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Breather / Vent Air Filter

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Hi Good People !

Just wondering, is it possible to use Breathers / Vent Air Filters on nitro rc buggies? Such as the 'K&N Breather [62-1340]' ? It's washable and reusable too !

Besides that, it looks kinda cool...to me !

Thoughts, please ?

Thanks in advance, Good People ! ;-)

K&N breather.jpg

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 The aim is no bits down the carb and into the piston chamber. With the sponge filters to help them catch micro particles we oil them with special filter oil. Too much oil and you prevent air going through the sponge, not enough and small bits risk entering the engine. So I would check - if at all possible - what size particles this stops and how hard it is to get air through.

But that’s all just “stuff” I would assume if it fits it should work.

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I'm sure I've seen these fitted to nitro models recently  . I used to have an one like that fitted to a vintage racer many years back . I've used all sorts , but mostly foam elements , and as said above they are washable / renewable , some come with a spare element

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I've been a fan of K&N for years.  

I should've used it sooner in my 1991 Toyota Tercel. It has a tiny palm-sized air filter.  As soon as I put in the K&N filter, I could feel the extra power.  Because the filtering size was so small, having a cloth filter that breaths better had helped.  Well, adding 1-2 horsepower to the 90 horsepower engine isn't a great boost, but why not?  I never replaced the K&N filter. Definitely better gas mileage too!  

 5Rv45qs.jpg

I couldn't feel the boost on 2004 Subaru Forester.  Not because the K&N filter wasn't good, but because Subaru's air filter area is simply huge.  If the filter area is gigantic, there was no restriction even if you use stuffy air filter. (Turbo version would benefit from K&N, because I think they use much smaller filters.) Nevertheless, during the past 17 years of daily driving (including today), one K&N filter was the only air filter I ever installed.  

1fVObvA.jpg

So, I'm sure K&N filter made for vents would be "better."  But I've never tried on mine because I didn't think the improvement would be noticeable.  

1:1 cars use about 2.5 liters of volume, RC cars use about 2.5cc. That's about 1000 times less volume, but the RC filter isn't 1000 times smaller.  Maybe 50 times smaller. Which means per cc, it's getting 20 times more filter area anyway.  Meaning it gets plenty of air. And even if you play in dirt for a season, the dirt usually don't get to the bottom of the sponge closest to the intake.  Even if it did, sponge only costs about a $1 to replace.  

Unlike paper filter, nitro RC cars use oil soaked sponge. That isn't too different from oil soaked cloth of K&N.  So, I feared that the experience would be like installing K&N in Subaru Forester.  It won't give me extra horsepower, nor would it give me better gas mileage because the filtering area is already big to start with.  I like experimenting, but it was simply too expensive for me.  

That doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a try. I do think it looks whole lot cooler than a sponge filter.  

 

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Thanks so much for your feedback,  Gentlemen !! I really, really appreciate that !!!

I'll give it a try....maybe I'll go for 'Simota'...a bit "price friendly" ! ;-)

Hey Juggular ! 

I too use K&N air filters on my rides as well ! Can't say they look cool...b'coz it's the 'drop in' type ! ! Anyway, the word 'K&N' already sounds cool enough !!

Have a great Sunday, Good People ! :-)

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