K N air filters any good ?

Hello guys right I been reading up on K N air filters and want to know if they as good as people say they are , and how many of you guys have used them or have compared the difference between them and the paper filters and what was your results? Be good to hear people's experiences TIA

They are an incremental gain. Ok by its self and may and a horse or two but when linked with a cam and performance exhaust manifold/system then you have an engine that can suck and blow much more efficiently. By itself then maybe a longer term investment as it can be cleaned not replaced so 10 year payback. Only an opinion but that's my understanding however limited.


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That's good, now when do these need cleaning and re-oiling, would this be like at every service for example I service my car every year before it's mot and change all the filters and oil regardless of how much I drive it, so I'm a case of me buying a K N air filter would it mean I could get away with a few years without cleaning and oiling, I know a visual inspection at the service time is ideal regardless just to make sure all is ok and not clogged with dirt

Not sure they are oiled in the first place but at least annually I would clean it. Not sure if you are uk baz bit if so you know it's not very dusty here but if you are somewhere with that burning hot thing they call sun in the sky then maybe a little more often. Also could look at piperX filters as they are similar. To be honest I still use paper in mine as I have not fitted the exhaust yet but when I get £400 to fit the full exhaust in stainless is shall do the filter then. But that said I am lucky to do a 1000 miles a year in it. Mostly little blats here and there for fun.


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I'm in the UK, I just been looking in to it as was given a K N air filter by a friend but like yourself, I use MANN paper filters so was just thinking weather to switch to the K N, Euro Carparts have a discount on and a cleaner and oil is around  £7.60 so was wondering just testing it out see how it goes, I do have a 4-1 branch manifold but the rest is a standard 1.6 GTI

Yes they do improve airflow in the standard airbox.

But as a cone filter looking for a COLD Air Injection, and unless they are ducted to the outside air.  When you let them free flow engine compartment air, then the average temp of the engine compartment, they will ingest over 130 degree air.

I've had one on my Cabby for 4 years.

I pop the cover off now and then and remove large items like leaves, bugs but I've never felt the need to service it yet but I will next spring.

As for performance, really?
We're talking about 99% of MK1's are for road use.
Ok yes K&N are one of the best when it comes to racing and it makes a small difference but that is not the case here.

I bought it because it's good for 1,000,000 miles or so they claim.
(as if any of us are going to test that theory) 😂
Ultra low maintenance and over time a money saver.
You might gain a tiny bit on mpg as well. 😉

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Oh and you get a go faster cool looking sticker to put somewhere!😂👍🏼

Might give it a go will order a recharge kit and give it a clean up and re-oil it and stick it in, I read about the 1,000,000 miles like you said we won't test it to that, but will see how it goes as i did get it for free,  its used but once cleaned it should be ok and see how its goes

BAZ-GTI said

Might give it a go will order a recharge kit and give it a clean up and re-oil it and stick it in, I read about the 1,000,000 miles like you said we won't test it to that, but will see how it goes as i did get it for free,  its used but once cleaned it should be ok and see how its goes

Service it by the book and you'll be fine for the time you have and the next 10 owners at least, it could live longer than the lifetime of the car! 👍🏼

I've had my K&N air filter panel in the car for 17 years years and 170,000 miles, I've only had to give it a good clean in the solution and re oil it twice in all that time.
Once at after about 100,000 miles and again when I swooped my engine over and I had the air box out of the car, it does take some time to clean, wait for the filter to dry and re-oil it.

I do get it out the air box when I change my fuel filter (makes it easier to get in the air box on a Gti) every 2 years and give it a bang off and empty any leaves etc out of the air box.

The new filter will come pre oiled so you don't need to do anything to it, just clean out the air box and pop it in.

Well worth buying if you are keeping the car as it will pay for it's self after a few years, I can't say I notice any difference in performance, the main advantage is it's just such a pain getting into the air box with the meter head etc on top of it so I don't have to change an air filter every year.