Im looking at increasing gas mileage maybe pwr. Would a new K&N in the stock box work good? Im not looking at doing a cone mount cause ive had issues with water getting in plus im sure the warranty would be byebye. Ive also got a 03 corolla wonder if the filter would help that one out? Im getting 38mpg with that onea and less with the xb?

 

better than nothing

 

If you plan on keeping the xB for a while, a new drop-in K&N filter will save money over the long run, compared to paper filters that have to be replaced. Depending on the price of a stock filter, and what a K&N would cost, you'd probably come out ahead after the 2nd or 3rd air filter change...

 

A K&N filter will give you no noticable horsepower or milage gains. What it will do is last the lifetime of your vehicle, keep your intake air cleaner, and save you money in the long run as you will not have to buy a new paper filter every few thousand miles. I have them in all my vehicles and wouldn't use anything else. I even have on in my 1986 S-10 Blazer and it's still going strong. K&N XB Part #33-2211

 

save up for a injen sri i had the k&n drop in filter (around 50 dollars) it did help lots too but i swaped it out for the sri

 

i'll have to disagree with that one. all the tests i've read showed that K&N filters filter out less material than stock paper filters. on top of this, K&N filters are notorious for coating MAF sensors with their oil, which basically makes your car run like poop because its giving the ECU false readings.

 

Well, I've got over 12000 miles on my K&N now and couldn't be happier. I've taken it out twice and just vacuumed off the crap and put it back in. Have had zero MAF problems and I really feel it runs a tad stronger in the midrange rpm's. Can't tell on milage really.. still getting 30+ around town and upwards of 36 to 38 on the road. Totally depends on how conservative or hard I drive.
I paid 39.95 plus tax at a local discount dealer.

Walt

 

The only time you run into problems with oil and the K&N filters is if you OVER OIL them. As for tests showing paper filters are better: Tell me where you read that info. I have K&Ns on my xb, my van, my pickup, my Eclipse and both my motorcycles and have never had a problem with them

 

After doing research i read about Maf needing cleaning with special fuel injection throttle body stuff. I cleaned my tacomas out but it was not dirty except the throttle body had little stuff on it. Dang toyotas are made to have lights come on at 80k! My corollas engine light is on 03 with 80k i bet its the oxy needing a little cleaning.

 

just because you havent had any problems doesn't mean they filter any better. i'll admit that cotton gauze filters are close (but not equal) to paper when it comes to filtration, but with the added danger of killing your MAF. honestly, i've never had a problem with a K&N in the past either, but i dont feel an extra .5 hp at the top end is worth the risk. (plenty of independent tests will also show you that the flow difference is negligible)

just look at this picture. the top left sample is paper, the bottom is standard k&n drop in. http://63.240.161.99/bitog/airfilter/napa1.jpg from this page: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest3.htm also check out how K&N likes to contradict themselves near the bottom of the page.

you can also read his flow test here: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest2.htm


Jim Conforti of BMW tuning fame also did some flow and filtration tests and came up with similar results.

i'm sure you also realize that surface area can be a factor, and K&N has much less of in than a paper filter. this really comes into play when the filter is dirty.

 

Having used K&N filters since 1985 (that's 20 years) with no problems means something. You just admitted you've never had any problems either so what's the problem. If you don't like or trust them then quit using them !!!! How lomg have you been using a K&N filter? A year or two? I don't use them for milage or horsepower increases. I use them because they do the job they are supposed to. I clean my filters every time I change the oil, 5,000 miles (sythetic oil) and they have saved me lots of cash over the years and they filter BETTER than paper filters. Do you honestly believe everthing you read? Real experience means a lot more than some article.

Sorry tacomatrd, didn't mean to hijack your thread

 

I've used K&N gauze filters and Uni foam filters on my cars and motorcycles over the past 20 years. Never had any problems with them, and the Unis seem to flow more air, in the same application.

Here's a pic of a Uni dual-stage foam filter I was using in an SRT-4 I used to own. It was $24 from a local motorcycle dealer. Just needed to know the OD of the neck that the filter had to fit around, and the dimensions of the airbox, and found one that fit just fine:




On my xB, I got a similar Uni filter, and have it squeezed into the left corner of the middle grill. I attached some flexible aluminum ducting from the filter to the airbox, removed the stock air filter, put some black window screen mesh between the airbox halves, and it runs just fine. The filter is getting fresh outside air at the grill, being filtered, going straight into the airbox, thru the screen mesh, past the MAF sensor, and into the intake. Force-fed, colder outside air has gotta be better for it! I consistently get in the low 30's for mpg, so it didn't hurt mileage at all. I need to have someone with a manual trans stock xB drive mine for comparison purposes, just to get a more objective opinion.

 

^^^ is that like a sock filter??? kind of looks like it its cool to say the least

 

I agree with the others, the drop in filter is worth it.

When I had mine in I noticed a difference in power and also in gas. Not to much difference in power but noticable gains when taking off.

Some say it's not good for gas which can be true b/c people like hearing the sound the filter makes when pushing down on the gas pedal.

It's all on you on what you get. If you decide on getting one, I have a used one for sale $25 plus shipping if interested. It has about 15000 miles on it. They have a 1mil mile warenty.

KidKamel

 

so when K&N even admits that they're product does not filter as good as paper filters i shouldn't believe that either, eh?

to get this back on topic...
you will not see any mpg gains by changing to a different style of air filter, but having a clean filter is much better than a dirty filter for mpg.
if you're trying to get the best mpg, depending on the type of gas you use, you may want to run a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through the system every once in a while, before an oil change. also look into a grounding kit. i thought those things were a bunch of crap until i tried making one myself. i saw an extra 4mpg after installing it. and of course there's the usual advice of keeping the windows rolled up and making sure tire pressure is at optimal levels.
i even tried changing driving styles to get better mpg. i reset the ecu one day, and then drove like a granny for 3 tanks, stayed out of boost, never shifting after 3k rpm, got real friendly with 5th gear. saw a whole 1mpg difference

 

aychse7en

I stand by what I said. I have used K&N's for many years on a variety of vehicle's with excellent results. Hell, my brother has had one on his 1989 Toyota Celica since it was new, and he 357,500 miles on it ( the original engine) and it still passes smog every two years. If you don't lile 'em don't use 'em!!

 

I have a k&n on my honda accord.(248k on a 90 ex) what made the most difference was when I unbolted the bottom of the box and let the top half with the exposed filter suck in fresh air. It's like having a SRI that looks stock at a glance, just as good, less likely to get attention, and easy to convert back to stock again.

For the xB, I would probably have to come up with some industrial velcro mount.

 

i've seen this mod on a few different cars. in all the cases i've seen, it provides measurably greater results than a CAI, plus you get to keep the touque down low. all that + being a free mod; can't do much better than that!

 

greater results than a cai? hardly. it's hot air......

 

I would spend the $85 and get the YDR short ram with the K&N..seems to work great