K&N Universal Intake

[murcod]

No 'might' about the 'at expense of filtration quality'. It's a fact. Been there done that before. Anything smaller then dead gnats will be sucked in to the engine until the filter starts clogging up w/ the K&N oil absorbing what dust and dirt it can. At that point, you might as well have a paper filter anyway.

Straight to the point. There are other tests on the internet that do compare paper to aftermarket filters.

End of the day any gains are dubious at best, you might save money long term having a "reusable filter" - but don't forget to factor in the cost of the "recharge" kit; down time while the filter is removed, cleaned, dried and re oiled. And your engine (long term) life, well...... there'd be a big question mark over reduction to it. Suzuki would have good grounds to void the warranty if any engine related issues developed (eg. even something simple like engine air flow sensor failure through oil contamination- which is common problem with over oiled filters.)

I've run them, but have never kept the vehicle long enough to monitor long term engine damage. Now, being older (and perhaps wiser?) I'll be sticking with OEM filters.

[Woodie]

I've run them hundreds of thousands of miles with no problems whatsoever. My first Metro went 208K miles, engine was rebuilt at 160K but the three cylinder always burns the valves at about that much, had nothing to do with the filter. My last Metro is still going strong at 200K miles, Aerio is still going strong at 110K. As far as the engine goes, neither one has had anything done but oil and plugs.

I don't understand what people think is going to happen. Anything small enough to get past the filter is going to burn up or just be ejected right back out the exhaust. There is an occasional issue with MAF sensors getting dirty, but it's nothing to clean them.

[murcod]

An interesting point, but using that theory why not just run flywire for a filter? Where do you draw the line at what particle size is hazardous to the engine? BTW particles entering through the air filter can make their way into the oil, they don't simply pass through the engine.

[mikeromeoooo]

I'm looking for the boost in acceleration, is the RRMS Intake the best option?

[mikeromeoooo]

Or will the drop in filter give me the same thing?

[Woodie]

I doubt if either one is going to make a difference you could actually feel, mikeromeoooo. Although your brain is going to convince you that there's a difference. (I spent all of that money, of course it's faster) Plus, any increase from an air filter or intake is only going to be at full throttle over 5,000 rpm. If you're spending more than 1% of your time in that condition, then you should probably have your license taken away.

I don't know where to draw the line, murcod. I think the manufacturers draw it way over toward safety and cleanliness, not my strong points, either one.

There are a tonne of little decisions like this in building a car and in most cases, the manufacturer has taken a position which allows a safety margin. This is where most high performance modifications live, in the zone of exploiting that safety margin. Before knock sensors, they called for an ignition timing setting which would work for all cars, in all weather and geographical conditions, with any gas. You could almost always get more performance and better mileage out of your car by advancing the timing, as long as you listened carefully for knock, it was free performance with no reliability concerns.

[murcod]

I don't know where to draw the line, murcod. I think the manufacturers draw it way over toward safety and cleanliness, not my strong points, either one.

They do for sure, they've got a warranty that will cost them if they get it wrong!

I'm looking for the boost in acceleration, is the RRMS Intake the best option?

Have you thought about a cat back exhaust system instead? I've done both changes in the past on a few different vehicles. Yes, quite a few $$$ have been liberated over the last 25yrs of driving.

The air filter, well you wouldn't know you've done it (apart from the the noise if an open element pod style system is used.) A pod might make the vehicle feel stronger at certain revs (normally towards the redline), but is that really a gain at higher revs- or a torque loss at lower revs? Sucking in hot engine bay air is never a good idea either.

The exhaust system with perhaps a modest pipe size increase and decent free flowing mufflers will stand to potentially give the best returns. My last vehicle had a decent gain at low revs (ie. acceleration in 4th from 60km/h) and revved out a lot quicker through the whole rev range. The drop in air filter- I guess I got a warm fuzzy feeling and a lighter wallet, but didn't feel any improvement.

Good luck with whatever you decide.