Air Filter exchange to K&N ?

[mcmike27]

I have replaced in our other vehicles all of the factory air filter with the coresponding K&N permanent element. Is this a worthwhile endevor with our 98 986? The reason I'm questioning this change is only becasue it's a pain in the you know what to access even the simplest things on these beauties. That being said once a year is not that much of an issue for the cleaning and reoiling required. Could there be a potential enginge fault created with a change in the airflow?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Also I detest having to pay yearly for a genuine 'PORSCHE' air cleaner element.

:)

[RFM]

Not K&N for me, a genuine filter element replacement should be carried out every 40.000 Km, which is normally spoken more than one year.

[Bill_SoCal]

Not worthwhile or recommended in my opinion. There are many factory paper elements that will do the job (Mann, Mahle, Wix, etc.). I'm not a fan of K&N at all. You get additional flow and horsepower through additional air flow, but with that comes particulates. I have also heard issues with the oil the filters are treated with relative to oxygen sensors. It is proven that the dirt and contaminants drawn into an engine are the leading cause of engine wear. Most of us just think of oil as the contributing factor to engine wear...not the case.

Amsoil has done some fairly extensive testing on filtration. I don't use their filters in my Boxster, Cayenne's, or daughter's BMW, however, their white papers and data are supported objectively with emperical data and worth review.

http://www.amsoil.com/video/company/EaFilters/index.aspx (2-3 minute videos (5 icons) that demonstate filter performance)

http://www.synpsg.com/uploads/g2202_Ea_Filters.pdf (Oil Filter/Air Filter Comparison - Good media efficiency comparison from paper to wet gauze type filters)

All the best,

Bill :beer:

[ekam]

Waste of time, money and you'll get free headaches.

Like my mechanic said "If K&N is so good, why don't all car manufacturers use them on their cars?"

[mikefocke]

Why use a filter that doesn't filter as well?

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/k%26amp%3Bnairfilter%3F for about a half dozen tests that all agree.

If you don't like changing filters, how are you going to keep the K&N cleaned and oiled?

How many filters could you buy before you paid as much as you are going to pay for the K&N?

Is it maybe you are buying the filters from the wrong source?

www.autohausaz.com has em for $21.30.

[JFP in PA]

Why use a filter that doesn't filter as well?

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/k%26amp%3Bnairfilter%3F for about a half dozen tests that all agree.

If you don't like changing filters, how are you going to keep the K&N cleaned and oiled?

How many filters could you buy before you paid as much as you are going to pay for the K&N?

Is it maybe you are buying the filters from the wrong source?

www.autohausaz.com has em for $21.30.

And the Wix air filter ( part #42475) sells for $16...................

[mcmike27]

Thanks to all! I was wary of the potential problems issues later on after installing it. I will return it asap and have ordered the stock filter in it's place. Once again many thks for the point in the right direction.

[mcmike27]

Bill, waht is the Amsoil p/n I could not get the web to find that part number when I went to do the selection for my make and model year on the new filters in your link and video. The web site selected the MANN filter not a Amsoil filter.

1998 986 basic Boxster

Thanks for the help.

[Bill_SoCal]

Bill, waht is the Amsoil p/n I could not get the web to find that part number when I went to do the selection for my make and model year on the new filters in your link and video. The web site selected the MANN filter not a Amsoil filter.

1998 986 basic Boxster

Thanks for the help.

Hi Mike,

Amsoil will only build the Ea filter through their filter shop...this is a customer offering for Porsche. I don't use it, although the nano-fiber technology is awesome. You may have gone into the online lookup through the site; even Amsoil recommends a paper (cellulose) element over manufacturing a specific filter for Porsche. The offering is currently Mann. Prior to Mann it was Wix. For $16-$20 bucks, both will do the job very well every 15K for you. I included the Amsoil link on my previous post so you could see the performance attributes between paper and wet gauze...the wet gauze (K&N) is great for air flow, but really poor for protecting your engine from particulates. Amsoil publishes this information for all to see. If it was not accurate, obviously it would not be available.

You may consider changing your air filter, cabin filter, oil filter, and oil on some weekend morning when your service is do. I really enjoy the service. Granted, to pull back the top and shrouds is a little bit of work for a two minute air filter change, however, it is well worth it. This is part of the great fun of owning your Porsche.

All the best,

Bill :beer:

[Bill_SoCal]

Why use a filter that doesn't filter as well?

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/k%26amp%3Bnairfilter%3F for about a half dozen tests that all agree.

If you don't like changing filters, how are you going to keep the K&N cleaned and oiled?

How many filters could you buy before you paid as much as you are going to pay for the K&N?

Is it maybe you are buying the filters from the wrong source?

www.autohausaz.com has em for $21.30.

Good stuff on your pages...

As a general comment, I've had great success with Sunset and go to Jeff as a primary resource, however, I sure like the autohausaz.com business model and online ordering ease. Great prices, fast shipping, and the shipping is free over $50.00. They seem to stay mainstream with OEM type replacement parts...$21.30 for an air filter is a great price. Add in an oil filter, cabin filter, drain plug washer ($0.37) and a pair of wipers...free shipping to your doorstep in 3-5 days. Hard to beat.

Bill :beer:

[petee c]

Down on power?

I got my '01 S in June. It has about 74,000km on the odometer.

Just wondering if anyone has felt a performance increase when changing out an old for new filter? on any vehicle Apparently my '01S is not as peppy as it should be. A neighbor I met who also has a 986S said that his car is noticeably faster than mine (He's only driven mine for about 5 minutes). I haven't had a chance to drive his yet because he's currently working on his CV joints.

My car isn't showing any CEL's, apparently has a drive-by-wire throttle. There is no hesitation or misfire. It idles fine. This indicates to me that the MAF and the TPS should both be fine, or else CEL's would appear. Yes the CEL dash light works, at least on startup. I have a generic OBDII scanner, but haven't scanned the boxster yet. My initial thoughts are really dirty airfilter? or dirty throttle body.

One night, I had stopped into see my fellow Porsche brethren, and I had made the comment to my neighbor that the car was fairly fast, not kick in the @ss fast. It can get to 100kph easily in 2nd gear, just that there was no real excitement. Just a lot of noise. I'm used to fairly 'quick' vehicles, so maybe the Boxster S isn't supposed to blow me away. My rainy day / winter car / grocery getter is a 2001 Jetta 1.8T with APR chip. It's rated at about 210hp and probably weighs 33-3400lbs. My other fairweather vehicle is a 2000 Honda VFR800 sport-touring motorcycle - probably 80hp and 500lbs. I would say may Boxster S accelerates about the same as my Jetta, maybe a touch faster. By the numbers, I think my Jetta should do sub-7's for 0-60mph, and the Box S should be in the sub-6 category...... My butt dynometer can't really tell the difference between the 2. Both my cars feel fast after spending the weekend driving my wife's 2003 CRV stick. I stopwatched the CRV a month ago coming home from the cottage, and with 2 kids, wife and dog in the vehicle, it did 0-60mph from a rolling start in about 13-15seconds.....

How much hp do u think I can lose in a Box S if it is in-fact a dirty airfilter?

Edited September 17, 2009 by petee c