K&N Air Filter for Ridgeline ... Pro's - Con's?

[Grayhound]

:D Does anyone have any experience with respect to replacing their stock Honda air filter with the K&N replacement filter? I'd like to hear the pro's and con's involved with this retrofit from any of the members who have gone this route. I'm told that there is a horsepower and mileage gain associated with this filter ...
Thanks

[tomcat]

Depends if your talking just the filter or the whole intake system. If its just the filter, K&N"s just cost more. If your talking the system, I gained some low end pep on a Dodge Ram I had before. But to get the best performance you'll have to change the exhaust also. As far as mpg's I did'nt get anything better than stock. I would not do it again it was'nt worth it. Had great service with K&N when my snorkel cracked 5 years later. They shipped me a new one immediately. All I had to do is ship my cracked one back in the box they provided,not a penny out of my pocket.

[killerv]

I had a Stillen intake system which incorporated a K&N filter in my last truck, a 6 cyl Nissan Frontier. It was great and I could definetly tell a difference. Just purchase a K&N cleaning kit whether you buy a full intake system or just the filter to replace the stock. I cleaned my once a year. It didn't take me long to figure out I needed an upgraded exhaust due to the new intake sytem I installed, so I had a flowmaster put on and increased the tailpipe size by 1/2 and inch, but kept everything looking stock. It made all the difference. If an engine is pulling in more air it needs a good exhaust system to pull everything out. An exhaust system isn't exactly necessary when upgrading with an intake but I could tell a night and day difference, not to mention it sounded great, throaty but not loud.

I just purchased my RL a few months ago and I am going to simply put in the K&N filter for the stock replacement, I priced them around 40 bucks.

[TucsonRidgeline]

With the cost of new Honda filter at $24 and K&N filter at $38.99 it's a easily choice for me.. You can re-clean the K&N and reuse it for the life of your Ridge.. Plus you have to add the cleaning and re-oil kit for $9.99. That was the selling point to me.. Plus a little more horse never hurt.. I'm talking small ponies only...

[tomcat]

TucsonRidgeline wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
With the cost of new Honda filter at $24 and K&N filter at $38.99 it's a easily choice for me.. You can re-clean the K&N and reuse it for the life of your Ridge.. Plus you have to add the cleaning and re-oil kit for $9.99. That was the selling point to me.. Plus a little more horse never hurt.. I'm talking small ponies only...
I dont think just putting in another filter is going to gain you anything. You have to have the intake system to gain alittle performance and larger exhaust to benifit the most. Isnt the regular K&N filter that sits in the stock intake disposable like the OEM? The K&N intake system uses the reusable air filter. I know two others that run the regular K&N filters and they get rid of them after X miles like a OEM. Are you cleaning a throw away filter?

[TucsonRidgeline]

I know that you will get a small increase(nothing to talk about)in MPH due to K&N increased air flow.. Your are right you will need other items to make all this work for you to see bigger increase of MPH.. I only bought K&N filter because of being able to re-using the filter and clean when I want to due to dusty roads in Arizona..

[killerv]

tomcat wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
TucsonRidgeline wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
With the cost of new Honda filter at $24 and K&N filter at $38.99 it's a easily choice for me.. You can re-clean the K&N and reuse it for the life of your Ridge.. Plus you have to add the cleaning and re-oil kit for $9.99. That was the selling point to me.. Plus a little more horse never hurt.. I'm talking small ponies only...
I dont think just putting in another filter is going to gain you anything. You have to have the intake system to gain alittle performance and larger exhaust to benifit the most. Isnt the regular K&N filter that sits in the stock intake disposable like the OEM? The K&N intake system uses the reusable air filter. I know two others that run the regular K&N filters and they get rid of them after X miles like a OEM. Are you cleaning a throw away filter?


The last one I bought to replace a stock filter was reusable for up to 1 million miles, just like the one that came with my intake that I purchased later; just buy the recharger kits to clean them and re-oil them

[Grayhound]

Thanks guys for all of the great input! I currently do not pull a trailer so the HP increase that K&N advertises isn't really that important to me. Besides, the ole Ridge' really responds when you step on it stock out of the box! (trailer-less). However, there is the possibility of some improvement in gas mileage using the K&N which is always good for the wallet. I haven't checked the maintainence book yet, but usually, the air filter gets swapped out every 30K miles or so. So the cost savings of simply buying the K&N filter from the perspective of not having to purchase multiple stock Honda filters over the lifetime of the vehicle, wouldn't come into play until after 90K miles (the 2nd stock airfilter change ~ $50 for two ... K&N = $38 + $10 oiling kit). But if you were able to realize even a 1-2 MPG improvement in fuel economy, then (Assumption: 20MPG Ridgeline out of the box; and say increasing MPG using a K&N filter by 2 additional MPG as a best-case scenario), given a 22 gallon tank, one would gain an additional 44 miles per tank ... which equates to basically 2 free gallons of gas (regardless of price per gallon) per fill-up over the stock filter ... now that's not too bad!
Just thinking out loud here but potentially, this could be a good route to pursue. If anyone else had any additional information on MPG improvement using the K&N filter on the Ridge' without the "kit" might help us decide if this is air filter swap is worth it!
Thanks again everyone!

[Grayhound]

killerv,
Thanks for the response and information. Please keep us informed as to what noticible improvements occur due to the addition of just the stock filter. I know that I'm not interested in making my Ridge' high performance, but if I could get a few MPG through simply changing the filter, that would be money well spent. The K&N website has a large number of testimonials from numerous people (too many for the K&N folks to create on their own!) that over and over again state on an average of a 2 MPG improvement with just the filter replacement . So it gets you thinking ....
See ya ...

