Lack of Air Filter

I bought a replacement K&N element for my 1982 1600 gti and went to change it last night.

After opening up the air filter I was bit surprised to find that there was actually no air filter in place to replace!

So I've been driving the car for 3 months without an actual air filter. (yes, you're correct, I'm not the most mechanically minded of people, but I'm getting there)

Will this cause problems for the car in the long-term and would this explain why the car was quite thirsty on trips?

Is there any other things I should be aware of that would be caused by the lack of an air filter??


cheers

Unless your car has inducted grit and holed a piston you'll be fine.  I've run afew unfiltered cars - don't worry about it.

It would not account for heavy fuel consumption I'm afraid - that may be more to do with your right foot - lol

Ok cheers for that

Would the K&N make any real difference to the cars performance?

I've found that mk1s run better with the original filter to be honest. I've come across several running problems (stuttering, stalling, bad starting etc) associated with non-standard air filters, particularly the ones where the whole intake affair is junked in favour of one of the 'high performance' cones.

Nothing wrong with the original paper element to be honest! Better to have one than not have a filter though.

Cheers,

Drew.

Cheers Drew,

I'll run it for a month and see if  there is a noticeable difference. If not I'll stick it on ebay (the filter not the car)

u have got a good air filter there like! washable too! always have air filter mate if you can, might not make huge difference on standard engines but least u aint gonna get crap in your system! one mod compliments another and all that, whats goes in must come out

I've only found K & N filters to be better than the paper ones in that you don't have to keep buying them - you can clean it and replace it again - the air-flow is no different (on a standard or lightly modified engine).

Leaving the airbox standard is also the best move, unless you've modified the engine a lot - admitting hot air from the engine bay just lowers the power output (hot air, less dense, less oxygen, burns less fuel)