K&N, AEM, Spectre - doesn't matter

[F22Chris]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=psEFrWqKSnQ

Thought this was cool to see.

[H311RA151N]

Very cool video! Very informative too.

AEM, K&N and Airad are all very similarly made air filters if you think about it and have had the opportunity to look at the way they are made.

Spectre doesn't share these similarities and wasn't mentioned in the video. Spectre seems similar to Vibrant although I'm just going off my memory as to what they look like.

This makes me wonder which companies are affiliated. As this video states, AEM, K&N and Airad are affiliated. I wonder who else is affiliated with them. And which other companies are affiliates.

Thanks for sharing F22Chris. This is an interesting topic.

[F22Chris]

Very cool video! Very informative too.

AEM, K&N and Airad are all very similarly made air filters if you think about it and have had the opportunity to look at the way they are made.

Spectre doesn't share these similarities and wasn't mentioned in the video. Spectre seems similar to Vibrant although I'm just going off my memory as to what they look like.

This makes me wonder which companies are affiliated. As this video states, AEM, K&N and Airad are affiliated. I wonder who else is affiliated with them. And which other companies are affiliates.

Thanks for sharing F22Chris. This is an interesting topic.

Spectre was mentioned for a brief moment when the guy was talking about how they test filtration.

I think it's cool that the process has remained pretty much the same. I always wondered how they got to be red too.

[H311RA151N]

Ah, ok I didn't catch that.

I think so too. It's neat to see the specifics of something so simple!

[CyborgGT]

Makes me wonder why K&N filters require oiling, while AEM don't when they cost about the same to the consumer, and the filtration quality of cheap-o Spectre compared to those more expensive two. I wish the video went deeper into the "science" behind their filters; the way he barely mentioned the cotton gauze material just made me lose faith in both K&N and AEM.

I remember reading in Honda Tuning that AEM and K&N parted ways a while back. Apparently not.

But I bought a K&N Apollo system for my build, and have done some research since then. What I've found about oil analysis with K&Ns has me regretting my purchase. AMSOIL has been putting out a new series of filter (here) that is supposed to do a better job at filtering than either AEM or K&N, so I'm hoping I can get something that will fit inside my K&N enclosure. If not, I'll be making my own enclosure, and the whole Apollo setup is trash.

[Corweena]

Makes me wonder why K&N filters require oiling, while AEM don't when they cost about the same to the consumer, and the filtration quality of cheap-o Spectre compared to those more expensive two. I wish the video went deeper into the "science" behind their filters; the way he barely mentioned the cotton gauze material just made me lose faith in both K&N and AEM.

I remember reading in Honda Tuning that AEM and K&N parted ways a while back. Apparently not.

They actually teamed up not parted ways....they are technically the same company, but have kept separate names still.

And I believe K&N ditched their traditional oiled filters when they partnered with AEM and started using their Dryflow technology.

[Raf99]

Agreed though, I kind of lost some faith when i seen them simply putting some cotton together and painting it.

[GhostAccord]

K&N still sells oil based filters. I have purchased 2 different styles in the past 3 months. One for the Ridgeline and 2 for my GS400X.

On a K&N reusable filter that is not paint that you are seeing being applied. That would be their red filter oil. On the dry flow filters it is just dye/paint.

As far as the materials go. If you look at how OEM filters are made, it's just paper..... I'd rather have washable cotton cloth than paper. They both stop dirt from entering your engine. Just do it with different methods.

[CyborgGT]

They actually teamed up not parted ways....they are technically the same company, but have kept separate names still.

Found the article (HT April 2013, interview with AEM co-founder Jonh Concialdi). It was DC Sports that they sold off after a short stint of ownership.

HT: More recently, AEM has gotten involved with K&N. Tell us about that.

JC: K&N was making filters for us, and then they decided to get into the intake business. We used their filters in our intake systems because they were great filters and they had a good brand. When they decided to compete with us in the sport compact intake business, it was really disappointing. A friend of mine had a mantra that stuck with me: When a vendor starts competing with the customer, the vendor's now a problem. So away went K&N.

