Poll: K&N drop in filter on 2.0 Ecoboost engine -- did it improve fuel mpg?

[Geelloo90042]

For those of you who used this, did it improve fuel mpg or not. My experience it has not and I'm not an agressive daily street driver. I'm like the most conservative driver 95% of my time on the street.

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[RiotfunK]

Stick with the oem filter

 

[GulfCoastBronco]

1.5 L. Lift, tires, drop in K&N. Personally felt like I dropped about 3mpg. However I did all those upgrades within first 800 miles of vehicle so no real data to compare.

 

[Meanderthal]

K&N filters are horrible for daily drivers. Do a google search for test of air filters. That’s all I will say.

 

[GulfCoastBronco]

K&N filters are horrible for daily drivers. Do a google search for test of air filters. That’s all I will say.

I feel like I’ve heard this more and more lately with increase of turbos and differences in vehicle mechanics compared to like 15 years ago or so. I probably need to do some more research

 

[Osco]

In my normally aspirated engines I think it felt like I had a bit more mid rpm power, just a tiny bit. I ran a single K&N drop in to failure in my 2.7 Ltr Tacoma automatic at 75% Interstate with near max cargo loads and often pulling a 5x8 enclosed trailer of a constant weight cargo and all of 2700 pounds.
The filter failed at 320,000 miles.
Felt like I was running on half power.
A new paper filter felt like a new engine.
I’ve never cleaned a throttle body in my life but had to three times with that wet filter.
Ran one in my stage 1 Harley.
It developed holes, dozens.
Threw it in the trash can.
I am done with racing filters.

 

[BigPhatPaulie]

The factory filter is hardly a restriction so I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't affect it

 

[Broncosprt57]

I used to think the KN was the go to filter, lasts forever, and more performance, save money.

what I’ve realized it’s horrible at filtering the day to day stuff and more of a dragstrip day filter.

stick with oem or purolator.

 

[V8 Yankee]

For those of you who used this, did it improve fuel mpg or not. My experience it has not and I'm not an agressive daily street driver. I'm like the most conservative driver 95% of my time on the street.

My experience has always been the same with only a intake mod. Alone a filter or a CAI rarely increases mpg. Opening up the exhaust will complete the mod. Intake and exhaust go hand in hand to maximize results. On my 1.5 I've installed both the K&N, a smooth bore intake box to manifold hose and a Cat-Back exhaust. Together I gained 2-3 mpg, plus the new sound is really awesome.

 

[V8 Yankee]

The K&N filter alone will not make a much of a difference. The one thing to remember is the intake will respond to mods if done correctly. To increase intake which a K&N filter will do the exhaust will need a smoother, less restrictive route as well. I added my CAI first knowing that I would need to mod my exhaust to see any benefit. After I removed the behemoth OEM muffler and replaced it with two 2.25 Vibrant Resonators did I see a noticeable difference. Not only in increased power when needed but also in MPG when im commuting and in no hurry. The added benefit was a very distinct sound that sets my BS apart from the others. I'm a old school V8 guy, saying a 3 cylinder sounds good is a stretch of the imagination. In reality sounds better than any 4 cylinder I've ever heard. At the same time I can still listen to radio at a normal volume, will at least normal for a 60 year old with less than good hearing. So long story short for anyone expecting a difference with just a filter. Complete the circuit as a Electrician would say, look at modifying the exhaust as well. Have fun and good luck.

 

[Ksnau]

For those of you who used this, did it improve fuel mpg or not. My experience it has not and I'm not an agressive daily street driver. I'm like the most conservative driver 95% of my time on the street.

I don't mean to sound like a dick it's just I've been through these gimmicks. It's just a filter and it's a drop in, so it's the exact same as stock except it's not paper, it's not gonna make power or help mpg at best it filters finer particulates.

