houjames98765
Banned
Is it K&N vs. TRD?
Which High Flow Air Filter is better?
- Thread starter houjames98765
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Neither, OEM or stock equivalent is best.
K&N and TRD both use a cotton based oil soaked filter that will allow more dirt into your engine and filter out less particulate due to the fewer and larger filter fiber media. Seriously next time your in a parts store pull out a K&N filter and hold up the filter to the light, you can see needle sized pin holes where the light shines all the way through, if you can see through it sand can fly through it, that's how the filter has it's increased air flow. Ultimately the oil will over time wick off regardless of how lightly you apply it, it will then gunk up your MAF leading to decreased power and MPG and ultimately a P0171 code.
PASS on them, talking from independent oil analysis and experience here, had a K&N, I went back to stock. It's not worth the 5HP you MIGHT get. (And that's if you get your engine tuned after the change, if you don't have your engine tuned you may see a slight drop in HP.)
If you're looking for power do the deck plate mod.
If you still want to do a oil filter you should get a throttle body spacer to go with it. (Sarcasm here y'all.)
K&N and TRD both use a cotton based oil soaked filter that will allow more dirt into your engine and filter out less particulate due to the fewer and larger filter fiber media. Seriously next time your in a parts store pull out a K&N filter and hold up the filter to the light, you can see needle sized pin holes where the light shines all the way through, if you can see through it sand can fly through it, that's how the filter has it's increased air flow. Ultimately the oil will over time wick off regardless of how lightly you apply it, it will then gunk up your MAF leading to decreased power and MPG and ultimately a P0171 code.
PASS on them, talking from independent oil analysis and experience here, had a K&N, I went back to stock. It's not worth the 5HP you MIGHT get. (And that's if you get your engine tuned after the change, if you don't have your engine tuned you may see a slight drop in HP.)
If you're looking for power do the deck plate mod.
If you still want to do a oil filter you should get a throttle body spacer to go with it. (Sarcasm here y'all.)
Brilliant
New member
AFE I meant. Google it, data exists
absalom
New member
A whole HP??
Brilliant
New member
Yes, a three legged one.
Nunyabiz
New member
I actually prefer the Airaid Jr Kit with the Synthamax Dry Filter.
Simple replacement for stock filter but WAY thicker, way more surface area, better flow and in the year that I have had it on mine I don't even see pollen getting through. The more surface area the filter has the better the flow WITHOUT sacrificing filtering ability.
Plus with the whole kit, you get rid of the true air flow problem which is the Silencer.
Of course to notice the best improvement if you get more airflow IN you also need more air flow OUT.
So change muffler to a more free flow type of muffler.
in my case I ended up with a Borla Turbo XL.
That combination is going to give you about the best results overall.
Just changing a filter and nothing else is going to do very little.
But I do not think that any oiled filter is really a good option for a 4Runner because of the MAF being right on the other side of the filter, tiny little droplets of oil end up on it and screwing it up.
Also a K&N that supposed to fit the stock airbox is not even made for it, its some skinny little filter that needs some ridiculous adapter to fit into the slot.
The stock paper filter would be better than that.
and I really liked K&N filters back in the 70s and 80s when I had my Baja Bug they were the best there was and worked great but they attached straight to the carburetors (remember those?) and kept even the finest dust in the desert out.
But they aren't made for 4Runners.
The CIA K&N kits that replace the stock intake and do not use a stock flat filter that fits into the stock airbox are better, BUT they still have the oil that will get to the MAF problem and if you oil so lightly then you also get less filtration because the holes are so large it will let some fine dust and pollen through if the oil isn't there to trap it.
Plus if I am not mistaken seems to me they are usually over $250.
The Airaid kit has gone up in price, I bought mine 2 years ago for $158.89 shipped to my door. Its now around $180.
But you can pick up a nice Borla Muffler for $103.
So for maybe about $30-$50 more over the cost of a K&N CIA you can get a Airaid Kit with dry filter and a nice muffler so that you can get as much improvement as you are ever going to get as far as Intake/Filter goes.
If you get any HP gains it is so small as to be of little to no value.
BUT you WILL get much better Throttle Response, you can feel the engine just breathes better and in my case as I think everyone else you should also get about 1-2MPG gain ON THE HIGHWAY.
For some reason I notice little if any MPG gains is city driving though.
In the past 2 years it has actually paid for itself in fuel savings but that was because I did a 7,700 mile Xcountry trip, but still it was totally worth it to me.
