MonteEvader

My Feedback: (1)

What do you think of the K & N air filters. We all know the name is top notch so why don't more RC guys use them?

I've seen kits where the tube extends the filter all the way to the front of the car. Is this worth investing in or does the stock filter placement keep the engine cool enough?

46u

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry double post!!

46u

My Feedback: (3)

For a full size vehicle they are great but for RC off road I would not. What they sell for RC are nothing more then crank case breather filters for cars.
Try and do a search on this site as I have seen other post on this subject and most agreed not to run them.

I run one on my Harley but not on my RC trucks.

crashing-is-fun

they are crap for rc cars they let dust the lot in.

dont bother getting one i know someone who hat to scrap an engine because of one.

brainvictim

I got the Paris Racing K&N one just for the hell of it, it was $15 total with shipping, and a pre filter. I dont expect it to do anything but filter the air. I just did not like the stock filter. I believe the engine is to small to actually have any performance increase. Its a looks thing for me though, so to each there own.

jkulhanek

I'm not sure if they are a breather filter or something even smaller, but they look much too coarse for our precision little motors.

Those hammerhead induction things are just a joke......


I hate rbinnovations.com, almost everything they sell is a hoax.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

K&N's are crap....at least on a gaser rc....They are fine for on road use but not off road...they need a prefilter over them for off road and then they still allow dirt to pass thru...for the price and job they do they are not worth it...a K&N for a gaser will cost anywhere from $25-$35 for $17 a Duratrax Firehammer filter blows it away...I'd never run one on my Nitro's considering a motorsaver's cheap and does a great job...for bling I guess a K&N is better but thats it.

yoster

Funny about all the commnents on K&N. Again, imo, I am worried about people stating opinions without fact. I know of at least 6 people at my local track that run them with no problem.. and have been running them for a few years now.

Here is my answer. Why don't more people use them? Because of the re-oiling. Re-oiling a regular foam filter such as a motorsaver is a lot quicker than doing the re-oil process of a k&n. Some people I talk to don't mind it, but for my it is just easier to pop the screen off my motorsaver and stick in a new, ready to go foam.

The filter looks "too coarse," but it isn't (from what i've been told at least). Any proper and decent filter, if kept up and oiled properly, provides adequate filtering (yes, even for our nitros) in most conditions. Most of the rc filters are just a stupid oiled piece of foam set in a different holder or aiming a different way to provide different airflow. Some, such as motorsavers, provide a screen on the outside to catch larger particles.

Anyway, thats just me. I only state this because I've seen a decent amount of people use them before without any worries. I personally don't use them for convenience(sp) sake, but I do not have sufficient proof to say that they do not filter just as well as my motorsaver, or better.

On a side-note.. i see them used more on on-road than offroad. Maybe because they don't do as well offroad? I dont know.. i'll ask someone that uses one next time i'm at the track.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

Buy yourself a $1500 gaser and get it ready to go for another $500 and then toss a K&N on it and run it in dirt and tell me how it goes when you blow your engine from engulfing dirt that your wonderful K&N couldn't filter out...Re-Oiling isn't why people don't use them my filters in my gasers are cleaned every tank...about 1hr run time...they are run in dust and sand....K&N's are made from a crappy cotton type material...foam is far better btw it's not "just" foam either..head on over to the real man's rc area and read about your great K&N's

yoster

Like I said, without sufficient proof, I do not take opinion as fact on here anymore (cuz ive had some boneheads give me bad info before! [&o]). I "hear" people on here say they aren't good, but I have never once witnessed someone ruining an engine because of one.. but I HAVE seen several people use them at the track with no problems.

And as far as the oiling goes, I think you mis-understood me. It isn't the fact that you have to re-oil it, it is the re-oiling process. Like I was saying, "Re-oiling a regular foam filter such as a motorsaver is a lot quicker than doing the re-oil process of a k&n." I use a newly oiled filter as well for every run, and it doesn't take long at all. With the K&N's, you have to rinse, let them sit out and dry for awhile, then re-oil.. takes waaay longer than washing the motorsaver ones, giving them a good dry and applying oil.

