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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - K&N vs OEM

Hi Guys

I have seen for sale a K&N air filter for a 1500 midget and I am rather tempted.

The main point of contention is, is there a over riding reason for using a K&N instead of the standard pancakes?

My engine as far as I am aware is a standard 1500 unit, would I see any benefit for using the K&N or is it all a falacy?

Rylan
R Williams

yes and no

what are the standard pancakes you have paper, foam wire mesh type?

1500 standard filtering was the Triumph collector unit with paper filters and two bits of feed trunking

regular changing of the filters with the feed trunking would be OK for standard engine

the full width plate K&N is expensive and may need a change of needles and stubs stacks to get the best out of it

without having the car fully and properly regularly serviced (and driven) and set up then it's not worthwhile considering and having the car fully and properly serviced and set up could give you the performance improvements you want - you can't expect to put the cart before the the horse and expect it to work well

the K&Ns by themselves wont do much other than save replacing air filters at services and perhaps a bit more induction noise - which is nice :)
Nigel Atkins

Hi Nigel

The ones on my car are the foam and wire mesh type.

The only reason I ask about the K&N is that the price is rather good.

Rylan
R Williams

The KN's will be far better than what you have Rylan. You wont have to replace the elements just wash then out about every 100K miles and re-oil. I have probably cleaned my XR31 one about twice in 22 yrs.
You may have to adjust the mixture a little as they will breath more freely than what you have at present.
Alan
Alan Anstead

IF they're the ones I'm thinking of then I don't think the foam ones with mesh are doing you many favours

if you can put photos up of yours and the type of K&Ns you're thinking of buying it might be useful

Alan,
I'm a recent convert to clean and reoil a bit more frequently than you have and K&N have dropped fom 100 to 50 thousand miles for cleaning with standard road use but it's not an annual thing :)

the K&N start off red but soon so greyish with use that's fine, if they remain red you're either not using the car enough or you've just cleaned and reoiled them
Nigel Atkins

The K&N filters have to be replaced ever 1 million miles and cleaned every 10,000 to 100,000 miles depending on how and where you drive

Seems like a lot of hassel and memory effort...even though the filtration is the best on the market

So its hard to say which is better... Generic Brand x paper filter costing 29.95 or K&N filters for $79

Decisions, decisions

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

So am I right in thinking then that a standard engined car would not see a noticeable benefit of having K&N's over standard filters?

Obviously the less cleaning is a bonus

Rylan
R Williams

Rylan,
you've not got standard filters, if you've got the type of foam and mesh filters I'm thinking of you might get a noticeable improvement by changing to K&N or even the standard filters

what ever filters you have to get the best out of them you need the (tappets/points/plugs/timing) mixture set correctly

if the whole car is serviced and driven regularly then you're more likely to notice a difference - you'll soon get used to the difference and difference would seem to disappear unless you went back to the old set as that's the nature of small improvements

it may be that if you change filters that you might also need to change needles and perhaps add stub stacks

to be less diplomatic if your engine and associated systems are not in good condition and set up well then it's not worth adding the K&Ns as it would be like giving a good quality alcoholic drink (of your choice) to someone who’s completely drunk
Nigel Atkins

"as it would be like giving a good quality alcoholic drink (of your choice) to someone who’s completely drunk"

Bad analogy Nigel. I may get less picky the more I drink but I reckon I can still appreciate a decent drop of malt!
On the subject of air filters, I've got a K&N and I've no idea if it is better but you get a nice induction roar and I never need to worry about changing it!
Matt1275Bucks

Its the nice induction roar, easy maintanace and some blingbling under the bonnet.
Id say go for it especialy now the price is intresting for you.
Its always nice to treat the midget(read: yourself) on goodies.
Nowadays its safer to put your money in your car then on the bank. :)
Arie de Best

well Matt I deliberately didn't put whiskey but that's the drink I was thinking of, if you can still appreciate it when completely drunk then either you're not completely drunk or like most drunks not fully aware of reality

I can't drink much whiskey which was a pity as when I was invited to a particularly tight-fisted chap's stag do starting from his house where I noticed he was actually offereing some of his whiskey 'collection' but from the opened stuff not the good stuff so I asked for a glass of the good stuff with the intention of getting the tight-fisted git to open other bottles but I couldn't get passed the second bottle and glass

a fine whiskey drinker chap in Scotland told me you have a couple of glasses of good whiskey but much after that you'd be wasting your money to stick with it - so good analogy based on what I was told :)
Nigel Atkins

Nigel you may well be right and I'm not fully aware of reality but I can still spell whisky correctly when I'm pissed!:)
That is unless you were talking about Irish instead of scotch!
Matt1275Bucks

yes, yes, obviously I was referring to the Irish product and not what the Scotch people brew :)

I could probably spell whisky when very drunk







just not ever when sober
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed between 26/06/2012 and 28/06/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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