We were, at this time, working on the dry filter anyways, so we migrated everything, which I think got their attention. We were getting a lot of traction with the dry filter, which is what allowed us to get into the OEM manufacturing. Through that dry filter, there was a lawsuit between K&N and AEM. They were not happy with some of the advertising claims we'd made even though I had a lot of independent lab testing done. We took shots at K&N simply because we wanted to compare against a company we respected. There's no point competing with the bottom dwellers.

But listen, I was always friends with K&N. My business partner at AEM Electronics puts it right: "You ever have a situation where you have two best friends, they get into a fight, but then later on they shake hands and are best friends again?" That's exactly what happened. We ended up settling, and then two months later we talked with the guys at K&N about selling AEM Induction to them. They have much better filtration testing and manufacturing capability than we ever had, so the fit was perfect. I've been friends with Steve Williams at K&N since the late '90s, and now that we've teamed up with them, we have vast resources available in terms of testing, manufacturing, and we also have complete autonomy to design products that have an AEM feel to them.

HT: To be clear, AEM Induction and AEM Electronics are separate entities, correct?

JC: Completely separate.

HT: So what links AEM Induction with AEM Electronics?

JC: The name and me.

HT: Nowadays, you're basically working for two different companies then, right?

JC: Basically, I'm a ho. No, when the deal was made, K&N wanted me to keep working with the R&D group we had here for induction. I work for them 80 percent of the week, and I work for AEM Electronics 20 percent of the week. I still own a part of AEM Electronics. I don't own any of AEM Induction at the moment, but I have a nice deal with them. I run R&D for AEM Induction, and I'm the chief engineer at AEM Electronics, although I don't get to play with them as much as I used to.

[deevergote]

AEM used to use K&N filters on their intakes, and eventually started producing their own. It makes sense that they'd use a similar design. I believe K&N's oiled filters still trap more small particulates than AEM's dry flow filters... but some people are concerned about the oil itself contaminating the incoming air (and therefore causing buildup in the combustion chambers) so it's an ongoing debate. Neither filter as well as a quality OEM filter, but that's the price you pay for increased flow.

I hadn't heard of the Amsoil filter. I need to look into that! Better filtration than AEM/K&N with similar flow would be fantastic. (I just looked at the link... conical only. I'd have loved a drop-in rectangular filter for my CTS-V! Might consider replacing the Miata's K&N cone with one, though.)


note: I've got one foot out the door, so I haven't watched the video yet. My comments are just following the conversation to this point.

[AccordWarrior]

AEM used to use K&N filters on their intakes, and eventually started producing their own. It makes sense that they'd use a similar design. I believe K&N's oiled filters still trap more small particulates than AEM's dry flow filters... but some people are concerned about the oil itself contaminating the incoming air (and therefore causing buildup in the combustion chambers) so it's an ongoing debate. Neither filter as well as a quality OEM filter, but that's the price you pay for increased flow.

The oiled filter issue is a bigger problem on cars that use MAF.

[GhostAccord]

The oiled filter issue is a bigger problem on cars that use MAF.

If you follow K&N's instructions there shouldn't be any MAF issues. I've been running oiled filters on MAF sensor cars for years without issues. The issue arises when they are over oiled. Yes there have been filters that come out of the box with excessive oil in spots. that is due to storage and shipping orientation. If you store them standing on end all the oil naturally goes to the bottom. I always blow mine off with my air compressor before I install them. that ensures that there are no wet spots.

Just cleaned my oiled K&N cone filter on the Ridgeline yesterday. It has been on there for 5 salty and dusty months. Not a trace of dirt or oil on the MAF or the inside of the intake tube. Can't say the same for the shyte that came out of the cotton filter media......black!

[CyborgGT]

I hadn't heard of the Amsoil filter. I need to look into that! Better filtration than AEM/K&N with similar flow would be fantastic. (I just looked at the link... conical only. I'd have loved a drop-in rectangular filter for my CTS-V! Might consider replacing the Miata's K&N cone with one, though.)

What got me onto them was a video I saw a while back explaining the nanofiber material they'd been working with. And now, of course, I can't find it.

[deevergote]

Ultimately, it's probably an incredibly minor improvement... but it's still nice to know you have the best.