K&N air filters

[Stlbug]

Has anybody installed a K&N 57i air filter kit on their 2.0l. If you have. was there any noticable performance difference? The VW tech thought is was a good system, but we both agreed it was on the expencive side. Any thoughts or experiances with these things?

[mlt]

Originally Posted by Stlbug

Has anybody installed a K&N 57i air filter kit on their 2.0l. If you have. was there any noticable performance difference? The VW tech thought is was a good system, but we both agreed it was on the expencive side. Any thoughts or experiances with these things?

Why do you want it? To suck hot air from under the hood and help engine to overheat?

[racin4ds]

Originally Posted by mlt

Why do you want it? To suck hot air from under the hood and help engine to overheat?

It will not cause the engine to overheat in any way, and it has been proven that once the vehicle is moving, air temps under the hood are the same as ambient.

Either way, I agree, the K&N kits are way overpriced.

[pencilneck]

There are 2 types of aftermarket intakes... hot air intakes and wet air intakes.

Here is what happens when you install a wet air intake:

The problem with an aftermarket intake. - YouTube

[Smileybug]

Only if you are not careful with the CAI. I have one on my GTI (came with it). I was super paranoid about that, but really, unless its absolutely pouring outside or you drive through a several inch deep puddle, you're fine. I'll probably end up ditching my CAI anyway, but really, if you have one, you just have to be careful and mindful. No big deal. But really, a cold air intake doesn't do much good on a turbo car...the air gets heated up in the turbo anyway.

[Fazzster]

Originally Posted by Stlbug

Has anybody installed a K&N 57i air filter kit on their 2.0l. If you have. was there any noticable performance difference? The VW tech thought is was a good system, but we both agreed it was on the expencive side. Any thoughts or experiances with these things?

The stock airbox brings in much cooler air than a short ram system in the Beetle. We use a drop in panel filter from K&N on our 2.5L. No real power increase but a slightly better throttle response.

[lil.smartie]

Yep, I have an itg panel filter in my UK 1.8T

Kate

[JP]

Hey i have the k&n 57i and i noticed a deeper growl when you hit the gas that's about it , get it on ebay i payed 100.00 new if you get it just dont over oil the filter and you will be alright

[Stlbug]

Originally Posted by JP

Hey i have the k&n 57i and i noticed a deeper growl when you hit the gas that's about it , get it on ebay i payed 100.00 new if you get it just dont over oil the filter and you will be alright

I figured it would be more noise, no noticible improvement? Thats the kind of info I was looking for.K&N claims a few extra hp. Maybe it works on paper,but in the real world? Thanks

[huck731]

when I installed my kit about 2.5 years ago (about a month after I go the car and had put about 5k on it (alot of cross country driving that summer)) I immedietlly noticed a slight power increase with the 57i kit. I got mine for around $150 from autozone. just make sure you have everything tight, I spun my tires on a paint line once(accidentally) and it popped the filter off so the maf wasnt getting a reading.

[cjohnsontech]

There's a few different K&N options that I looked at over at the K&N retail store a while back. Not a single one was cheap. They ranged from a simple filter replacement to a full Monsoon installation which is the cold-air that people seem to have an issue with. I (with my Ricer background) found a simple cone filter with a three inch piping in my garage and replaced my entire airbox with that. Found an immediate gain in throttle response, gas economy, and that oh-so-beautiful vacuum sound. I have yet to run into an over-heating issue because of intake temp. Like it was stated earlier, it's basically Ambient Air at that point so there's not much difference from stock to "hot-air intake" systems. Although K&N makes some great filters and systems, don't be afraid of going to your local Car Shop (AutoZone, Pep Boys, Kragen) and picking up a universal cone. Just look for details like filter material, piping size, and total size for incoming air.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to throw my two cents in