I pulled out my OEM filter to see how dirty it was. I was surprised to see sunlight through many small holes in the filter. About the only objects the OEM filter will keep out is small birds and squirrels. Its not going to do anything about dust and pollen. I decided to fix yet another small problem with my new car. I went to the local Home Depot and bought the 3M Maximum 1720 dust and pollen filter. I then went and got one of the activated carbon filters that sit in front of the home hepa filters. I cut both pieces to fit the Prius cabin air filter and installed it. You cannot see light holes through the 3M filter. The carbon filter will just remove some of the stale air in the cabin. Here are some pics.......
Are you talking about your engine air filter? Or some other one? Is there a filter that is dedicated to cabin air? If you constrict the airflow to the ICE, you may end up worsening your mileage.
If you drop the glove box down as shown in your manual you can get to the cabin air filter. Its not the engine air filter.
I am anxious to find out how this works for you. I would love to have better filtration in both our Prii. Dust seems to be an ever present problem along with pollen.
Cutting down better filters to fit Prius 20.5 cm square hole has been a common modification. The only concern is to not use something that will slow down the fan motor, so a listening test is appropriate. I would not be quick to label any of these as "high efficiency particulate air" filters though, because the standards for that are very strict. 99.97% of 0.3 micron particles. Typically they are much thicker than the <3 cm you have to work with. Also, flow restriction would be an issue, as abve. Nevertheless this is another example of how Prius cabin air filtration can be improved at low expense.
It would seem that these benefits only last until someone rolls down a window or opens a door. Not sure my nasal passages would be able to tell the difference.
did that mod in my 04... didnt work all that well. air flow was restricted and i wrote it off to the wrong filter selection. but it seemed the best options were too thick to work well plus, i am a "roll the window down" type of guy anyway... limited freeway driving (traffic on I-5 in Puget Sound Region is a joke) since most of the time i can get where i want faster on surface streets. (thanks to combo of mapping programs and GPS systems used to make me aware of alternate routes) for some a better air filter would definitely be worth the trouble to experiment. if i still lived in So. Cal. i would be doing it without question... but here, AC is not often "needed" (i say that knowing high in the 90's today...but that is rare here. normal highs for this time of year is 75º)
good idea. I am allergic to plants, dust, and trees. I just had mine cleaned out by toyota. They just cleaned it out and charged me 40.00 for it which I thought was terrible. I may do it myself next time.
