Air filters

Zacho

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2007
Location
Suttons Bay MI
TDI
2015 GSW
Wondering if anyone knows where I could buy the adapters or kit to change my filters from original to the cat or K&N?
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
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K&N air filters are no good!

As for an adapter, you can have an exhaust shop custom-make one for about $20.
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
Zacho said:
Wondering if anyone knows where I could buy the adapters or kit to change my filters from original to the cat or K&N?
With about a 2:1 ration most of use here don't like the oiled type K&N filter. They tend to damage the MAF and unless you have done some serious modification, they offer no performance advantage while providing less effective filtering. The oil issue is usually caused by failure to properly re-oil the filter.

I understand there is a dry K&N filter (conical design) and I would guess from your question that is the one you are talking about as the standard oiled version does not require any modification. If that is the case, try searching as I believe fitting the conical shaped filters has been well covered in prior messages.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
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‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
What many new folks don't know is that the stock paper filter has far more surface area (and thus filtering ability, efficiency, and airflow) than most aftermarket filters. The exception to this would be a large paper cone filter from another application, such as a heavy equipment engine. All-in-all, "upgrading" to an aftermarket filter usually ends up being a downgrade.
 

boogieman

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Location
Lewistown, MT
TDI
'04 Jetta TDI, Gray, Completely stock(unfortunately), including the gay hubcaps, 138,000miles
All that 10 feet of PAPER Media does is slow down the airflow, do some research, K&N and Airaid and AMSoil air flow and filtering capacity is far superior to paper elements, though, I do second that the oil in the K&N is a pain in the booty.
 
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velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
My oil-less EA from AMSoil has been great.

The turbo spools easier after installation so it's pretty obvious it outflowed the stock unit and a K&N.
 

REDNECKDZL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Location
Omemee
TDI
2001 Jetta, 2015 Jetta, 1984 Wabbit TD, 1986 RX7 waiting on AHU swap
I second that, I think though to get any benefit of a decent cone filter you need to free up the exhaust side
velociT said:
My oil-less EA from AMSoil has been great.
*
The turbo spools easier after installation so it's pretty obvious it outflowed the stock unit and a K&N.
 

40X40

Experienced
Joined
Feb 12, 2006
Location
Kansas City area, MO
TDI
2013 Passat SEL Premium
boogieman said:
All that 10 feet of PAPER Media does is slow down the airflow, do some research, K&N and Airaid and AMSoil air flow and filtering capacity is far superior to paper elements, though, I do second that the oil in the K&N is a pain in the booty.


All else being equal, more AREA makes for less restriction.

If the original equipment air filter has (for instance) twice the airflow capacity as the engine itself, how does an aftermarket filter improve anything?

I am not claiming the figure is accurate, but if the OEM filter flows more air than the engine can flow.... It is not the choke point and there is no advantage to replacing it.

Bill
 

Farfromovin

Torque Addict
Joined
Apr 9, 2005
Location
Ventura, CA
TDI
03 Golf 2dr- PD150 6m
I prefer my OEM fit, finish, quality, cold/fresh/ram air intake from the Euro R32 DSG. I don't particularly fancy the idea of getting oil on my MAF. AND, unlike aftermarket cold air intakes, I'm pretty impervious to hydrolocking through large puddles.
 

TdiRacing

Vendor
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI Cup
On the dyno I tested the pipe open, no filter vs. K&N drop in filter and OEM paper. No difference. Only difference was the sound when open pipe was used. There is no use arguing with people on this point. People have argued this point for years. If it would have made any difference, we would have used racing for the last 6 years. The satisfaction is the illusion that becasue you spent the extra money, that it has to be better...:rolleyes:
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
TdiRacing said:
On the dyno I tested the pipe open, no filter vs. K&N drop in filter and OEM paper. No difference. Only difference was the sound when open pipe was used. There is no use arguing with people on this point. People have argued this point for years. If it would have made any difference, we would have used racing for the last 6 years. The satisfaction is the illusion that becasue you spent the extra money, that it has to be better...:rolleyes:
Interesting results. :)

