Getting the 88 vert ready for spring. I read an article from GM concerning various air filters and their efficiency.
I was seduced into buying a square K&N filter by the display on the parts counter with the ping pong ***** floating in a tube to show how the air just rushes through their filter.
The article by GM engineers said that the factory paper air filter stops more dust than the K&N. I live down a dirt road in the boonies and dust is an issue.
So which filter is best if you have to drive in dusty conditions somwtimes like I do?
I did not buy the conical filter as I like to have cool air from outside, not hot oily air sucked into the motor.

 

K&M is a fine filter. Paper filter (quality) is a fine filter.

The car won't know or care if you have a K&N filter. Choose how to spend your money.

 

the stock paper filters better, but flows a little less. its kind of basic physics, for a given filter size, the only way to get more flow is to have less filter...

that being said the K&N is fine

 

Or magic, amiright?

 

I got the washable racing beat square filter. It was on sale on their site for $10 and since i was buying other **** from them at the time i thought might as well! Go with whatever you please. If you go oem then replace when necessary, if aftermarket then wash when needed.

 

I wash the K&N and oil it once a month because of extreme dust. Thanks, guys, I'll keep it, it was expensive and I'll save money by not having to buy OEMs.

 

well the K+N may have less restriction but it is an oiled filter so the physics part does have exceptions.

dirt passing by attaches itself to the oily surface, which allows the filter to flow more with less restriction. downside is the oil also gets pulled into the intake tract and sometimes jacks up intake sensors by coating them with sticky oil that collects dirt also and keeps the sensors from reading accurately. this is a big problem for IAT and MAF sensors.

our dirt bike filters used the same principle, but once the filter got dirty enough you could really notice the performance losses.

as far as i'm concerned the K+N filter oil is too thin, because they wanted to keep the filters "reusable" while in a heavy mesh screen. the bike filters were basically like a sponge material and we threw them in gasoline, let them air out and put a thick honey like filter oil on them(which you can't do on a rigid frame filter).