Simple physics.
To get more air, open up the filter particle holes

The larger the gap the more air it can go thru. Now for anyone that does high performance stuff this is ideal. But any vehicle that sees the element of severe dirt/dust/sand, you're just asking for it.
I used to use aftermarket air filters all the time back when I did high performance stuff on the streets where the dirt/dust/sand elements were not present.
But now that I have the 4runner I have no intentions of using any aftermarket filters. Ofcourse this is a personal preference so more power to those that want to get em and use em
I would pretty much guarantee that you will not see any "significant" performance gains from the airfilter. If you're looking for performance, I would recommend the following:
Exhaust,Headers. Then build the engine and if you're lazy, then you can just use some nos or just go forced induction (SC or turbo - your pick).
If you really want to do some intake stuff, I'd suggest doing a deckplate mod.