WJBertrand
forum member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2013
- Posts
- 742
- Reaction score
- 186
I recently had the Ford Racing Performance ProCal tune installed in my 2013 GT. The package included a K&N drop-in filter replacement and I decided to try and compare the filtering surface area between it and a Purolator paper filter for my car.
First I measured the frame around the area of exposed filter media. This is the size of the opening if the filter media was removed. The K&N measured 6.6875" wide by 7.75" long for an opening area of 51.82 inches squared. For the Purolator paper filter, the frame was a bit more open measuring 7.25" x 8.25" for an opening area of 59.81 inches square.
Next I turned to the media itself which is mounted in a pleated arrangement in both cases. For the K&N the depth of each pleat was about 1.375" and the length was again 7.75" from above. There are twenty peaks. So 40 panels if you will, of the depth and length measured above. This results in a total surface are for air passage and filtering of 426.25 square inches.
For the Purolator the pleats were deeper, 2" in depth and longer at 8.25". The big difference is the number of panels, I counted 50 peaks or 100 panels of the above measured area for a total area of 1,650 square inches. That's almost 4 times the filtering surface of the K&N.
I have to conclude that either the K&N filter is actually more restrictive or it is 4 times more open than the paper one, to equal it's restriction, let alone best it.
I put the Purolator one back in.
First I measured the frame around the area of exposed filter media. This is the size of the opening if the filter media was removed. The K&N measured 6.6875" wide by 7.75" long for an opening area of 51.82 inches squared. For the Purolator paper filter, the frame was a bit more open measuring 7.25" x 8.25" for an opening area of 59.81 inches square.
Next I turned to the media itself which is mounted in a pleated arrangement in both cases. For the K&N the depth of each pleat was about 1.375" and the length was again 7.75" from above. There are twenty peaks. So 40 panels if you will, of the depth and length measured above. This results in a total surface are for air passage and filtering of 426.25 square inches.
For the Purolator the pleats were deeper, 2" in depth and longer at 8.25". The big difference is the number of panels, I counted 50 peaks or 100 panels of the above measured area for a total area of 1,650 square inches. That's almost 4 times the filtering surface of the K&N.
I have to conclude that either the K&N filter is actually more restrictive or it is 4 times more open than the paper one, to equal it's restriction, let alone best it.
I put the Purolator one back in.
Last edited: