Is it worth the extra $200 to get an aftermarket Air Intake System System over a Performance Replacement Air Filter?

K&N as well as others Air Intake Systems tout an increase of "Gain Up To 26 Horsepower" or so over the factory air intake system and the Performance Replacement Air Filter "Adds Up To 10 Extra Horsepower". I find it hard to believe that there could be this much performance increase over the factory system with a new paper filter.

I would think the stock airbox (using a performance replacement air filter), which pulls fresh air from outside the engine compartment would perform better than an aftermarket Air Intake Systems which draws in warm air from the engine compartment?

Has anyone had an increase in mileage using the Air Intake System or Filter Replacement?

 

The main thing about the aftermarket air filters is they get rid of the air restrictions and you can get more air to the engine which is a good thing.

The intake kits replace the OEM ones and make them smoother inside, removing additional air restrictions.

This is just basic, so someone else can add more...

 

There was another thread recently thet had dyno resulte for the three main fipk's. The best result I remember is @ 9Hp to the rear wheels. If you search here you can probably find the info I am thinking of.

 

The review was from FTW http://ftw.truckmoxie.com/tenarticle.asp?sid=2&aid=38

 

I replaced the air filter with a K&N filter at about 300 miles on my new 2003 XLT supercab. The first full tank of gas came out to be 11.8MPG. Now, my wife drives the truck to work (~ 8 miles/day) so most of the driving is city and the truck probably doesn't get to warm up too much either. I'm a little concerned about the mileage. I knew it wasn't going to "sip" gas but I thought I'd get at least 14MPG. I don't get to drive the truck that much but my seat of the pants impression was that there was a slight increase in power, but not much.
As they say "your mileage may vary"

Curt Schilling

 

I opened up the air box as shown in the tech article section and noticed a decrease in city mpg and no power difference. I was also using a K&N filter. I put the stock air box back on, and got the mpg back (about .5 to 1 mpg).

I think the difference was sucking hot air from the engine compartment compared to cool air with the stock setup. I think opening up the intake will make a power difference at higher RPM, but my truck (97, 4.6, 4x4) rarely gets over 3500 RPM.

 

Shortly after I purchased my truck, I put in a K&N airfilter. I noticed absolutely no difference in mileage or performance over the stock filter.

After about a year, I put in an Airaid FIPK. Above 3,000 rpm there was a noticeable (but not huge) power increase. Hard to say if there was a mileage increase - if so, it was slight. At wide open throttle, the truck makes much more sound with the FIPK.

If you are looking for a few more high rpm ponies, the FIPK will make you happy. If you want more low rpm power, look elsewhere.

 

Curt Schilling? I was always wondering what happened to you after baseball

Anyways, just add a K&N air filter and be done with it. You'd be better spending the money on another mod that will add more horsepower than that!

 

Schilcur

Your mileage will increase as the truck breaks in. You will most likely see this change at about 2000 miles. Don't let this low mileage with only a few hundred get you down. The other thing to remember is it's a truck. I get great mileage with mine 12.5 - 13.5 driving it like I stole it.

 

I just installed one of the new Amsoil filters in my 97 Expy 5.4 105,000 miles. I don't know if I gained any HP but it had noticeably crisper throttle response and seems to run smoother. The MPG did not change.
I've run these filters for years in all of my vehicles and this is the 1st one that I noticed a difference in without also adding a free-flowing exhaust.
And no it's not just in my head because my wife noticed a difference and I hadn't told her I changed anything. She asked me why my truck is "snappier".
No flames please, just my experience.

 

Put simply, you won't notice a difference with the K&N as far as performance goes. The benifit is that you will never have to but another air filter again. You just have to clean your K&N every 50,000 miles and pay for the cleaning kit.

As for the FIPK or CAI or whatever you want to call it, the more mods. you do the more of a difference you will notice. The FIPK (K&N) by itself won't do much, maybe a couple RWHP, but in conjunction with a F.I system upgrade, headers, underdrives, etc. you will notice a cummulative difference. Not to mention an awesome sound.

Now, for a while there has been some talk about the cotton/gauze type filters' ability to filter out harmful debris. Some have said that increased silcone levels in their UOAs are due to the cotton filter's inability to filter out fine particles. Whether this is true or not, the jury is still out.