Do Foam Air Filters Kill Your Engine?

[GR33 vous]

Was thinking of getting one of those foam/mushroom air filters the ones made by HKS or Greddy but was speaking to someone and they said they don't filter well and sand will end up in the inake manifold and kill my engine. Anyone know if this is true?

Cheers.

[Leon.T]

from what I've heard, buying a cheapo one will kill it if something goes wrong. But I've had my apexi for a yr and had my HKs for a few yrs. My car is fine.

[QWK32]

i've seen one of the cheepo ones being sucked to pieces by a high flow turbo.

[GR33 vous]

Yeah I wouldn't buy a cheapo, apparently apexi flow and filter the best, I have a K & N at the moement but it's a bit worse for wear so thinking of changing

[Wink]

Get a name-brand one, and maintain it (eg replace/oil filter as maintenance) and it'll perform great.

If they were that bad for the car you wouldn't see them on top end time attack cars as seen in BMI videos.

[GR33 vous]

Get a name-brand one, and maintain it (eg replace/oil filter as maintenance) and it'll perform great.

If they were that bad for the car you wouldn't see them on top end time attack cars as seen in BMI videos.

Yeah that's exactly what I said but the mechanic reckons they are on there because they make the outright most power, they flow the best but let the most debris throgh. I was reading on the forums and people with the hks pods say they are really loud so the part about them flowing the greatest must be true.

[2BNVS]

my old hks pod sounded the best by far, but after i got it tuned running 20+psi minimum, i did find that the foam was slowly being sucked in, clogging up my afm at the start, then once i removed afm i noticed it around my turbo mouth slightly... i now use K&N, although induction noise isnt "as" loud, its still noticible though, but filters alot better.

Edited August 29, 2007 by 2BNVS

[swanny180]

Cant remember which magazine, think it was Zoom, did a test on different pod filters and it turned out that the foam style filters were the worst filtering out of all of them.

On a timeattack car they are only really worried about making power, not the long term life of the engine.

Definitely not a good argument to say that because a purpose built race car uses one filter that it will therefore be a good choice for a road car.

Id steer clear if possible

[abu]

APEXi power intakes are probably one of the best quality filters I have seen.

Really strong design and very durable, where as the HKS foam style filters along with the TRUST ones need regular maintenance such as oiling and changing of the filament regularly.

Have seen a HKS filter at its worst, only had about 70% left what what should have been a full filter! Foam does tend to break away and get sucked in over time, especially when your running high boost.

Just play it safe and use a paper filter, they work very well and will last you a long time.

Edited August 29, 2007 by abu

[johnGTS-t]

ive been using a Blitz pod filter and its worked great. I was thinking of changing since this one is is getting that way but i think ill stick with the brand.

[Piggaz]

Whats wrong with a airbox and panel filter?

[abu]

Whats wrong with a airbox and panel filter?

Sounds boring? Hehe

Cant always use standard air box that easily with after market turbo's either.

Easier to just throw a pipe and pod on.

Edited August 29, 2007 by abu

[cosworth1971]

paper is finer than foam anyday!thats why u get performance gains,but at the price of not fine filtering.IMO

and foam oil is bad for MAF wire

[sh@un]

AutoSalon mag tested all the popular pod filters a while back, and the best performer was a cheapo 3T Racing paper filter- can't remember the exact name. I'm sure someone will correct me.

But, yes: paper > foam

[W0rp3D]

In vic it is also illegal to use an oiled filter.

[tridentt150v]

The newest HKS foam filter is a triple layer dry unit, you don't oil it. The older style oil type is a twin layer and usually purple in colour [although I've seen other colours, green, blue, yellow etc]. The new triple layer dry foam filter is a light blue.

[4drftn]

my old hks pod sounded the best by far, but after i got it tuned running 20+psi minimum, i did find that the foam was slowly being sucked in, clogging up my afm at the start, then once i removed afm i noticed it around my turbo mouth slightly... i now use K&N, although induction noise isnt "as" loud, its still noticible though, but filters alot better.

yeah i have a hks pod it is a bit worn out and dirty might change it actually. but yeah they make a mad! induction noise

[4drftn]

im just looking for a new element now and was wondering is there a difference with yellow element and green? is one better than the other?

also i notice there is a blue and the packet says "3 layer dry element" take it thats a better one...

wouldnt the oiled elements filter better?

Edited September 2, 2007 by 4drftn

[Richieb]

Hmmmm..! I was/am running 2x HKS's, they seem ok to me(the Green multi-layer ones). Dyno said they were good, but thats all I can vouch for to be honest... oh, and they fit neatly under the hood too.

Anyway, they are for sale, as now got Z32's under hood.

Anyone got good, honest opinion on what to replace them with?

Sorry to Hi-jack this thread, but it is covering same subject.

[tridentt150v]

im just looking for a new element now and was wondering is there a difference with yellow element and green? is one better than the other?

also i notice there is a blue and the packet says "3 layer dry element" take it thats a better one...

wouldnt the oiled elements filter better?

Can't say about the colours, maybe genuine vs non HKS???

The light blue triple layer unit is a better thing. You don't have to oil it so no afm contamination, also the third layer has a very small cell size and [it looks like when compared to the purple dual layer units] it would definitely scrub the air better.

Oiled elements do a very good job, the oil traps the dust, unfortunately - esp. if you over oil - you can get oil on the afm sensor and affect performance. Any filter that uses a prelube or oil will do this.

The real secret to having a good air filter is to clean it often and replace it as per specs regularly. And we are all guilty of overclocking at some stage.

I thought about replacing my HKS mushroom pod with a K+N/Apexi pod, but when the dry triple layer elements came out I stayed with it and just replaced the filter.