Ok, foam with oil. Its not some nasa-grade special high-tech recipe that is hush hush. I'd love to know what motorsaver's cost is on those things. The only real purpose of the foam is to hold the oil.. which is what really catches the finer particles (to my understanding).


btw... 1500 gasser and another 500 to get it ready? I don't think everyone at the track has a 2000 ST... and I dont think that everyone who has an engine blow up has to replace the WHOLE truck[&:]. Show me a 1500 ST that isn't already ready where you have to add ANOTHER 500 bucks. or.. show me a 1500 Stadium Truck being sold at ALL (truck only)!! And even if you can find one, you'd be dumb (or just have money to burn) to buy it because the guy sitting next to you who spent less than 1000 total on his XXX-NT has the current best ST out there. I don't care if your truck costs 10,000.... the engine is the only thing affected anyway.. so it doesn't matter how much the truck costs.

I dunno, I think its a lot of a big marketing game. Everyone swears up and down to ONLY use RC air filter oil on their filter elements. Yet motorsaver, the leading airfilter company, says right on their package that WD-40 works just fine. Now if you told that to certain RC guys they would have a complete cow about it. But yet... the makers of our oh-so-superior motorsavers says it'l work... ya just can't win!


As a side-note... I wouldn't PERSONALLY use K&N.. simply because not enough people use it yet to prove its worthiness.. and I'm too poor to be buying new motors if it DOES screw me over.

Oh and Badz if you have info on the K&N proving it one way or another let me know... i'd definately be interested in it. I wasn't trying to bash you or anyone else on here, just trying to find out for sure about it!

smokingcrater

here is something to try if you think your filter makes a difference... go find a nice and clean parking lot, and go driving around with the filter off! now put it back and and see if you notice a difference. better yet, get a friend to do a blind test for you and see if you can actually tell. I'm willing to bet unless you have a REALLY plugged air filter there won't be a difference.

(and yes doing this for a short time on clean pavement is safe, ask how many airplane guys use air filters at all, and we are often taking off on fairly dusty/dirty runways)

yoster

dude, we're talking about filtering ability, not performance gains.

Kemo

K&N = garbage filters. Stick with the foams. They trap dirt and filter a LOT better than the K&N could ever do.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

yoster head to the giant scale cars/trucks forum and read about the K&N blues everyones had with them...then also search on Yahoo about how K&N's cotton material is actually harmful to certain fuel injectors and their filters have actually been the cause of ruining numerous engines. As far as you saying it only ruins your engine your correct...so tell me how do you win a race without a engine? Ever see a high quality dirt filter?

Here's some facts for you to check out right from K&N's website

Particle Size in Microns % by Volume (+/- 3%)
<5.5 13
5.5 to 11 11
11 to 22 13
22 to 44 19
44 to 88 28
88 to 176 16

a 5 micron pice of dirt is big enough to totally wipe your engine and K&N allows it through, a Outerwears filter sock stops 5micron and above also. Foam stops 0 micron because it's not just foam it's a cellular design which moves the dirt thru numerous channels allowing the oil in the foam to catch it...even if it's un-oiled it will stop the dirt...standard foam is straight thru cells not like air filter foams.
I run K&N's when I run my gasers onroad simply cause it does add some performance cause it allows for more airflow...bascially like not using a air filter at all...but I'd never run one in dirt they are far too poorly made for that.

What is a K&N PreCharger?
The K&N PreCharger is a specially designed filter wrap made to extend the service interval of your K&N Filtercharger when used in very dusty conditions. They are made from durable polyester material containing a uniform weave. The PreCharger will stop small dirt particles with minimal restriction to the airflow of the filter. The PreCharger is designed to be run dry and can be cleaned with K&N Filter Cleaner.


As i said if the filter itself is so good why does it need a filter sock?

Also us gaser people spend $200+ on just a tuned pipe....and not to mention various other engine hop ups we do..bore kits..stroker kits...you won't find 1 gas rc owner tell you he has less than $2000 in his gaser, unless it's totally stock. Considering the base 1/5th scale rc cost around $1200+ if you buy a fairly decent one and some cost plenty more....

Sure a K&N might seem fine on a Nitro that uses very little CFM but try it on something that actually needs some decent airflow thats dirt free and see what happens.

Oiling a foam filter with WD40 is just stupid...the reason they tell you that is cause it'll break down the foam eventually and they'll sell you a new product...it's called marketing. I use Belray foam oil at $8/quart for all my rc's...nitro or gas

yoster

Heh... ok I must say I had a moment of stupidity. This whole time in your other posts you've been saying "gaser" I was thinking "nitro" in my head. Yeah that explains a lot now.