Now, which one is more accurate? The real dyno, or the butt dyno? ;)
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
TdiRacing said:
On the dyno I tested the pipe open, no filter vs. K&N drop in filter and OEM paper. No difference. Only difference was the sound when open pipe was used. There is no use arguing with people on this point. People have argued this point for years. If it would have made any difference, we would have used racing for the last 6 years. The satisfaction is the illusion that becasue you spent the extra money, that it has to be better...:rolleyes:

Well worth repeating.
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
dieseldorf said:
L, this is what's real!

<crapalier.jpg>
No that's an awesome setup! K&N, ram air, all the essentials!! :cool: Reminds me of a buddy of mine who put a 4" PVC "toilet pipe" in his engine bay that hung out the bottom of his car by about 6" and "directed fresh air at the air filter." Simply too cool for school. ;)
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
boogieman said:
All that 10 feet of PAPER Media does is slow down the airflow, do some research, K&N and Airaid and AMSoil air flow and filtering capacity is far superior to paper elements, though, I do second that the oil in the K&N is a pain in the booty.
* GROAN *

dieseldorf, where's your BS Meter JPG when we need it most?

OEM paper filter vs. K&N aftermarket filter: OEM filter has WAAAYY more filter area than K&N!


The OEM paper filter is sized to way outflow the engine to maintain less than 1 PSI of pressure drop thru the filter and meet stringent filtering requirements and have a 40k mile change interval. The size of the filter and airbox is roughly the same size as the stock filter and airbox in full size diesel pickup trucks (Dodge RAM/CTD, Ford SuperDuty/PSD, GMC/Duramax). Our stock airbox and filter setup is already over-designed for our TDI application. IOW, you CAN'T outflow the stock OEM paper air filter with a TDI engine, now matter how hard you try!

K&N lie detector test:


If people honestly believe there are real performance benefits to be gained using a K&N instead of the OEM paper filter, please show us plots from back to back dyno runs made on the same dyno setup on the same day before and after the filter change alone.

Closeup view of K&N filter media:



"Curb feeler" intake:


LOL!! Can you say HYDROLOCK?

K&N filter = MAF eater + engine sander + turbo sander + zero performance gains = BAD!! :eek:

A K&N filter might help some gassers but definitely not in a TDI application.


Stick with OEM filters:
 
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dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
n1das said:
* GROAN *

dieseldorf, where's your BS Meter JPG when we need it most?

OEM paper filter vs. K&N aftermarket filter: OEM filter has WAAAYY more filter area than K&N!
David, I came to the realization several years ago that "we can't save them all !!" Leave the Kool-Aid for the Kool-Aid drinkers ;)

Happy New Year to you :)
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Certified by a professional:

TdiRacing said:
On the dyno I tested the pipe open, no filter vs. K&N drop in filter and OEM paper. No difference. Only difference was the sound when open pipe was used.
A-men, bro-tha! A-men!
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Excellent post, David! However, I have one bone to pick... the Donaldson Powercore found on the 6.0 PowerStroke is simply massive... way bigger than the paper thing on the TDI. ;) It's a good thing too, because the 6.0's effective displacement is in the neighborhood of 18 liters, and the new 6.4 is even more. :eek:





http://www.donaldson.com/en/index.html
 

JASONP

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Location
Guelph
TDI
2015 Golf TDI Comfortline 6spd
VeeDubTDI said:
Excellent post, David! However, I have one bone to pick... the Donaldson Powercore found on the 6.0 PowerStroke is simply massive... way bigger than the paper thing on the TDI. ;) It's a good thing too, because the 6.0's effective displacement is in the neighborhood of 18 liters, and the new 6.4 is even more. :eek:





http://www.donaldson.com/en/index.html
Maybe we can mod the airbox to fit that thing in there!
 