If you want more power you either add more air (better flowing heads, bigger cam, or forced induction which we have already have although you can go with bigger forced induction) or you can remove a restriction if there is one like a better flowing exhaust or a bigger throttle body, but these only make more power if they were a restriction in the first place and honestly they usually aren't at stock or even more than stock power levels and when they are it's rarely by much. Yes the stock muffler is definitely a restriction but even on a 460 hp v8 coyote a full exhaust system will make like 20 HP to the wheels and often only at higher rpm and only at wide open throttle. A tune is the only upgrade that's a bolt on that will make a difference you can feel maybe on these cars and probably only at higher octane so they can crank up the timing. These aren't old small block Chevys where everything on them was done by cheap bad iron castings and anything you upgrade makes a big difference these are very efficient well made engines that are hard to improve upon to a noticeable difference I mean heck my 2.0 liter makes a little more power than my old bronco did and it's does it wayyy more efficiently.

 

[RSH]

The K&N may improve mileage, but most of the time people get exited over the increased intake noise and tend to hot rod around so they can "enjoy" the noise therefore reducing fuel mileage.
Then after awhile you forget about having the filter until its time to clean it, and the fuel mileage is what it is.

Just as louder exhaust gives you the feeing of more performance the same is true with intake noise.
You would need a more controlled study or at least some dyno runs to quantify any added benefit.

You can control fuel mileage more with your right foot, tire pressure, vehicle condition and driving conditions than you can with simple add-on's.

 

[V8 Yankee]

The K&N may improve mileage, but most of the time people get exited over the increased intake noise and tend to hot rod around so they can "enjoy" the noise therefore reducing fuel mileage.
Then after awhile you forget about having the filter until its time to clean it, and the fuel mileage is what it is.

Just as louder exhaust gives you the feeing of more performance the same is true with intake noise.
You would need a more controlled study or at least some dyno runs to quantify any added benefit.

You can control fuel mileage more with your right foot, tire pressure, vehicle condition and driving conditions than you can with simple add-on's.

I agree with some of what you posted. Driving inputs probably make the biggest difference. I've been building and modifying engines for 40 years, wasted a lot of money on things that don't work. In the case of 1.5 it's the aggregate of all mods combined plus my personal driving habits that show mpg improvement. It also helps I live in Southern Florida, flat as a table and at sea level. Attached is a photo of my 11000 mile average, confirmed. it rolled over at 9999.9 but the hours keep ticking up. I've done other things as well and like I said it's the combination of everything, each to a certain percentage of mpg gain. Due to a big warranty no no I haven't touched the programming side of the engine. I'm positive I'd get even more out of it but it can also open up a can of worms on reliability. All in all this engine has plenty of potential for mods, like all cars really.

 

[RSH]

I agree with some of what you posted. Driving inputs probably make the biggest difference. I've been building and modifying engines for 40 years, wasted a lot of money on things that don't work. In the case of 1.5 it's the aggregate of all mods combined plus my personal driving habits that show mpg improvement. It also helps I live in Southern Florida, flat as a table and at sea level. Attached is a photo of my 11000 mile average, confirmed. it rolled over at 9999.9 but the hours keep ticking up. I've done other things as well and like I said it's the combination of everything, each to a certain percentage of mpg gain. Due to a big warranty no no I haven't touched the programming side of the engine. I'm positive I'd get even more out of it but it can also open up a can of worms on reliability. All in all this engine has plenty of potential for mods, like all cars really.

I have a Badlands and I know for sure the Bronco Sport is capable of getting very good fuel mileage on flat open highway, It wont get 1.5 liter economy but its respectable.
Mileage does start dropping off when encountering hills, slow traffic or when needing to accelerate.
Also the Mileage drops significantly when city driving and then another order of magnitude drop when driving off road.

In my case I didn't buy the Badlands for its fuel economy, but for its performance capabilities.

 

[Mark S.]

Mileage does start dropping off when encountering hills, slow traffic or when needing to accelerate.
Also the Mileage drops significantly when city driving and then another order of magnitude drop when driving off road.

And in cold weather. These engines operate extremely rich when cold. The catalytic converter doesn't function until it gets up to operating temp, and a rich mixture helps reduce CC warmup time by dumping still-burning fuel into it.

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