Filter Comparison

This is a video of an experiment I conducted to test the effects of air filters on the performance of carbureted internal combustion engines. The test engine was mounted on a dynamometer to measure its horsepower and torque output. The only variable in the test was the air filter type; all other controllable variables were kept constant by the dynamometer software and the conditioned air in the test cell. The three different configurations tested were with no air filter, with a standard high performance air filter, and with a filter media top high performance filter. The filter media top is advertised to increase power production by reducing intake restriction through increased filtering surface area. The experiment sought to test this claim. The results were a bit surprising. The open carburetor made the most power, followed by the stand high performance filter and lastly the filter media topped air filter. It can be postulated that the filter media top added additional turbulence to the inlet of the carburetors venturies reducing flow and hindering fuel metering of the carburetor. An alternate hypothesis is that the filter top media was much closer to the venturies, shortening the effective entrance length from 4-5" (radius of the filter) to less than 1" (height of the filter) Explaining the observed phenomena is beyond the scope of this experiment and my knowledge, but it is evident that money is better spent elsewhere when modifying a carbureted engine for performance than on a filter media top for the air filter.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Engine
• Dyno
• Mopar
• Stroker
• KN
• K&N
• Extreme
• Top
• Air
• Filter
• Dodge

[black99rt]

If the vehicle this engine was installed in had a cowl induction hood, the results could potentially be different at speed.

If this engine had a 4bbl vertical throttle body and fuel injection (everything else being the same) the results could have been different.

Some competitors have been thrown out of the engine masters challenge for taping closed the bottom of this filter when required to use it. K&N has been/is a sponsor for engine masters.

[grvrjr]

@urbex2007 What filter did you switch to.

[urbex2007]

@Armornone yes it does and it also does not filter to the standard of a paper element. They are overrated and rely on marketing and advertising techniques. tell a boy racer they are good and they throw their money at them. All like sheep, not a scrap of experience between them. I used a K&N and it caused £200 of damage by splattering the MAF sensor with the red oil. I binned my K&N as it REDUCED power and passed huge bits of dirt through. Caught it before too much damage was caused to turbo.

[Armornone]

So the K&N air filter actually decreases horsepower ? Is this just for carburetor engines or all engines?

[War10ck1004]

don't you think the results would be better with speed?I mean, the last filter it more like a dynamic intake, so it must be better when the air speed it higher.

But it's surprising.