Reviews of K&N air filter

IMHO the performance gains from the K&N are marginal at best, especially on a 1.8 litre motor. It's less hassle to just replace the paper filter element every year with a freash one than cleaning the cotton filter annually. the K&N will likely require eight years to get your return on investment. Besides it you live anywhere where it's dusty you going to be doing your motor harm... I read about farm trucks with these installed the puke their motors because fine particles are getting into the motor. YMMV.

I just did the switch to a K&N filter recently on mine. Did not notice any difference. I remember feeling a greater difference in my VR6. Maybe its the fact one is N/A and the other F/I.

I found a used ABD racing filter and I could feel it with out a doubt. I bought a K&N filter and drilled holes in my box and I say it was a waste.

I choose K&N, because it's reusable, and offers the performance I look for in an air filter.

Here is a 2.0 owner with a 1999 GL and 56K on the clock. I decided to use K&N drop in filter as a replacement on the CAI. So here is what I noticed after I put K&N on my puny 2.0: 1. 1.7 - 2.3 EXTRA mpg 2. Better throtle reponse, especially above 3K rpms 3. No problems concerning the MAF and oil flying off the filter I think my $45.87 was well spent!

Your experience is your experience- that's fine. I have seen gains. My fuel economy has gone up about two miles per gallon on average.

My vr6 had nothing but maf issues after I installed a k&n. I wouldn't even dream of putting a k&n in my 1.8t. The paper filters are fine. It's been proven on the dyno more than once that you get no gains from a k&n whatsoever. Unless you think you are going to clean and reoil your k&n to reuse it and save on filter costs (in which case again you have to be careful not to over oil or you screw up your maf up big time) there is no specific benefit to gain by installing one. Let me note that I've not noticed the same issues in older vw's, just mk IV's.

I just turned over 9K on my car. installed a K&N on the day I got the car with 34 miles on the clock. After reading your post the other day on this subject, I decided to check my MAF and intake for signs of mineral oil. There were no signs of it. Not on this car, or the Jetta 1.8T I had before this one. I ran that car with a K&N panel filter for for approx. 36,000 miles until I sold it for the GTI. I have owned (6) cars in my life. (4) of them had K&N filters in them. I have never had a problem with any of them as a result of these filters.

I once took my maf housing out and it was really dirty... I had a K&N drop in BTW I think it flows better but it flows too much crap too.

The only effect you should notice is larger chunks of debris getting into your engine. This may cause some more noise.