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K & N air filter

3K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  janz3n 
#1 ·
Does anyone have an experience using either the K & N cleanable filter or a cold air intake on the Santa Fe? I have a 2007 3.3 and am getting 22-23 mpg and wanted to see if anyone picked up a mpg or two with one of these?
Any had any feedback on the various control modules being sold as well? Good or bad?00000732
 
#4 ·
Best thing you could do is add a K&N drop in filter they flow so much more air and will help your mileage. I have used and sold these filters for years and you cant go wrong. i do suggest keeping your old filter so when it's time to clean the K&N filter you can just swap them out this will allow time for the oil to dry before reinstalling it in your car.
 
#5 ·
I'm on the opposite side of the fence here. In the old days when not much mattered to an intake nowadays I'm a little paranoid about oil getting on my MAF and O2 sensors and throwing codes so I only run dry filters.
 
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#7 ·
They let in more air because they got big holes in the fabric you can drive truck through. You're letting in a lot of crud, larger particles and maybe road sand.

If you're living in area of dust and dirt roads you engine won't last long. OEM don't use them for a reason and their filter Hyundai's is quite quilted compared to other air filters like FRAM. They trap more contaminants.

its your engine and your $$$$

Paper filters don't cut it even for dirt trail ATV's, they switch to oil coated dual layered foam like Twin Air to keep the dust out. I wears out their top ends in no time.
 
#8 ·
I have used K&N in the past and while I can't say that I picked up an (MPG) or two (never measured it). It did feel that the engine was more responsive to the gas pedal movement though.

Also note that K&N filter have slightly larger holes, so the particles that make it to the cylinder will be slightly larger than what goes through with a paper filter. It may not matter when you only keep a car for 50k miles. If you plan on keeping a car for 200k you may notice the effects of K&N.
 
#9 ·
@laber

I agree as it truely DEPENDS on a lot.

The dirtier the air, dustier etc the sooner the effect take their toll. But if a lease or not keeping it long anyway it will likely last that duration but again it depends. If you are driving dirt farm road there is a lot of dirt kicking up even gravel roads.

Winter I expect generally the air is the cleanest with the cold and wet surface or snow covered ones. It doesn't get churned up like dry summer weather would. Snowmobiles don't have an air filter at all. Merely a course sponge to block any snow from getting in since water in the carb will take out an engine on most quickly. No dust or dirt being kicked up on snow covered trails so they don't need them. 2 cycles don't have the valves etc and simpler engine design.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Short reply: Any slight increase in performance or fuel consumption likely will never pay for the cost of a K&N filter. If it was better in any way, the manufacturer would use it.

Contrary to what some may believe, the people who design and manufacture a piece of machinery as incredibly complex as a modern automobile really do know what they are doing. Use OEM. It's hard to go wrong.

.
 
#11 ·
I used K&N filters on every vehicle I've owned, except the current 2 (FIPK's and drop in's). Just decided not to with these. Don't expect to gain any power or mileage with them. If that is what your after, you'll be disappointed.


Short reply: Any slight increase in performance or fuel consumption likely will never pay for the cost of a K&N filter. If it was better in any way, the manufacturer would use it..

Some truth to that, but you only have to spend $45 on one filter for the life. How many paper filters will you have to buy in say 100K miles? K&N's can be cost effective. I still have a recharge kit from the last 4 vehicles I had that ran a K&N.

Contrary to what some may believe, the people who design and manufacture a piece of machinery as incredibly complex as a modern automobile really do know what they are doing. Use OEM. It's hard to go wrong.

.

I don't know this for sure, but I doubt Hyundai makes filters. They are outsourced to the cheapest bidder to make one to meet their requirements. Kinda like that Hyundai fuel system cleaner they like to sell. Just because it says Hyundai on the box, doesn't mean Hyundai made it.
 
#12 ·
Indeed -- with manufacturers doing every tiny thing possible to achieve CAFE standards these days, you can bet alternative intake schemes would already have been considered many times over. They're busy trying to remove half a pound of weight here and half a pound there for negligible mileage gains. 1 ~ 2 mpg difference (which won't happen) obtained that easily would be like manna from Heaven.

For this kind of thing, I recommend simple economics ... how much for K&N, how many miles until the car is no longer yours, how much for decent paper air filters during that same period of time.
 
