Benefits of running without an air filter or not?

[BLUETHUNDER]

Now i know the obvious of crap getting sucked up in to the inlets,but with no filter and more cleaner colder air running in to the car,wouldnt it increase performance.Or would more air upset the balance of running?.Its just that yesterday after the run back from FT whilst pulling away from junctions the cars seemed to be a bit breathless,like it was struggling for air.But got better one you were on the move.Any ideas?

[skoff]

As I understand it a 'performance' air filter is just slightly less restrictive than the usual paper jobs... And despite what the manufacturers claim I don't think the performance gains are that great.

So in theory removing the filter completely would be even less restrictive, but still I don't think the performance gains would be that much - certainly not worth getting something unwanted in your engine.

I have tried the air filter thing on lots of the cars I have owned, and also tried removing the filters completely from a couple of hire cars I have had in the past. I didn't see any real performance gains, except maybe the placebo effect.

[dkennedyvxt]

skoff said:

I have tried the air filter thing on lots of the cars I have owned, and also tried removing the filters completely from a couple of hire cars I have had in the past. I didn't see any real performance gains, except maybe the placebo effect.

you have to love hire cars...if a Ford Focus 1.6 hire car had been at Fighting Torque..it would have won

[Mad Mark]

Due to the position of the filter, it does get clogged up very easy.
If the filter is clogged then it does effect the engine performance. (Keep em clean!)
Myself and Gary tried a run yesterday with no filters and it made no difference although they were both fairly clean filters anyway.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Mad Mark said:

Due to the position of the filter, it does get clogged up very easy.
If the filter is clogged then it does effect the engine performance. (Keep em clean!)
Myself and Gary tried a run yesterday with no filters and it made no difference although they were both fairly clean filters anyway.

Im going to try and run it for a few days without a filter to see if it makes any difference.If it does i will buy a new filter.You cant clean them though can you? They are impregnated with oil.So i presumes that prevents you from cleaning them.?

[cerbfan]

BLUETHUNDER said:

Mad Mark said:

Due to the position of the filter, it does get clogged up very easy.
If the filter is clogged then it does effect the engine performance. (Keep em clean!)
Myself and Gary tried a run yesterday with no filters and it made no difference although they were both fairly clean filters anyway.

Im going to try and run it for a few days without a filter to see if it makes any difference.If it does i will buy a new filter.You cant clean them though can you? They are impregnated with oil.So i presumes that prevents you from cleaning them.?

I don't think its wise to remove the air filter and run for a couple of days just to see if it needs replacing or not. Buy a new one and replace it anyway its much much cheaper than a potential rebuild after sucking a load of shit into the engine. You can clean the original filters by the way, just by a Pipercross cleaning kit and use that.

Edited by cerbfan on Monday 13th August 17:41

[touching cloth]

I gave mine a clean following advice from Mark on another thread - didn't wash it or anything like that but did give it a brush down with my hand to clear off all the surface grit and a few small leaves and things that had gathered, got a surprising amount off of it I have to say. Not sure if it improved anything but it certainly made me feel all manly getting my hands dirty in the engine bay, so wasn't a wasted 10 mins by any means

[BLUETHUNDER]

touching cloth said:

I gave mine a clean following advice from Mark on another thread - didn't wash it or anything like that but did give it a brush down with my hand to clear off all the surface grit and a few small leaves and things that had gathered, got a surprising amount off of it I have to say. Not sure if it improved anything but it certainly made me feel all manly getting my hands dirty in the engine bay, so wasn't a wasted 10 mins by any means

At least you made the effort.I couldnt see Fubes doing anything manly like that.

[itsallyellow]

BLUETHUNDER said:

touching cloth said:

I gave mine a clean following advice from Mark on another thread - didn't wash it or anything like that but did give it a brush down with my hand to clear off all the surface grit and a few small leaves and things that had gathered, got a surprising amount off of it I have to say. Not sure if it improved anything but it certainly made me feel all manly getting my hands dirty in the engine bay, so wasn't a wasted 10 mins by any means

At least you made the effort. I could see Fubes doing any man like that.

Fubes in Homo shocker...........

[Mad Mark]

K&N also do a cleaning kit which I have used and Also Ram Air have one that Clever Trevor sell.
The Ram air cleaner seems to be white spirit, not sure if it is but it smells like it.
Both the above come with special oil to re-oil the filter. I'm sure the Pipercross kit is the same.

[Mr M]

BLUETHUNDER said:

Now i know the obvious of crap getting sucked up in to the inlets,but with no filter and more cleaner colder air running in to the car,wouldnt it increase performance.Or would more air upset the balance of running?.Its just that yesterday after the run back from FT whilst pulling away from junctions the cars seemed to be a bit breathless,like it was struggling for air.But got better one you were on the move.Any ideas?

Sounds similar to when I had two "Green" so called performance filters inflicted upon my car. The original pipes are now back and it runs superbly. Not a technician by any stretch but you could check it's all OE under the bonnet first and then take it to a professional if still not satisfied.

[Wilder]

I was told that running without an air filter will damge the bores over time and was not recommended .That was on a TVR factory service.

[ridds]

Indeed, unless you rebuild your engine very often don't bother taking the filter out, performance gain does not outweigh the damage it causes.

[JensenA]

Obviously a clogged up Air filter will restrict airflow, but don't remove the air filter. You've got a 4 and half litre engine sucking in air through a little intake thats 18" off the road, it's probably got more suction power than my 8 cyclone Dyson, and I bet if I went out and 'hoovered' the road it would soon be full of crap, I'd rather not have that in my engine.

[scooterscot]

When TVR recommended Century oil back in the days of the wedges,Century used to give us a small oil sample bottle with every 5 litres of their oil, we would send off a sample of the drained sump oil back to Century and they would do check on the contaminates in the oil. High amounts of silica was always present in the cars that did not use the air filter element. Silica is part of the composition of sand which means sand in the bores.Always use a filter of some type if the roads are dry.

[Mr M]

JensenA said:

Obviously a clogged up Air filter will restrict airflow, but don't remove the air filter. You've got a 4 and half litre engine sucking in air through a little intake thats 18" off the road, it's probably got more suction power than my 8 cyclone Dyson, and I bet if I went out and 'hoovered' the road it would soon be full of crap, I'd rather not have that in my engine.

Yes, a much better suggestion. Clean the air filter regularly and keep the power you should have rather than keep trying to find more. It's not all about BHP - they have quite a bit. In fact I get great satisfaction from driving my Cerb at 60 mph.. maybe it's time for the slippers.

[GreenV8S]

Don't do it, even for a test. Fine grit turns your engine oil into grinding paste and will continue to damage the engine long after you refit the filter.