How much horsepower from using K&N air filter

[FAZERRIDER]

Does anyone know how much horsepower is gained by using a K&N air filter on a 2009 FZ6

 

[RJ2112]

Without modifying the air box intake, I'd have to think the answer would be no gain. Possibly a loss, if you over oil the filter.

 

[Skrapiron]

Without modifying the air box intake, I'd have to think the answer would be no gain. Possibly a loss, if you over oil the filter.

+1. The ECU is not sophisticated enough to detect and then compensate for the additional air flow. Without additional fuel (from a fuel processor), you will actually lose power vs. the stock filter....

 

[Jblk9695]

Well, I don't think I've lost any power but on the other hand I haven't gained any either.

Jerry

 

[goker]

Does anyone know how much horsepower is gained by using a K&N air filter on a 2009 FZ6

None, but I am typing this extra line to go over the post limit.

 

[jtarkany]

Here is what K&N had to say on the subject: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/17056-k-n-air-filter-performance-gain.html

 

[RJ2112]

Here is what K&N had to say on the subject: http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/17056-k-n-air-filter-performance-gain.html

Thanks for getting them to make some sort of product quality statement......

Note that K&N provided no supporting data.

So long as we recognize that a 1-4 HP gain on something that makes nearly 100 HP at the crank is such a small number that it can be 'lost' in the measurement system..... depending on which dyno, on what day, with which operator you can 'see' a 15% variation in readings..... there's an awful lot of wiggle room in that 1-4 HP.

They also didn't state that they could see that change on a dyno, at the rear wheel. Knowing the driveline is going to eat about 15% of the engine output, 'seeing' 85% of a 1 HP change is effectively impossible. Where on the dyno plot does it occur? Is it across the entire RPM range?

Is the 1-4 HP 'gain' with a perfectly oiled filter? What happens with too much oil?

 

[Hellgate]

Food for thought...

Why OEM is better than K&N:

K&N air filter or OEM, why OEM is better

Second this quote if from a friend of mine who own's a motorcycle shop and is considered one of the better tuners in the US:

The "What's in the AF1 shop" Thread - Page 238 - ApriliaForum sponsored by AF1 Racing, inc.

"I have K&N filters in a couple of my engines, but most I keep the stock filter. After almost a decade of dyno tuning I have yet to see an actual gain on a modern sportsbike from a low restriction filter and often a tiny loss. I assume this due to a diminished resonant effect in the airbox since the filter "backflows" air as well as it does let it into the box to began with. Resonant frequency is determined by several variables including total airbox volume which is the volume from the filter to the intake valves of the motor. Now exceptions to this general rule are made for cruisers, especially Yamaha cruisers with their TINY little air filter, replacing it with a low restriction unit definitely makes power. The SXV and RXV are another example of anything or nothing being better than stock.

I suppose the thing we have to remember is that we do not care at all about big "flow" numbers, we care about charge trapping efficiency. This is what makes power, bigger holes and less restrictive filters will definitely win on a flow bench, we are not driving/riding flow benches.

In general sportbike airboxes seem to be very well designed and thought out from the factory. The Honda CBR1000RR is no exception but this was the first and only time I have ever had to actually read the instructions to install an aftermarket intake filter...."

Here's another quote from him:

"I personally think that stock paper element filters are the way to go for most applications because their filtration is indeed FAR superior to wire and gauze or foam type materials. Tiny particles do matter over long periods. I have seen inside some pretty interesting bike and car engines over the years from AMA to F1. There is but one common theme, they either run a paper element or no filter at all (maybe a wire mesh screen). On my old 1999 Mille I did a dyno test with full EGA on the stock filter, EVO, K&N, a Foam one I made and none at all. The dyno graphs all directly overlaid one another as did the mixture trace lines.

Filtration is key for a filter and this applies to oil filters as well. I only use paper element oil filters in engines I build and service as those "washable" stainless mesh oil filters have not fared well in terms of filtration in independent testing, the only place they seem to do well is in the testing done by the people marketing and selling them. Dirt bike guys love the washable oil filters, especially KTM guys where they have two or more to replace every few hundred miles."

 

[johnmarcmcc]

I asked my dealer about the K&N filter as well. He said the same thing; the bike is well tuned for the stock filter. (got to agree :rockon

But, I did put the K&N in my 2009 Sienna van. It added pick up, and ~1mpg better average gas mileage.

 

[MoeDog]

When they say 1-4 horsepower they really mean 1 maybe 2 but often not. you will gain more power from an oil change then an air filter. unless the bike was retune . My advise is save the money and by something that matters the most. the FZ6 is Fast enough as it is you don't need more power unless you do track often. If you are looking to increase power on a bike just buy a new one maybe a R1, FZ1. but that's just me

 

[red06]

you will gain betterthrottle response , quicker acceleration , a better performing bike
its better than 5 HP IMO

 

[Marcelor73]

You guys that still believe the K&N hype, really should read this:

K&N air filter or OEM, why OEM is better

If you don't want to read it, here is the bottom line, from an actual test:

- K&N lets in more dirt into the engine, accumulates dirt much faster and it's performance decreases much faster when dirty compared to OEM paper filters.

As for power, an OEM paper filter will allow more than enough airflow to allow the engine to make all the power it can. Unless you physically push more air in (turbos, superchargers, etc), a filter alone will give you 0 additional HP.

Not a sermon, just a thought.

 

[ChevyFazer]

Something else to think about...the size of our filters vs the size of most car and truck filters, there isnt much difference so on a car with a lets say 3.0l ya a k&n will help because that motors needs almost 500% more volume of air at full throtle vs our bike that has almost the same size filter and in some cases biger we need far less volume so really all your doing is allowing more dirt in your engine

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[Minigag]

Ugh, this thread got dug up after almost a year just to add a link that was already here? :rant:

 

[Sawblade]

I went to an oil type because no one around here had the OEM filter in stock, but they had plenty of those.

 

[4drfocus]

Yes a K&N filter makes 0hp, but you get better throttle response & acceleration, I don't know about you guys but my o.e.m filter had light coating of oil on it, and an oil film inside the airbox , so yeah.... food for thought.

 

[Nelly]

Does anyone know how much horsepower is gained by using a K&N air filter on a 2009 FZ6

None...................................

 

[ChevyFazer]

Yes a K&N filter makes 0hp, but you get better throttle response & acceleration, I don't know about you guys but my o.e.m filter had light coating of oil on it, and an oil film inside the airbox , so yeah.... food for thought.

The oil isnt the problem its how porous the k&n is....thats why they oil it to try and catch some of the dirt it lets through

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[Kaisersoze]

Stocker let small amount of dirt in too. But I guess whatever amount of foreign
substance gets in there is going to be combusted and thats what seafoam is for! :BLAA:

 

[ChevyFazer]

Stocker let small amount of dirt in too. But I guess whatever amount of foreign
substance gets in there is going to be combusted and thats what seafoam is for! :BLAA:

Seafoam is a wonderfull thing, if they made their own engine oil I would be all over like white on rice or stank on sh!t

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