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Facts You Should Know About Air Filters |
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| We believe the
primary function of an air filter is to deliver both high airflow and
superior dirt protection. We design our air filters to provide minimum
restriction allowing high airflow into an engine. In the vast majority
of cases increased airflow will increase engine performance measured by
horsepower and throttle response (torque). The performance benefits of
maximum airflow are clear, compelling and well documented. That is why
so many professional racers are willing to run expensive vehicles with
no air filter, as opposed to installing a disposable air filter. They
are seeking the additional horsepower and throttle response needed to
win the race. |
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We design our air
filters to provide superior filtration of the contaminants that can harm
your engine while maximizing the airflow characteristics of the filter
in question. The ability of an air filter to protect your engine is
generally measured using a testing procedure developed by the Society of
Automotive Engineers identified as the SAE J726 procedure. We subject
a sample of our filter designs to this test procedure using Coarse Test
Dust, which includes particles ranging in size from less than 5.5
microns to 176 microns. As a point of reference, a human hair is
approximately 50 microns in diameter. The result of the above test
procedure is a specific air filtration efficiency number. This
efficiency number represents the percentage of test dust retained by the
filter and thereby kept out of an engine. Our goal is to design our air
filters to achieve maximum airflow while targeting overall filtration
efficiency at 98%. |
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Because no two air
filters are alike, the specific airflow and overall filtration
efficiency will vary depending on the filter in question. However, you
can rest assured that each air filter we sell, has been designed to
achieve high air flow while providing superior filtration. |
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| Both air flow
and dirt protection are critical to engine performance. For this reason
a consumer should always evaluate an air filter based on both its
filtration efficiency and air flow capabilities. It is very easy to
design an air filter that exhibits high airflow simply by reducing its
filtration to unacceptable levels. As the “look” of a K&N air filter
has become popular, many companies have begun offering products that
copy that “look.” While imitation is said to be the sincerest form of
flattery, our own testing has shown that many of these look-alike
products do not provide a safe level of engine protection. |
