Is a K&N cold air intake worth it?

Long long ago, well before my tacoma i had k&n foul 1 maf sensor on my celica, 1 on my maxima, and seen another 1st hand in a friends corrola.

But i dont know if 50 other ppl i knew at that time had k&ns with no issues.

Seriously, its like 50/50 love hate with k&n.

 

You will be fine; however its money wasted; ideally you won't see any improvements in power.

That $300; I would invest into an electric fan conversion to remove the parasitic drag of the clutch fan on the engine; you will see increase in power there for sure.

 

All that would be accomplished would be moving the parasitic loss to the generator which will have to work a bit harder to run the fan. If using an electric fan would have been a better choice Toyota would have had no reason not to do so, a couple of electric fans would probably be cheaper than the viscous drive which is a relatively complex device.

The viscous drive has three modes, dependent on air temp exiting the radiator. That temperature is nearly at it's lowest at highway speeds where the viscous drive is essentially free-wheeling...

 

I just recently got a k&n CAI and it does improve my gas milage when I'm not heavy on the throttle which is not so often but I personally think it is worth it if you aren going to get an exhaust as well because it is mainly for sound

 

if you want more power and better MPG, try ethanol free gas. it costs about 50 cents above premium. this will keep your engine clean and better mpg and more power and rid of knocking.

 

I had a K&N in one of my other 4x4s for many years. Never had an issue with the oil and MAF .. but I wouldn't waste my money on one again. After a good many years my filter started to deteriorate to the point the edges of the pleats were .. well.. just gone. So, no filter going on there. I decided to stick with paper filters and just throw a new one in when it's time.

 

The only cool thing k&n does is put a hex nut on the bottom of those crappy oil filters. If every filter maker did that I would be so happy. Air filters are garbage.

 

I've played with several different air filter configurations before I realized NOTHING filtered better than the stock paper filter. Any "gain" you might see will likely come with your engine being fed dirty air.

Several trips across Glamis and thousands of miles in the AZ desert made me a firm believer in paper filters. The difference is having dirt/sand in your intake tube AFTER the filter....or not.

I'd actually be willing to sacrifice 1-2hp for even cleaner air

 

AEM dry flow > k&n oiled garbage filter

 

dyno test your vehicle with a stock OEM pleated paper air filter, then dyno it with no air filter at all. bet you can't measure the difference. the Miata guys even tried dynoing with a dirty stock filter 50% blocked with saran wrap, and couldn't measure any difference over the clean new filter vs no filter....

so now explain how a K&N filter magically gives you 'more horsepower' ......

 

Because ricer. Duh

 

unless companies are just photo shopping dyno charts you cant really argue with real world numbers

 

No company has ever been dishonest about their products performance. Ever.

 

8rwhp gain from an air filter

 

False.

 

i have one and i love it it made those high rpm roar and i haven't had the first bit of trouble i would deff recommend

 

Swap your stock filter for a dry flow type or leave alone. The oil ends up coating the maf and inside intake tube. If your stuck on a kn then pick up some maf spray and clean it at each oil change

 

These guys have a neat comparison.

https://youtu.be/ZXdLgaFXZzs
I can't remember if they mention parisitic loss due to an electric cooling fan or not.

 

I'm amazed how often this exact topic is repeated, it has to be the most repeated topic on the forum. AND...every single thread is always the same exact answers..."Tacoma already has a cold air intake", "oiled filters cause damage", "just make noise" etc, etc.

There are always more opinions from people without any real facts than there are actual facts.

If you look at the facts, oiled filters will not damage anything if they are done right. Don't over oil and you won't have issues.

Honestly, it comes down to what you want. Do you want increased sound with possible increased power? Do you want quiet? Don't listen to tell you repeated opinions, try to find the actual facts and make your informed decision.

 

...no can defense