Anyone else is running K&N filter in GenIII?

Sorry but I don't believe that an air filter makes the electric motors spin the ICE up to speed faster and add fuel faster the the ICE to remove that lag. It is a fact in a normal engine like the prius a K&N filter will not do anything different from a toyota filter... Well it may let in more dirt/dust but it can not improve HP.

 

I've had one in my '07 for years. I never noticed a difference. In fact I never noticed a difference in performance or mileage with the air filter change or having Mobile 1 synthetic.

 

If your engine is spinning at a dead stop, perhaps you do not have a Prius?

My '09 accelerates just fine, my wife swears I must have modified my Prius. Your '10 should have an even larger engine.

 

It's called the placebo effect.

I've not seen any real proof that K&N filters improve performance, and this is after many years on forums for Porsche, BMW, Mercedes AMG, and other high performance cars.

On a Prius? Really?

 

Hawthorne effect for a device; placebo effect is for a medication.

 

Well...if you want to get picky the Hawthorne effect involves being part of an experiment, and is not related to a device. So I'll stand by placebo effect as being appropriate.

 

When I had my Dodge diesel 2500, I tried the K&N. It was loud and let dirt particles into my intake.
It was removed and the stock air assembly reinstalled immediately.
Never again on any vehicle.

 

K&N air filters are great! I put them in all my cars I want to have premature engine failure on.

Go OEM.

Debunking the K&N Myth - Why OEM is Better : Nissan Articles

 

Concur.
A K&N filter on a Prius is just wrong...on many levels.

 

Wow! Great article!

I figured they were filters you put on in order to have MAF sensor failure. That seemed to happen to folks on maxima.org who used K&N (and/or other? aftermarket) filters when I had an 02 Maxima.

 

Even before I came upon that I always used this logic when recommending OEM filters: filters are cheap and as a percentage of the price of the car the difference between simple and complex is almost negligible. It makes absolute sense that the engineers of the engine won't have cut corners in efficiency of the filter. I cannot believe that K&N knows what is better for an engine than an engineering team that created the engine, and if they were able to get better horsepower, better cleaning, better fuel economy by switching from a $6 filter to a $15 they would. It just makes no sense at all to me that OEM is not the absolute best filter for an engine made by a competent automotive brand.

This is also why I have always used OEM spark plugs.

 

Clearly. I thought no way that you're actually using the anecdotal experience of two vehicles alone to declare or not declare the merit of a filter.

Your post references a study about mining equipment and then more anecdotes and subjective arguments. And I also had subjective arguments. So let's just throw those away. I've given you a link to objective, quantitative analysis about K&N.

I personally won't put K&N in my cars. Neither will Toyota from the factory, nor will any other automotive brand (that I can find on google).

Is that a K&N filter? If so, you've made a great point.

 

Mass Flow failures and reduced engine MTBFs notwithstanding...why put a K&N into a G3??? What is is that you're hoping to gain???

I modified my V-Rod by opening the intake, then installing a high flow air filter (Amsoil Ea in my case) then uncorking my exhaust and then modifying my ECU. I'm not a mechanic by any means, but I don't think that the last step is necessary for a Prius, since I'm pretty sure that it has a closed loop FI.
My result: About a 7-10 percent increase in RWHP, and a corresponding decrease in mileage...aggravated by my right wrist---no doubt!

So...we come to the G3.
What is the K&N supposed to be doing for you? If you say it's better for the ecology, then I would respect your warm wishes for our planet, and the added dirt that gets into your engine will probably not decrease your engine's service life by much. Usually cars go into bone yards from non-engine failures anyway.
If you say that "more air is going to get into your cylinders" then I would submit that (1) you're still sucking air into the engine through the same itty-bitty straw that you're currently using---which is why K&Ns are usually mated with a modified air intake pipe, (2) If you haven’t made any corresponding exhaust modification---then you're still breathing out through the same restricted path that you were before, and (3) I'm thinking that the dizzy-wizz computer is going to keep your AFR about the same if you don't modify your mapping, regardless of your efforts to stuff more air into your motor.
I could be wrong about that---I'll admit. I sling wires for a living.

So what are we trying to do with the K&N on a Prius aynway?
Save gas?
How?

 

Thanks to cyclopathic for the rebuttals from K&N. Interesting... but still, not for me.