I HAD to change my air filter because I had the crappy K&N that does not fit the stock airbox and oiled MAF I also had a pin hole in my muffler.
So for me it was a no brainer.
I spent $301 total counting the muffler shop $40 to take off and install new muffler.
Simple replacement for stock filter but WAY thicker, way more surface area, better flow and in the year that I have had it on mine I don't even see pollen getting through. The more surface area the filter has the better the flow WITHOUT sacrificing filtering ability.
Plus with the whole kit, you get rid of the true air flow problem which is the Silencer.
Of course to notice the best improvement if you get more airflow IN you also need more air flow OUT.
So change muffler to a more free flow type of muffler.
in my case I ended up with a Borla Turbo XL.
That combination is going to give you about the best results overall.
Just changing a filter and nothing else is going to do very little.
But I do not think that any oiled filter is really a good option for a 4Runner because of the MAF being right on the other side of the filter, tiny little droplets of oil end up on it and screwing it up.
Also a K&N that supposed to fit the stock airbox is not even made for it, its some skinny little filter that needs some ridiculous adapter to fit into the slot.
The stock paper filter would be better than that.
and I really liked K&N filters back in the 70s and 80s when I had my Baja Bug they were the best there was and worked great but they attached straight to the carburetors (remember those?) and kept even the finest dust in the desert out.
But they aren't made for 4Runners.
The CIA K&N kits that replace the stock intake and do not use a stock flat filter that fits into the stock airbox are better, BUT they still have the oil that will get to the MAF problem and if you oil so lightly then you also get less filtration because the holes are so large it will let some fine dust and pollen through if the oil isn't there to trap it.
Plus if I am not mistaken seems to me they are usually over $250.
The Airaid kit has gone up in price, I bought mine 2 years ago for $158.89 shipped to my door. Its now around $180.
But you can pick up a nice Borla Muffler for $103.
So for maybe about $30-$50 more over the cost of a K&N CIA you can get a Airaid Kit with dry filter and a nice muffler so that you can get as much improvement as you are ever going to get as far as Intake/Filter goes.
If you get any HP gains it is so small as to be of little to no value.
BUT you WILL get much better Throttle Response, you can feel the engine just breathes better and in my case as I think everyone else you should also get about 1-2MPG gain ON THE HIGHWAY.
For some reason I notice little if any MPG gains is city driving though.
In the past 2 years it has actually paid for itself in fuel savings but that was because I did a 7,700 mile Xcountry trip, but still it was totally worth it to me.
I HAD to change my air filter because I had the crappy K&N that does not fit the stock airbox and oiled MAF I also had a pin hole in my muffler.
So for me it was a no brainer.
I spent $301 total counting the muffler shop $40 to take off and install new muffler.
Chuckles89
New member
Me and my family have been using K&N filters for 10+ years and we love them! I got a drop in for my 4Runner (used), drop in for my dad's V6 4th gen, cone filter for Downey intake on the '89 22RE 4Runner, and a short ram intake for the Celica. Never had a problem with them.
Sure, they are overpriced, but they are really worth it if you can find a used one or find one on sale.
Sure, they are overpriced, but they are really worth it if you can find a used one or find one on sale.
krenaud33
New member
I have used the same K&N filter in two vehicles. Probably put 100K on my 97' Tacoma when I had the filter in that truck. I would say I have put 150K on my 4Runner with the same K&N filter. I have never had a problem with it. Mine sure has been worth the money. I am not saying it is the best for everyone.
jeremyc74
Banned
K&N filters flow more because they don't filter as well. There are tons of independent tests that show this. They may make a little more power, but it's not worth it IMO.
K&N Air Filter Review - Debunking the Myths (and why OEM is better)
K&N Air Filter Review - Debunking the Myths (and why OEM is better)
I just use whatever decent brand paper element filter I can get on sale at rockauto and call it good. I think the gains to be had power wise with a less restrictive filter are generally much less useful than more thoroughly filtered air entering the engine, and to me it isn't worth it to pay some sort of premium for a filter that supposedly does both things better than OEM. I think there's been some pretty good studies showing now K&N filters worse than most paper elements.
EDIT: there ya go, that chart isn't the first one I've seen that slams K&N for poor filtration.
EDIT: there ya go, that chart isn't the first one I've seen that slams K&N for poor filtration.
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And just to add to that you would actually need to have a filter that is restricting air flow to the point where it is reducing potential power for a different filter to make any difference.
That isn't the case with probably 99% of the vehicles with otherwise stock engines on the road today.
