best s3 air filter??

[s3 al]

Hi guys, what do you all reckon is the best air filter out there for my s3??

 

[james0808]

There is virtually no gains in power from a filter,none that you will feel anyway.

If you want the induction noise a decent shielded cone or a kit which moves the filter away from the engine heat.

If not a replacement panel filter will give a little extra noise and will last for years or just replace it with another paper filter and change regular.

 

[Jacko4130]

When i looked into this i can told a Green Cotton panel filter was my best bet, have had it fitted for a few weeks nowand it has been fine, no extra induction noise like on the max power specials.

 

[Sam-K]

BMC i have heard good things from..

..Don't worry about all this "max power special" talk.. Are race cars "max power specials" ?.. .. they must be as they use cone filters..on rally and gt applications.

 

[S3 Dave]

In all honesty if you have a standard car use the paper item there are few gains using a cone or replacement panel filter. The oil used on a non paper item reduces the life of your MAF also!!
I have used a pipercross for years and have noticed nothing worth the £35 quid except I've changed the MAF at £65.

 

[DPM]

The standard one, just change it quite often.

 

[fingermouse]

std one

 

[jesters3]

Standard.

 

[james0808]

The oil used on a non paper item reduces the life of your MAF also!!

Why is it that almost everytime someone asks a question about air filters there is someone who bangs on about the oil damaging the maf,where is the proof?and i dont mean he/she says it does so it must be true.

 

[MikeA3]

Why is it that almost everytime someone asks a question about air filters there is someone who bangs on about the oil damaging the maf,where is the proof?and i dont mean he/she says it does so it must be true.

I used to have a pipercross panel filter in my old derv and that was oiled, I never had a problem with it but I understand that you can cause damage to the MAF if you use too much oil on the filter.

now i just change the paper filter on my S3 more often

 

[Ess_Three]

BMC i have heard good things from..

..Don't worry about all this "max power special" talk.. Are race cars "max power specials" ?.. .. they must be as they use cone filters..on rally and gt applications.

When was the last time you saw an open filter on a race car, Sam?

Generally they are ducted from outside the vehicle, so as to be fed with cold, dense air and utilise some ram-air effect. they may well have a cone filter, but it doesn't sit ingesting 50 degree plus air.

Cone filters are still used on race cars...cars thet don't sit in traffic so care little for bad response due to ingesting hot air...and cars that have their engines rebuilt every few meetings, so the les than perfect filtering isn't too much of an isue.

I can't think of the last time I saw an open cone filter, or open panel filter on a race car.

Open filters on 1.8Ts sit in a very hot engine bay...sucking in lovely hot air...just what a turbocharged engine needs. Not.

 

[Bong Water]

Carbonio

 

[s3 al]

Yeah a had thot about carbonio, but if the cone filter is going to cause me bother i might just stick with the standard.

 

[Ess_Three]

The standard airbox isn't restrictive on an S3...you can give it a 4" cold air feed if you try hard enough...and fit a panel filter if you want to try to get a bit more noise - but the standard set up is pretty good.

A Carbonio / BMC will give more noise...but unlikely to give much by way of additional power.

The open cone filter will make lots of noise...but make the engine sluggish in hot weather or when the engine bay is hot...almost de-tuning it. Best avoided, in my view.

 

[Sam-K]

When was the last time you saw an open filter on a race car, Sam?

Donnington 2006, Morgan aero v8.

it was a red bmc cone, right behind the front grill. Good source of cold air if you ask me.

and that is when i last saw an open filter on a race car.

 

[Ess_Three]

Donnington 2006, Morgan aero v8.

it was a red bmc cone, right behind the front grill. Good source of cold air if you ask me.

and that is when i last saw an open filter on a race car.

And follow on to explain how an open filter right behind the grill and hence in the airflow, on a race car normally doing 100 MPH +, makes an open cone filter on an A3/S3, sitting right beside the firewall, next to a red hot turbo, sucking in air at 50 degrees + on a car that sits in traffic, is just as good an idea.
This I'd like to hear...

Touring cars, GT cars (most...except Morgan it seems), F1, WRC all use fully ducted inlet tracts to get cold dense air and some form of ram air effect.
Even squashed beetles have cold air ducting for the GT3 cone filters (BMC) on the 'Cup' cars...despite having the engine at the wrong end.

 

[S3 Dave]

Why is it that almost everytime someone asks a question about air filters there is someone who bangs on about the oil damaging the maf,where is the proof?and i dont mean he/she says it does so it must be true.

