Air filter K&N or Fram

P.S. this same Toyota dealership told me I needed a new air filter upon which I told him, “It’s a K&N...” he said oh, and walked back into the garage.

Rolled the dice and bought an Amazon Warehouse Chinese cold air intake for $42. Figured the bent aluminum tube was the most crucial part of the set up apart from the air filter so I bought a K&N air filter to replace the crummy one that comes with it. Makes some nice induction noises now.

I clean mine in a bucket with simple green, and re-oil with whatever motorcycle filter oil I have on my shelf. I do this once a year. Keep in mind, your filter does basically nothing after all the oil is saturated with dirt.I've had the recharge kits before and simple green is both cheaper and works better. I've been doing this for many years and have never had one degrade, as it is a very gentle cleaner.

The k&n cleaner has a lot of warning labels on it so I imagine it's a lot more powerful than soap and water. Plenty of dirty oil came out of mine when I cleaned it. I also rinsed mine with water and aired it out. Also need to re-oil the filter and let it dry in the sun and set in for ~ 12-24 hours to cure. Be careful on this step to not add too much oil.I plan on changing my K&N filter after ~3 years, just to be safe. I've had filters (from other brands) come apart on me in the past.

Works like a charm I love it and highly recommend!

I installed K&N. Great replacement for the stock filter. Noticed a bit more induction whistle and the car definitely feels like it breathes better.

I didn't notice much of an increase in mileage since I did it almost immediately.

the only advantage to the k&n is the reusability. for actual filtration, oem paper filters are better. power differences, on these cars, i dont think you will see any differences unless you are pushing over 325hp

IMO they're not worth it. Modern intake systems flow fairly well, adding a K&N filter will provide almost no benefit. Hell even adding an aftermarket intake these days add nothing but sound. they can also get oil residue on the MAF sensor which can be expensive to replace.

Over cleaning a K&N does more harm than good. K&N's need dirt to be effective. Clean K&N's let through too much dirt, until they become effective.