First off, if this has already been covered extensively on another thread please accept my apalogy.

While performance increasing is fun, I am mostly concerned with filtration to keep the car in as good of shape as possible. I have attempted to do some googling but have not been able to find any indepent sources.

I love my new 2005 mustang and want it to last forever, or at least as long as possible. My search for how to maintain it as best I can has lead me to find a great debate about air filtration. I'd like to know what everyone here thinks, especially some of you automotive sages out there.

 

I swear by K&N filters, myself--whether its oil, air or something else-- I refuse to use anything else

 

Any filter that meets or exceeds the requirements will be fine, but I do know K&N makes some of the top filters apart from paper elements. They have a million mile warranty too I believe.

 

I've used K&N religiously on my cars since the mid-80's. Never had a single worry or complaint with their stuff.

I'm looking at a CAI kit for my Mustang V-6 though, and for the first time I may choose another vendor. The K&N part has zero eye appeal imho. It just looks cheap and unattractive to me compared to some of the other CAI systems available.

 

P_Kiley, which kits are you looking at right now? I'm just starting to think about the options out there myself. Is it just me, or does it seem like the K&N for the V-6 falls a little short with added hp?

 

its because the 7-8 hp you get is without a required tune, most other CAI's advertise hp figures with a tune in place. I'm betting all CAI's are pretty close, there is only so much you can do to one anyway. I'd say get the one you can get a better deal on, and maybe like the looks of better.

 

OK, since you say you are most concerned with filtration you should know that you want to stay with a stock filter. K&N and all similar filters (and CAI's) are PERFORMANCE filters. As such, they have REDUCED filtration. They give up filtration in the interest of better air flow. Most people do not realize this! There was a lengthy study conducted that was quite interesting, but I've lost the link. It compared a half dozen performance filters against a stock filter in filtering performance only. I think it was a Ford truck, but the results will be the same regardless. All the performance filters performed filter duties substantially worse than the stock paper element filter. Again, this doesn't mean they are bad filters, it just indicates they are for a different function. If you want ultimate filtration, you go with the stock filter. If you want ultimate airflow at the expense of some filtration, you go with a performance filter.

 

Thanks for the info Tres. That was my suspicion. It makes since that increased airflow would result in more contaminants. While I think it would be fun to pump up the HP on her I cannot really justify it. So I am leaning towards going with best filtration to keep her in tip top as long as possible.

My searching on the internet only resulting in the realization that automotive air filter performance seems to be deeply held secret among the manufacturers. They should really have some formal ratings like air filters you buy for your house. I could not find any info on efficiency versus contaminant microns.

I've heard many people claim foam filters do a better job since they have depth. Have you read anything on them? Are they better or worse than the paper filters?