[Webwader]

Why do you think a K&N air filter is going to improve your gas mileage? To burn a gallon of gas for any given condition, a fixed quantity of air is required. Let's call it X. Your intake system is controlled by various sensors and a computer. It keeps the air/fuel ratio within tightly controlled parameters. meaning it to burn that gallon of gas it let's in X amount of air. It doesn't care if it's a Honda filter, K&N or no filter at all.

[Grayhound]

I'm just asking around as I've read many testimonials from K&N (too many for them to generate themselves), and other forums that suggest there may be some benefit to using the K&N filter for both performance and mileage. I have no personal experience with this filter in an automobile but the science & data that's available on this product may suggest that there's some benefit. I love my Ridge' the way it is but if I could save in the MFG arena for little money invested, then that would be a smart move. Thank you for taking the time to respond!

[tomcat]

If its for saving at the pump and you put in 20 gallons twice a week at $2.50 a gallon it will take you about two years to get your money back. Thats if your buying the full intake system at around $400.00? If your looking for a little boost and the extra looks under the hood then it doesnt matter :D .

[Rodek]

I put a drop in K/N filter in my Scion xB. Wimpy little 1.5 liter engine. My butt dyno didn't tell me I gained any HP but, I picked up 1-2 MPG. I was in disbelief but, saw 1-2 MPG gains consistantly after installing the filter on road trips that I frequented. Will I put one in the Ridge? Absolutly. Will I see any gains? Not sure.. I'll tell you after I install one (after fisrt filter change).

For piece of mind, every Honda I've owned has benefitted at least slightly from a K/N drop in filter. My Ody, CR-X multiple year model Civics and my brother's Accord all saw gains in MPG. The CR-X even saw some actual power increase.

[Grayhound]

Rodek,
Thanks for the great posting. I'm just fishing at this point trying to figure out if there would be any benefit to using the K&N filter only and not the kit. While I haven't been able to come across any MPG related testimonials from Ridgeline users, other auto brand users have suggested between 1 - 2 MPG improvement by just installing the filter. My Ridgeline is about 3 weeks old now and I've got close to 1500 miles on her. I absolutely love this truck ... as is! Here in Vermont, it's been extremely cold for the last couple of weeks (-20 thru 10F). Taking the advise of other owners on this site, In an effort to maximize fuel efficiency, I've been driving around while keeping the RPM's 2500 or less and after three fill-ups, I'm averaging 16 MPG in non-highway driving ... as advertised. I think this is great given the temperature conditions. With spring coming and as the engine continues to break in, I'll be in good shape. Using the K&N also may help as well. It's fun to bounce ideas and experiences off of others and I greatly appreciate your input. Good luck with your K&N experiment and I suspect I'll be making the same move as you. I'll report on my findings as well so we can share data.
Thanks!
:D The Nimbus Grayhound

[Rodek]

Grayhound,

Your situation is very close to mine. Bought my RTX about 2 weeks ago. If I find any more info or experiences from anyone with the drop in filter, I'll post it here. Enjoy your Ridge!

Troy

[Moby1]

My previous ride was a 93 Civic HATBK, 1.5L single cam, getting just shy of 500km on a 45L tank, both Hwy and City driving. I latter dropped an Integra Type-R motor in and milage dropped to about 400km. I changed the 4-2-1 cast iron exhaust manifold for a DC 4-1 Header and Apexi N-1 cannister with a 2.25 B-Pipe. I noticed an estimated 8-12 additional Km per tank. A cold air intake and HKS donut was dropped in next. No gain in milage was noted. A horrible whistle was noted when opening up the throttle. A change to a K&N cylindrical filter was next, with no gains in milage and still the horrible whistle continued. The whistle always present when opening up the throttle from about 2000 rpm until the Vtec and exhaust note drowns it out.

I next installed a fuel pressure regulator and could really alter my gas milage and performance. Also real dangerous if you lean it out.

The only noted difference was on the exhaust end of it not much on the intake. With the Rigeline having the additional two catalytic convertors mount so close to the head, I suspect this is the weak link for fuel economy and performance, yes also cleaner fumes.

So beware of a possible whistle if that is a concern and like many others it probably wont affect noticeable gas milage increases. However, if I think the filter will give me 6 BHP that I feel and I suspect I'm gaining 3 mpg, then it'll make me feel better and 3 bills are a cheap way to feel good, since it can't hurt the truck. After market parts look nice and make us feel good, but it can also turn into something like a bad crack habit.

[Grayhound]

Rodek, Moby1,

Thanks for your input. Sorry I was away from the forum for a bit and didn't get back to you. I just turned over 2400 mi. on my Ridge' and the fuel efficiency is getting better (still using the stock filter). Basically I'm driving on back roads (secondary) with plenty of start & stop areas. For my first tank, I didn't bother keeping track of MPG as I just wanted to enjoy my new truck. But on subsequent fillups, I've kept track and documented each tank. The results I've gotten so far are 15.8, 16.2, 16, 17.4, 17.6 and my latest was 18MPG! ... so I'm encouraged. I can only guess that my mileage is improving with the break-in of the engine. I don't drive with a heavy foot and I try to keep it (try to) no higher than 2500 RPM ... and whenever I can, I'll try and coax the tranny to upshift for lowest possible RPM's. I'll probably switch to a K&N after the first oil change now that I have some data. However, I'm hoping someone else will chime in with some Ridgeline K&N experience to help support my decision to switch to K&N or not. I haven't taken the "Grayhound" on a highway mission yet but I hope I get the same relative improvement in MPG above the advertised 21MFG highway.

Let's stay in touch!

[hondatruckguy]

i always get the k&n filters for my vehicles. i drive a lot of miles and it always save me money in the long run to be able to just clean the filter instead of replacing it.