n1das

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2002
Location
Nashua, NH, USA
TDI
2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
VeeDubTDI said:
Excellent post, David! However, I have one bone to pick... the Donaldson Powercore found on the 6.0 PowerStroke is simply massive... way bigger than the paper thing on the TDI. ;) It's a good thing too, because the 6.0's effective displacement is in the neighborhood of 18 liters, and the new 6.4 is even more. :eek:

http://www.donaldson.com/en/index.html
I hadn't seen a 6.0 PowerStroke filter yet but I'm not surprised it's a massive filter. That is one massive filter! The engineers are grappling with the same kind of design issues as VW's engineers. You need tons of filtering area to have near zero PSI drop thru the filter while providing more than enuf filtering ability and still have a long change interval. We also can't forget about protecting the MAF from contamination! And then on top of that, you then have to figure out how to squeeze it all in under the hood.
 
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hatemi

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Location
Finland
TDI
Audi A6 4F 3.0TDI
Transporter air filter tested on a dyno against no filter at all in roughly 300hp setup. Difference was 3hp wich is negleable.

I did over 260hp with stock air box, larger MAF and 3" snorkel pipe from the box. Changing the filter would have made no difference at all.

The "power" increase is due to louder intake note and is just placebo.
 

boogieman

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Location
Lewistown, MT
TDI
'04 Jetta TDI, Gray, Completely stock(unfortunately), including the gay hubcaps, 138,000miles
I tore into my air intake yesterday to check out the snow screen, which someone must have already removed, but anyway, while checking things out I noticed that there is absolutelyNO resemblence of a ram air system my jetta. The inlet tube to the airbox goes directly into the back of the headlight, and there is no tubing coming up from the louvers in the lower grill. Maybe its just the mk4's that dont have ram air, I dont know.

You go on believing that just because youve been on these forums forever that you know more than everyone else. At least I took the time to dig into my car and check it out. What I say is not BS if I can tell by looking at it how restrictive the intake system is.
 
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dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Location
MA
TDI
ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
boogieman said:
...and there is no tubing coming up from the louvers in the lower grill. Maybe its just the mk4's that dont have ram air, I dont know.
The Mk4 cars do have ram air. The air isn't drawn from down below. The ductwork is high up...sorta towards the hood latch. Clean your glasses, go back and have a look ;)
 

otm646

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Location
Metro Detroit
TDI
1998 AHU Jetta.
If you absolutely must have a aftermarket cone filter get something quality like a CAT cone filter

back in the day VeeDub had something similar on the beetle. If i recall the story correctly.
 

Gothmolly

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
Location
Providence, RI
TDI
2002 Golf
You don't need 'ram air' with a turbocharger. Thats why the turbo is there. Spend your $$$ and time on something else.
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
Gothmolly said:
You don't need 'ram air' with a turbocharger. Thats why the turbo is there. Spend your $$$ and time on something else.

With all the twists and turns, it isn't 'ram air' in the first place.

Cold air yes, ram air no.
 

Drivbiwire

Zehntes Jahr der Veteran
Joined
Oct 13, 1998
Location
Boise, Idaho
TDI
2013 Passat TDI, Newmar Ventana 8.3L ISC 3945, 2016 E250 BT, 2000 Jetta TDI
boogieman said:
I tore into my air intake yesterday to check out the snow screen, which someone must have already removed, but anyway, while checking things out I noticed that there is absolutelyNO resemblence of a ram air system my jetta. The inlet tube to the airbox goes directly into the back of the headlight, and there is no tubing coming up from the louvers in the lower grill. Maybe its just the mk4's that dont have ram air, I dont know.

You go on believing that just because youve been on these forums forever that you know more than everyone else. At least I took the time to dig into my car and check it out. What I say is not BS if I can tell by looking at it how restrictive the intake system is.
You are missing parts that originally came with your car. More than likely the car is used and was in a front end accident. The repair shops throw them "Bonus" parts away cause they think the owner will never notice.

See it all the time, missing duct work to the airbox that is.

DB
 
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