A fair point I had been led to believe oil can shorten the life of MAF's and I have got through 2 in 4 years so maybe there is some truth in it. According to K+N though its all ********:

We are aware of the “urban myth” (K&N News Story) created by a few dealerships that a vehicle's MAF sensor can be contaminated by K&N filter oil. No evidence has ever been provided to support this “myth” and three years of diagnostic testing by K&N has shown that not only is this allegation not real, it is not even possible. In our opinion, it is an excuse for a dealership and/or the vehicle manufacturer to avoid a legitimate warranty repair. In the last 4 years, we have sold over 10,000,000 lifetime air filters and received only a few hundred calls from consumers who are having dealership or service provider challenges. We believe that Dealership's or service provider's real incentive may be to discourage the use of reusable products so they can sell disposable products over and over. In order to provide consumers with added comfort that they will not be placed in a bad position by a improper warranty denial, we offer our Consumer Protection Pledge.

:icon_thumright: K+N all the way??? Individual choice is the answer!!

 

[Sam-K]

And follow on to explain how an open filter right behind the grill and hence in the airflow, on a race car normally doing 100 MPH +, makes an open cone filter on an A3/S3, sitting right beside the firewall, next to a red hot turbo, sucking in air at 50 degrees + on a car that sits in traffic, is just as good an idea.
This I'd like to hear...

Touring cars, GT cars (most...except Morgan it seems), F1, WRC all use fully ducted inlet tracts to get cold dense air and some form of ram air effect.
Even squashed beetles have cold air ducting for the GT3 cone filters (BMC) on the 'Cup' cars...despite having the engine at the wrong end.

You asked me to name a recent racecar.. So i did.

I never said that i was going to whack a cone filter next to a red hot turbo..? i don't know what your talking about.

 

[Ess_Three]

The point you are missing, is that a Morgan race car has nothing in common with an S3 with an open cone filter.

You were rattling on about ignoring the Max Power comments and advising fitting one...which for a road car like the S3 is NOT good advice.

On the S3, if you fit an open cone, you fit it 'next to' a red hot turbo...but yours being a 1.6, maybe you don't know anything about that...

S3 and open cone filter = not a good idea.

Freedom of choice and all...but there are very good reasons not to..

 

[grathies]

I know theres no link between the induciton filters that are oiled and MAF failure, but when I worked at VW we had a Mk4 GTI come in for MAFs on a regular basis and he had an induction style oiled filter

He changed it to a standard filter setup and didnt have any more issues at all, draw from that what you will

Personally Im a fan of the original Audi Items, have the same view with my Rallye, while they may be a tiny bit more resticvie than a KandN etc, it saves some particles making it thru, very helpfull on a Supercharged engine as it stops a grinding paste from forming with the oil vapors in the charger.

 

[Ess_Three]

Lets not forget the Max Power effect though...
A K&N will give 10% more power...because somebody said it will...and because it makes a Saxo sound like a TVR, it must be right...more noise - more power, doesn't it?

I'm sure some of them work...sadly over all the years I've been trying them...I've never got any gains out of them..but plenty of poor running issues or 'faulty' MAFs.

Out of interest...
I was at a trackday on Friday in a mates VR6...he has the BMC inlet where the headlight used to be...it was raining...half way through the day his MAF died (unplugging it made the car run again...so off we went)
Coincidence?
Water and crap through a non OEM filter killing a MAF?

Again...draw your own conclusions.
I've seen the crap thet ends up in inlet tracts / inlet manifolds from 'performance' inlet kits / cone filters.
Never with a clean OEM filter strangely...

 

[Jacko4130]

So it seems either a standard or a panel filter is the choice, Not a "MAX POWER SPECIAL" filter!!

Must say all i have heard is problems with after market induction kits. Maybe its different for 1.6L super cars.....

 

[Bong Water]

My mate has a long reach Carbonio CAI with open cone oiled filter on his Leon Cupra for two years with no problems and he was sold a K&N filter cleaning kit and oil and cleans it and re-oils once every 6 months

I thought Carbonio were the intake of choice when looking for a high end induction kit for a VAG car, I also thought it was very similar to the Forge item (which I have never seen) and these companies have a reputation to uphold so why would they knowingly risk damage to customers cars?

I dont think I am going to bother with an aftermarket induction kit as I dont want the noise, would rather put the money toward an exhaust, but I do find the differing opinions interesting!

 

[spiker]

Must post my two-penneth guys

I tried the pipercross with the oil , 500 miles later new maff required - coincidence - maybe

The pipercross was not designed to make the car faster or louder - just save you having to replace the paper filter

On my last 2 s3's I have kept to the plain paper filter and that works just fine

Putting a cone filter next to a hot engine is not a clever idea

 

[glen_jai]

I've just had a pipercross panel filter fitted with my turbo conversion.
I had the MAF replaced at the same time because it was mis-reading according to backdraft.

