link doesn't work

 

 

it seems to me that increasing the surface area of the filtration medium can only help-- perhaps not in increasing engine performance (since the motor getting more than enough air already with little difficulty "breathing", diminishing returns and all that)-- but in reducing the amount of dirt that gets into the motor. since the volume of air the motor is going to suck in is pretty fixed (depending upon RPM, of course) by having that volume of air passing through a larger filter (more surface area), any particular square centimeter of filter medium will filter less air (per second) travelling at a lower velocity and thus capture more particulates.

atleast, this is how I imagine it. opinions? road rage?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tritium_pie

 

RR, I think trit mean actual filter size rather than poor size. For example, the OEM and Comptech filters are rather big, but you look at the PRM filter, and its a small cone.
thoughts?

 

Oh.

Well, it still all comes down to two variables:

1) Is the filter able to flow adequate air to meet the engine's needs?
2) What is its media design? (Paper, gauze, foam) and its capacity vs. filtering ability

So, a smaller filter that flows adequately would almost by necessity have to be less good at filtering. That has been my experience.

Again, the gauze filters have an advantage for racing, because they will still flow when quite dirty. Once a hole in a paper media is filled, it cannot flow 1 cc of more air.
Paper media have a mix of large and tiny holes, so they are actually pretty poor filters when new, but flow a lot. If you change a paper media a lot, frequent oil changes are a must, or regular oil analysis to check for ingested dirt, or both.

As the Firesign Theatre once quipped:
"Healthy mind, healthy body. Take your pick!".

 

^ yes, sorry my posting wasn't quite worded well (thx tenblade for clarifying)

here's what I meant:

assuming the same media (such as OEM paper), if we have a filter that has 20" sq. of surface area and another that has 40" sq of surface area (both formed into a cone, for example)-- the larger filter will filter better, since the same volume of air (such as 100cfm) is now passing through a much larger surface area. therefore in any particular spot, the air will be travelling at a lower velocity.

road rage, you made the following comment:
I was agreeing with the logic of the people who fit larger filters to their vehicles. while this may not necessarily improve performance (if the engine is already getting adequate air), it should dramatically reduce the amount of particulates taken in.

AND for those who are fitting filters that perhaps do not filter as well (foam) because they are looking to increase performance, they should definitely look into fitting as large a filter as they can, per my logic.

opinions?

 

RR, so I can I send my oil off to a lab for analysis?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tritium_pie
^ yes, sorry my posting wasn't quite worded well (thx tenblade for clarifying)

here's what I meant:

assuming the same media (such as OEM paper), if we have a filter that has 20" sq. of surface area and another that has 40" sq of surface area (both formed into a cone, for example)-- the larger filter will filter better, since the same volume of air (such as 100cfm) is now passing through a much larger surface area.