Originally Posted by Dynamicperf

David,

I'd be happy to address the points you made in detail. If you would like an explanation from a design and engineering standpoint, you can PM me and we can speak on the phone.

All air filters are made of inexpensive media....every single one.

The difference in media is significant. Inexpensive, I guess in terms of other products and materials that may be true. With respect to cotton gauze, it was never designed to be an engine air filter media and the test results available certainly support that claim. Once again, I can provide anything you feel is important in helping you to understand this. Gauze is used because it's cheap and the vast majority of companies can't design and engineer performance filter media. Simply a me too concept.


At the end of the day, whether you use foam, or cotton, or what have you, they all limit flow when they are dirty - there is no way around that, even if you use the greatest filter in the world.

Technically, that true. As loading occurs, the restriction level will rise in every filter tested. The important factors here are how much and how quickly this restriction rises and how it affects engine efficiency. Let's look at another vital factor. While these filters load (get dirty) we understand that this restriction level changes, but what happens to the particulate that begins to accumulate? Inspect a cotton gauze filter closely and ask yourself where can all this dirt be stored? Particles don't hang out here forever. Forces begin to act on these nomads and then they leave. There is only one place to go and that's into the combustion chamber/cylinder and into the oil.
So let's examine a quality filter media that's appropriate for engine air filtration. The media must be designed with many factors in mind. In a high performance filter, end users expect low restriction and quality air flow. I think it's safe to say that they would also prefer not giving up quality engine protection if a choice was presented. So, low restriction is paramount. How can we design and engineer a media that will allow incredibly high flow (easy) and still offer uncompromising engine protection (hard)? That engineering task lies in the amount of void, size, depth and structure of these fibers. There have to be many voids that allow for air to travel through this random fiber structure and also provide every opportunity to trap micron size particulate and HOLD it for a reasonable length to allow normal maintenance to rid these variable voids of this particulate. Cotton gauze is very poor in terms of this vital responsibility.

Now we have a little better understanding of how this new media can provide maximum air flow and low restriction and still protect your engine.

Each type also works just fine, and have been proven for years and years, for millions of miles.


Why is the filter necessary at all? What was it designed to do?

I don't think each type works just fine. While we addressed that a compromise exists, let's work towards mitigating this level of compromise. If we agree that the filter is necessary, why not maximize each category of measured performance? Will the gauze filter cause a catastrophic failure? How can we be sure? Based on years and a wide variety of testing filtration, it is clear that more potentially damaging particulate is allowed to enter your engine when equipped with a gauze filter. In actual testing, that number can be from 15 to 21 times more dust than when equipped with a quality filter media. It's reasonable to assume that this can only have a negative effect on internal components and thus longevity. Why deal with it when it's no longer necessary?


The best air filter is a clean air filter.

That's generally true! How often is our filter clean? How do we measure clean? How often are owners removing these oiled gauze filters and performing this required maintenance in order that the filter remain clean?
Why deal with this process and the uncertainty if it's no longer necessary?


Whether you use a dry type, or a wet type, or a foam type - each one is widely used in real life, motorsports, etc, and at the end of the day the "preferences" come from exactly what you're doing - marketing.

You would be stunned at what we have found in terms of the issues even prominent race teams have been dealing with over the years. These compromises have certainly impacted their platforms. Unfortunately, they had no real alternative.

Marketing has nothing to do with an engineering evaluation. It's time to ignore marketing and approbation and analyze these facts and make a decision that's in your best overall interest. Improvements in product technology occur each day. I'm sure you spend quite a bit of time seeking out the finest cutting edge products and technology for your clients. It's up to us to take advantage of them if we perceive a benefit.

In any case, it's vital that owners are provided with accurate information in order to make an educated decision.

Originally Posted by gothchick

bumpshizzle

Damn, the dude comes in here all talking smack, then won't stick his neck to out to make a recommendation?