, you will get improved throttle responce with a high flow filter, which is VERY needed on our trucks. Some people seem to think they feel sluggish driving around town, but its more because the thing is a little laggy imo.

I removed the secondary filter (unlike what some have said, my second filter was thick and obviously restrictive, very noticable when blowing through it) and put a high flow filter with a Dynamax high flow muffler and you can't even tell it's drive-by-wire now. Very responsive.

The engine didn't sound any different to me from just the air filter, but I do get a "whoosh" type sucking sound with a quick rev when stopped now that I like.

 

I couldnt tell the difference in power when I pulled the elbow in the fender, and the 2ndary (pulled the same time).My mpg went up 2 points between those 2 combined with 40 psi in the tires, and synthetic lubes.
Which is why I was surprised when that filter alone made a difference I could see.
I like quiet so I doubt I'll swap the muffler, but I'm gonna do the DT header eventually.

 

I took my secondary filter out about 2 weeks before I got my AFE filter. With the secondary filter removed and the oem filter i got 2 more mpg. When I put in the AFE I lost the 2 mpg but picked up throttle responce