#13 ·
... I recommend simple economics ... how much for K&N, how many miles until the car is no longer yours, how much for decent paper air filters during that same period of time.
As often as I change paper filters the purchase cost would be about the same, but there's the time, trouble, and expense to clean and re-oil. Many wouldn't see that as a problem. I've used the K&N filters in the past and concluded the slight performance gains I thought I saw weren't worth it. Others' opinions may differ, and that's fine.

I only wanted to make the point that making such small modifications might not make economic sense but they may still be simply what the individual wants to do. We all enjoy doing things like that, even us geezers.

No insult intended. 0:)

.
 
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#14 ·
Has anyone installed any mods that actually increased mileage, such as the K&N, cold air intake or chips? Has anyone gotten any better than 22-23 MPG? That is what I am currently getting. I did a performance chip on my VW diesel turbo that I saw a legitimate 3 MPG gain from, but that is a turbo engine and a lot more variations are measured such as air / fuel ratios than a normally aspirated engine.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I put a device on my '01 Santa Fe 2.7 years ago that connected in parallel with the diagnostic connector using T-splices. It was supposed to modify the programming in the ECU over time and improve power and fuel consumption rate. It was a total waste of $90US, which is about what I paid for it. I could feel no difference when I installed it, even waiting a month and three tanks of gasoline, closely checking fuel consumption figures. It was also supposed to allow the ECU programming to revert to factory original parameters when it was removed. When I removed it, there were no changes in power that I could feel and gas mileage that I could see with a calculator.

Considering I dropped some significant money on this little miracle device, I really wanted to see it work. It didn't. Call me $90 poorer and a lot wiser. Bottom line: Don't bother. As I said in a previous post, the manufacturers of our cars really know what they're doing.

I don't know about your 3.3, but my 3.5 gives me 20-21 MPG in commuting traffic (I admit I have a light foot) and 25-26 MPG at a steady 70-75 MPH in Interstate highway driving, which is better than the 2.7 in my old Santa Fe or the identical engine in The Bride's '07 Tucson. With the drastic increase in power, I'm a happy camper!

.
 
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#16 ·
DS Hornet - If I was getting 25-26 MPG You wouldn't hear a peep from me. That is what I was used to in my Subaru Forester that had a 2.5 liter engine. I have recently bought the 2007 Santa Fe and have not got more than 23 and that was a long trip to NY. The Santa Fe had only 34K on it so was in good condition. I have put in Synthetic oil but that's it for any type of mods or changes yet.
 
#17 ·
You now have a car that weighs 4,000 lbs with a 3.3L, 240 HP motor that gets 23 mpg; comparing it to a car that weighed 1,000 lbs less with 80 HP less IMHO is like apples and oranges.
The SantaFe is only rated to get 24 mpg on it's best day while the Subaru was rated to achieve 28 mpg, I'd say that you seem to be doing fine.
Everything is a trade off as far as performance vs mileage is concerned.
If your only interest is gas mileage, put 45 lbs of air in the tires, use a light throttle and take 5 mph off the speed you normally drive and you will see some improvement with the sacrifice of a more harsh ride.
 
#18 ·
My '01 SF gave me around 19-20 in commuting and 23-24 MPG on a trip using the cruise control, which I thought was okay with a two ton vehicle with so-so aerodynamics and full time AWD, The Bride's '07 Tucson with the same engine gives maybe one MPG better but it weighs about 500 pounds less. Do you use the cruise control on trips? It helps me with fuel mileage and general traffic stress.

.
 
#19 ·
I did pick up a K&N filter and I instantly felt more response on throttle and more pleasant to get to highway speed. Not been on a long drive to compare mileage yet, but the best I ever gotten was 23 mpg highway on a trip to NY. Does anyone else get better than 23? I have the 3.3 motor.
 
#21 ·
With modern fuel injection systems, I doubt you would see an increase in gas mileage from an air intake change. Fuel delivery is carefully monitored according to measured air intake, drive by wire throttle bodies, unlike earlier carburetors which would lose gas mileage from a restrictive air filter.
You would probably get a very mild performance increase with a less restrictive air filter allowing more air flow on the high end. However, I bet most people saying they can feel more horsepower may be from the placebo effect, and perhaps the increased sound of a less muffled intake is giving the perception of more power.
 
#22 ·
sorry to bring up an old thread. i agree that a k&n isnt worth the time. also i get at least 26mpg on the highway. about 14mpg scooting around town, but thats usually my wife driving. this is all according to the computer on the cluster though. ive never actually done the math after a fill up using the tripometer.
 
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