Could the hole in my air filter have been the problem?

Actually it’ll give home a better final gear ratio and lower his RPMs on the highway.

Will suck around town accelerating. But once up to full momentum (however long it takes to get there) his RPMs will be lower than stock on taller tires.

Still only good on straight flats. Anytime you accelerate to get up a hill you’re fighting the weight again.

 

Running at lower RPMs is the problem. This little motor has no power until about 3800RPMs. Going to 33’s is a struggle for this little motor. I even regeared to 4.88’s and it’s still a problem.

 

A hole in the air filter certainly isn’t good. Motor could have sucked in whatever chunks the rodent left laying around, and any dust you drove through would have gone right into the engine.

Your motor is probably fine but there’s the potential for damage from inhaling dust - it’d be particularly concerning if it was a turbo motor, or a diesel

More likely if it’s performing better now, they cleaned the accumulated dust off of the Mass Air Flow sensor

 

I drove in both directions, though. Just to make sure. It just performed better overall.

 

Even in that swamp heat if cools off at night. Doesn’t it.

 

It does have 94% of peak torque around 1,900 rpm, at least there's that

 

Haha I guess so. That would be great if I never had to go over 35 mph.

 

Placebo

 

Is it possible the dealer did a health check and updated with a newer flash? I'm not familiar with the 3rd gen autos. Just a thought.

If the 2.7L airbox is anything but similar to the 3.5L, there is a secondary air filter/noise damper built into the airbox. I doubt a hole in the air filter would have caused any damage.

If the tech replacing the air filter is a thorough mechanic, he would have cleaned the mass air flow sensor considering there was a hole. Oil change, air filter, clean mass air would definitely have a change in performance.