The panel filter is the dry type (no oil). Let you know how I get on.
If the Maf goes now then the finger pointing could be conclusively directed at the air filter.

 

[tasoss3]

Gruppe M i think is the best after i use the bmc and TTDA in the past

http://www.gruppemeurope.com/frc_audi1.html#

 

[Bong Water]

Wow didnt know GruppeM did anything other than Jap stuff, they are the best money can buy along with Mugen in the Honda scene

 

[S3 Rav]

how good is green panel?

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Since when is the air intake on an S3 next to the firewall? Its about 20cm from the grille last time I looked....

 

[Ess_Three]

Since when were we speaking about a standard inlet Dave?

The open cone filter sits close enough to the firewall to get the heat from the turbo.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Good point

Like a K&N, it sits slap bang in the middle of the engine bay, not next to the firewall, but I see your point, its right in the middle of all the heat.

And given that the S3 doesnt have an empty wheel wheel to be able to accommodate a CAI then standard filter with a decent feed seems the best idea by far.

Co-incidentally I'm back to using a standard airbox with a 4" feed and its WAY better than the Carbonio I had on there, not noticable in terms of power, but noise is greatly reduced and mid range appears to be a little stronger.

 

[Ess_Three]

Good point

Like a K&N, it sits slap bang in the middle of the engine bay, not next to the firewall, but I see your point, its right in the middle of all the heat.

And given that the S3 doesnt have an empty wheel wheel to be able to accommodate a CAI then standard filter with a decent feed seems the best idea by far.

Co-incidentally I'm back to using a standard airbox with a 4" feed and its WAY better than the Carbonio I had on there, not noticable in terms of power, but noise is greatly reduced and mid range appears to be a little stronger.

I ran a std airbox, de-restricted (what little bit there was to do) and fed by a 4" duct from the passenger side IC inlet...and it was a good as any other I tried/have seen dynod.
Quiet, remains cold, good filtration..and no risk to the MAF.

 

[james0808]

I've just had a pipercross panel filter fitted with my turbo conversion.
I had the MAF replaced at the same time because it was mis-reading according to backdraft.

The panel filter is the dry type (no oil). Let you know how I get on.
If the Maf goes now then the finger pointing could be conclusively directed at the air filter.

What filter was on your car before the pipercross?

If the panel filter is dry,no oil,how can the finger be pointed conclusively at the air filter.

The only MAF i had to replace was on a totally standard A4 using the paper filter.What caused that to break???Draw your own conclusions....

 

[glen_jai]

What filter was on your car before the pipercross?

If the panel filter is dry,no oil,how can the finger be pointed conclusively at the air filter.

The only MAF i had to replace was on a totally standard A4 using the paper filter.What caused that to break???Draw your own conclusions....

Yeah you're right.
To be honest, I'm not expecting the Pipercross filter to cause any MAF issues.

If people want a re-useable filter then this Dry Pipercross filter is probably the one to use. However, mine is still brand new (only got it on saturday when I picked up the car), so only time will tell if it still filters well after a couple of washes.

 

[james0808]

What filter did you have?
Is there any noise difference with the pipercross?

 

[S3 Rav]

what are the differences apart from the obvious between oiled and non oiled. why would you have one and not the other or is it just the way they're made?

 

[glen_jai]

What filter did you have?
Is there any noise difference with the pipercross?

I just had the standard Audi paper filter before.
I can't really tell if there's a noise difference because there's been so much other work done on the car at time of changing the filter such as new downpipes, sports cat, turbo, forge dv etc.

I wouldn't have thought there's much noise difference to the standard paper filter, as it uses the same airbox. If you want some noise, you'll have to go down the CDA route.

I prefer a quieter car... though it's pretty darn loud now, slightly embarrassing.

 

[james0808]

I just had the standard Audi paper filter before.
I can't really tell if there's a noise difference because there's been so much other work done on the car at time of changing the filter such as new downpipes, sports cat, turbo, forge dv etc.

I wouldn't have thought there's much noise difference to the standard paper filter, as it uses the same airbox. If you want some noise, you'll have to go down the CDA route.

I prefer a quieter car... though it's pretty darn loud now, slightly embarrassing.

Sounds like you have had some nice mods done to the S3,should make for a very nice car.
I like a little noise but nothing too loud too.

 

[james0808]

what are the differences apart from the obvious between oiled and non oiled. why would you have one and not the other or is it just the way they're made?

If i remember right the pipercross are made from layers of sponge so dont need any oil.

 

[glen_jai]

If i remember right the pipercross are made from layers of sponge so dont need any oil.

I believe there are two different types for the Pipercross panel filters. One is oiled and one is dry. Make sure you get the dry one if you do decide on Pipercross.