Air Filter: Honda or ???

[ESUguy]

My wife's Pilot just passed 10,000 miles, and I'm looking to change the air filter. What is everyone else using? Are there any performance gains by going with one besides the stock Honda?

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by ESUguy
Are there any performance gains by going with one besides the stock Honda?

No.

[5Gs]

Originally posted by N_Jay


No.

and I think any claimed performance increase will be very minimal that it's not worth it. just my opinion...

[andrews32]

Yeah, I don't use my K&N Air Filter for performance reasons. Mainly because you can wash and reuse. The paper ones you just throw away every ~10k miles, so I figure after 40-50k, its all gravy. Plus I'm one to keep my vehicles for a long time.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by andrews32
Yeah, I don't use my K&N Air Filter for performance reasons. Mainly because you can wash and reuse. The paper ones you just throw away every ~10k miles, so I figure after 40-50k, its all gravy. Plus I'm one to keep my vehicles for a long time.

Except that you don't have to change the filter every 10K miles and the K&N tend to let is a bit more dirt so longevity could suffer.

[whizmo]

Originally posted by andrews32
Yeah, I don't use my K&N Air Filter for performance reasons. Mainly because you can wash and reuse. The paper ones you just throw away every ~10k miles, so I figure after 40-50k, its all gravy. Plus I'm one to keep my vehicles for a long time.

The problem is the K&N's don't filter nearly as well as the stock paper, so while the filter may last a long time, the engine it's filtering won't.

- Mark

[Aru4mie]

Originally posted by ESUguy
My wife's Pilot just passed 10,000 miles, and I'm looking to change the air filter. What is everyone else using? Are there any performance gains by going with one besides the stock Honda?

Why change the air filter element after 10,000 miles?
The stock air filter element (per owner's manual) needs to be replaced at 15,000 miles granted you drive your Pilot under severe conditions and at 30,000 miles under normal driving conditions.

[sjlee]

Originally posted by andrews32
Yeah, I don't use my K&N Air Filter for performance reasons. Mainly because you can wash and reuse. The paper ones you just throw away every ~10k miles, so I figure after 40-50k, its all gravy. Plus I'm one to keep my vehicles for a long time.

If you factor in the cost of the filter and cleaning supplies, the break even point for using a reusable filter is quite a few years. This is not even counting the time it takes to clean and re-oil it.

In addition, as whizmo stated, reusuable filters don't filter as well as paper filters (more flow = less filtration).

[jonaz]

Once, while towing with my Ford Explorer, I was going over a 7% pass on Hwy 395, 100 miles North of Adelanto in Southern CA. The outside temperature was over 100 degrees, and Im pulling my 3500 lb travel trailer.
Halfway up the grade, my Exploder starts losing power, but no check engine light came on. I couldnt make it up the grade, so I turned around, and limped into the nearest town which fortunately had a RV park. I could not figure out what was wrong with my Exploder since there was no check engine light, and all the guages seemed normal. I left the trailer there, and had AAA tow my vehicle 95 miles (just under my 100 mile premier membership limit) back to my house. After checking everything, I finally figured out that my air filter was the problem. It was clogged so much with sand and dirt, that the engine couldnt breath. Needless to say, make sure you change your filter frequently, especially when towing.