Aftermarket Performance Air Filter

[sk546]

Hi Guys, just wondering if anyone on here with a T5, T6(obviously not the UK guys as we don't get the T6 here) or T8 installed a K&N or similar air filter and if so, has it made any improved the induction sound and/or power of the engine?

I have installed these on the vast majority of my previous cars to good effect and am interested to see if its worth doing on my XC60 T8 when it arrives.

[Chief inspector]

Originally Posted by sk546

Hi Guys, just wondering if anyone on here with a T5, T6(obviously not the UK guys as we don't get the T6 here) or T8 installed a K&N or similar air filter and if so, has it made any improved the induction sound and/or power of the engine?

I have installed these on the vast majority of my previous cars to good effect and am interested to see if its worth doing on my XC60 T8 when it arrives.

9 times out of 10 these things make conditions worse and can void your warranty, especially if its the oiled one as it contaminates the MAF, they say it doesn’t, but you wont be oiling it in their lab.

Its a filter, its job is to filter air, to prevent muck contaminating the engine, throttle body and air flow measuring equipment. These are worse at filtering air so a backwards step and potentially a warranty voiding action.

And usually they also have a worse pressure drop than a standard one at full revs so you actually lose power.

These things are really for carburettors and a relic from a bygone age, modern cars dont save 20p on filters any more as they have a direct bearing on important items for sales like emissions and fuel economy.

[kenny]

A complete waste of money on its own. You might get a slight induction noise but no noticeable change in performance. If you start changing engine map, intercoolers turbos then yes you will need to improve air flow but I would save your money.

[gaby]

More noise???

[SimNugget]

I install BMC filters on my M or AMG cars but hadn’t thought about the T8 really.

The BMCs are beautifully made but I honestly don’t think they make any difference.

S

[Zebster]

Does anyone know who actually makes the OEM Volvo air filters?

[Haldex]

“Performance” vs stock paper filter: https://youtu.be/GS69owXpGdY

[sk546]

That ties in with the experience on my previous car, i did rolling road power runs with a OEM filter and a K&N (unintentional I might add, Audi told me they had refitted my K&N after they had put in an OEM filter to took some readings to prove the K&N filter wasn't pushing the car outside of its operating limits but as it turns out they had left the OEM one installed!!! ).
Peak difference was about 45bhp and 60lbft but the power difference throughout the rev range was massive (area under the graph and all). The people doing the power runs were quite shocked the difference just a filter made, they were sure Audi had done something.

My last cars Mass Air Flow sensor wasn't fitted until after the turbochargers and charge cooler so it didn't suffer from the filters oil affecting its reading. Does anyone know if the T6/T8 engine has the MAF sensor just after the airbox or further down the air intake system?

[MaDProFF]

That Video is pretty flawed tbh, that Dyno is so far out, but I still agree it does make a slight difference in the right car, Modern ECU's do adjust for air flow intake differences.

Oddly enough I also had a K & N in my Audi, which was new, and Audi Dealer know about it, and agreed it was better for the car which is why they cleaned it and put it back in when servicing.

Would I put one in my T8, probably not, it has enough issues with software as it is, not sure how it would respond with a change in air flow, but be my guest as a test puppet and let me know

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by sk546

That ties in with the experience on my previous car, i did rolling road power runs with a OEM filter and a K&N (unintentional I might add, Audi told me they had refitted my K&N after they had put in an OEM filter to took some readings to prove the K&N filter wasn't pushing the car outside of its operating limits but as it turns out they had left the OEM one installed!!! ).
Peak difference was about 45bhp and 60lbft but the power difference throughout the rev range was massive (area under the graph and all). The people doing the power runs were quite shocked the difference just a filter made, they were sure Audi had done something.

My last cars Mass Air Flow sensor wasn't fitted until after the turbochargers and charge cooler so it didn't suffer from the filters oil affecting its reading. Does anyone know if the T6/T8 engine has the MAF sensor just after the airbox or further down the air intake system?

I don’t believe that an air filter would make any where in those regions gains wise.

I would suggest the rolling road was not giving repeatable readings.