Robert Rudolphi wrote:
>
> I have been running K&N filters on my TR-6 and am really happy with the
> performance of the filters. I just bought a new Taurus wagon and since I
> usually keep a car for at least 10 years was looking to replace the air
> filter with K&N,s. I was surprised to read a sticker on the air box that
> stated "only use paper air filter elements. The use of oil impregnated
> filters will void the factory warranty." Any one have any ideas why, I find
> it hard to believe it was a greed issue because it didn't specify Ford
> filters just paper.
Here's another angle on this.
If you are into rice rockets (I am) you might remember the big hoopla
when
the Eagle Talon TSI went from 200hp to 210hp a couple of years ago.
Eagle
made a BIG DEAL about this in their ads. In that market sector (Celica
All Trac,
Integra GS-R, etc) a few horsepower can make the difference between
market
leader and also ran.
My friend has a TSi, and he bolted on a new airbox and filters from
K&N for a 15hp dyno-proven gain. The cost was approximately $150CDN, in
other words, peanuts compared to a $27,000CDN car.
My question is, if K&N technology is better in every way with no
downsides, why doesn't Eagle put one (or a clone of one) in every
car? For that kind of volume, you can be sure it would only add
less than $100 to the price of the car (0.3%) and would increase
the horsepower by like 7%.
I can't help but think the Eagle people would KILL to be able to
market their car as 225hp instead of 210hp while only raising the
sticker price $100.
My point? There must be a catch. From what I know and the studies
I've read, the filtration ability seems to be the catch, and Eagle
and other companies are not eager to honour warranties for 4 years
on engines with precision components and marginal filtration.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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