[Paul Bassel]

Has anyone tried the AFE drop-in air filter replacements? I am wondering if they are of any value given the much lower price of that ($$) vs. the entire Cold Air Intake replacement ($$$$). I am also puzzled as to the two types there are and what the difference is in filtering performance (oiled vs. dry). Mostly I am interested in improving the throttle response/turbo-lag. DuramaxTuner is great, but the physics of the intake/turbo are the rate limiting step. Anything that helps is surely welcome.

 

[hyperv6]

Here is the deal. Drop in filters are not really much upgrade. They hold the advantage of being cleanable in many cases but not all.

The restriction often is the intake assembly. Now the so called cold air intakes do generally show improvements of 7-15 HP at best depending on how bad the factory one is. Many gain even less as the factory often gets it pretty good.

The one catch on many present day vehicles they have a learn feature that any gains you add often are learned down back to the original settings. In gains of 15 HP and less it is often not noticeable so you never feel the gain or the learn back.


Many take a tuner or shop to disable the learn feature to retain the gain. I have not studied this truck yet but I would wager it has a learn down feature.


Now on older trucks the cold air would not give much feel but I did pick up one MPG with my 4.3 Sonoma.


Also if you go to a oiled filter and you ever clean it use only a small amount of oil. I too often have seen sensor and MASS Air issue due to over oiling.


In your application with a Turbo you should see a small gain and if the tuner has the learn disabled you will keep it.


I do not have a lot of experience on the Diesels but I do on the Turbo Ecotec. Programs and Turbo's are the best for gains. So much you can do with boost.


Might check KNN and their web site. They post dyno gains and they are honest with their numbers. It will give you an idea of what to expect.

 

[Paul Bassel]

Thanks!. I will check out K&N, but most likely I will start saving $$$ for a turbo replacement kit (when they come out).

 

[Janster]

I have an AFE in my Canyon. The only real reason I have it - is because its washable. For the convenience - I clean it once a year. I haven’t noticed any issues with performance or mpg - of which, I personally am not concerned.

If your’e looking for performance gains - a Drop-in filter is not what you want.

 

[hyperv6]

Note too KNN also bought up several of the big name companies they are treated separate but are all owned by the same company.

Also some of their kits can be bought private brand. The Summit Racing cold air kits are mostly KNN even in a KNN box.

 

[RedEyeB20]

Gee, you can experiment! Buy that drop in, foam, foam oil, whatever. Run it for 5k miles then pull an oil sample and send it in. When you get back the results look at the Silicon reading. My bet, based upon experience and a K&N (MAF killer), the reading will be elevated. Total cost is the filter, the UOA and some of your engines moving parts exposed to a bit more wear!