Bongo Fury

Has anyone ever tried replacing the standard air filter with a more efficient one, e.g. a K&N etc.? Is there anything to be gained?

I fitted K&N filters on both previous diesel and current V6. Can't say there was any huge improvement in performance or economy, but as they are washable, they do last a lifetime and are probably more efficient than paper filters.

On the diesel the air filter gets dirty over one particular area - where it feeds into the air intake. As well as changing the filter ( or washing it in Simons case) it's worth rotating it a third of the way round a couple of times a year.

Tony x wrote:On the diesel the air filter gets dirty over one particular area - where it feeds into the air intake. As well as changing the filter ( or washing it in Simons case) it's worth rotating it a third of the way round a couple of times a year.

That's a good idea. I'll look at that over the weekend. A reusable filter is a good idea though; I have a Pipercross one in the airbox on my MX5. I was originally wondering whether it would be worth ditching the whole standard airbox and filter and replacing them with something more efficient, but it would probably just give more intake noise and precious little else.

Tony x wrote:On the diesel the air filter gets dirty over one particular area - where it feeds into the air intake. As well as changing the filter ( or washing it in Simons case) it's worth rotating it a third of the way round a couple of times a year.

Good idea that and I spun it 180 myself on a check little while back. Being replaced in a month or so at next service.

MalcW wrote:Has anyone ever tried replacing the standard air filter with a more efficient one, e.g. a K&N etc.? Is there anything to be gained?

I seem to recall those who fitted them said the engine sounded a little more throaty - might get a tad more noise in the cab. Overall I reckon, when cost and convenience is taken into account, there's a lot to be said for the disposable standard ones

If you have a side conversion that makes access under the drivers seat tricky then the K&N may be an idea as they apparently don't tend to clog up as much as paper elements.

I do 3K miles a year if that and mainly good ones on motorway and the paper ones do get surprisingly sooted up in a circular spot around around that intake. So definitely worth looking at. It's a good thing as it shows it is doing it's job properly but if you do high miles defo worth looking at them/cleaning them regularly.

Some people like to fit cone type filters to get more induction noise but on a Bongo I cant see why that would be any advantage - I'd prefer mine to be quieter rather than noisier.

I think that there are two things to consider - air flow through the whole filter assembly and the ability of the filter to keep filtering.

AFAIK Factory air filters are designed to give plenty of air flow - my other car is an Audi A4 and lots of folk love to replace the air filter box with a cone type filter forgetting that the Factory RS4 gets 350BHP + using the same airbox so airflow can't be a problem. The airbox on the Bongo is huge and the filter looks plenty big enough.

K&N filters use oil to trap dirt on the surface of the filter - I cant see any advantage over paper filters and some people say there are problems with the oil coating MAF filters.

Air filters are so cheap that for me I think it makes sense to change them every oil change. I can see that if you couldn't get to the air box because of the conversion it would make sense to relocate the airbox into the front of the vehicle so it is easy to get to.

Are people with side conversions really not able to get the front seat off?? What happens to yearly maintenance or having to work on the engine?? Are the seats still bolted to the hinges then??

redrocket wrote:Are people with side conversions really not able to get the front seat off?? What happens to yearly maintenance or having to work on the engine?? Are the seats still bolted to the hinges then??

You can take the front seat out in a couple of minutes.

Slide seat forward and remove 2 rear bolts.
Slide seat back and remove 2 front bolts and seat belt anchor bolt.
Lift seat and disconnect seat belt/ heated seat connector.

Hoover carpet under seat before refitting.
Good Luck

No noticeable power gain but I still like my k&n filter since it is washable and reusable.