Typhoon Filters Collapsing
 

I bought a '12 base 370z about 6 months ago with about 40k miles on it. The previous owner installed a K&N Typhoon intake system and a Meisterschaft exhaust system. I have no idea whether or not HFCs were also installed, I'll be able to take a closer look at that when I get the car in the air to change the brake pads soon.

Today, I noticed that the conical air intake filters on the Typhoon looked like this:

http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/...psnjtlbfbw.jpg
http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/...ps67kwthid.jpg
http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/...psvp6qicrm.jpg

I don't know when this happened, I just noticed it when I had my oil changed yesterday.

I do know that these filters supposedly last a very long time, and that they can be cleaned. K&N says that they don't need cleaned until parts of the wire screen can't be seen, so they don't look like they need cleaned and at only 40k miles on this car, they are well within their advertised lifespan.

Can anyone shed some light on what may have caused this to happen? Is this robbing me of enough power to be concerned? Can these filters be straitened back out, or do I need to just go ahead and replace them? If so, should I just buy larger K&Ns or go with a different size/brand altogether to avoid a repeat?

Thanks in advance for your time.

Is this robbing me of enough power to be concerned. Yes, but not so much the filters. That has to do with the intake system itself. That intake system is pure heat soak especially in stop and go traffic. Your better off going back to oem or get a real cold air intake system.

Either they are very dirty and not flowing the proper amount of air or they are not designed for the proper flow for our engine. Yes, they are robbing you of HP. Go with a different brand like the Stillen long tube kit or go back to stock.

Probably too much pressure drop across the filter element. The filter is probably much dirtier than you think it is. The high heat under the hood may have weakened the filter element, also.

Or the previous installer may have been ham-handed.

The filter element being collapsed isn't robbing a lot* of HP but it probably collapsed because it is dirty which will cause a big HP loss.

*Depends on your definition of "a lot." For most DDs, not enough to notice.

Depends on what the "paper" is made of. If it is a hard, resin-coated filter, then probably not. Softer materials may hold up to re-shaping. I'd replace them if it were my car.

As others have said, that setup sucks in the very hot air that is under the hood. Something that gets air from in front of the radiator (stock, CAI, &c) will make your engine much happier.

Thanks for being descriptive, I'm not much of a mechanic myself so that helps a lot.

I'm not looking to tap everything I can out of this car, it's my DD so until I get another DD and this becomes purely a joyride, I'm not planning on going crazy with mods. It sounds like going back to the stock intake is my best option until then.

I guess my question then is, can I still use the K&N tubes, or do I have to buy post-MAFs made for the OEM box to have smoother flow than the stock 'tubes'? is there any reason I shouldn't use the K&N tubes even if they will work?

Thank you.

For a DD, the stock setup is fine. Plenty of threads about other setups on this site. If the site's search isn't productive, use one of the major web search engines and add "site:the370z.com" to your search string.

Typhoon Filters Collapsing
 

Replace the filters. They look like they have been crushed or folded at some point. I have no doubt they didn't collapse because of heat or plugging. There's no reason to go back to stock.

I have this setup and drive year around with no issues. I clean mine at 15,000 miles.

As I said before. It looks like some fat a** sat on these .

I've read several posts on this forum that the OEM intakes are actually better performance-wise and have gotten the impression that these Typhoons are only good for sounding and looking cool. Basically the argument against them seems to be that the heat shielding isn't enough to prevent them from just sucking hot air in from the engine bay unless you're at highway speeds. Do you disagree with this?

I've also read posts from people claiming the Typhoon actually does increase power but I can't figure out if they know what they're talking about or if they're just trying to avoid feeling like they wasted their money on them. I can see how they probably do help a little when going fast enough to suck in cool air from the ducts but I drive in a lot of stop-and-go traffic here in Tampa and just can't understand how they're benefiting me over OEM.

K&N is replacing these filters for me, and I do have a set of stock intakes. Do you still suggest that I stick with the typhoon?

I've really enjoyed mine. The sound under WOT is quite enjoyable.
I don't really have emperical measurements as far as HP gains since I have other add-ons included in my HP measurements. There are a lot of opinions, and most don't have any testing related to them either. I'm doubtful that the stock boxes deliver more. The shielding is aluminum, which dissipates heat pretty quickly and they contact the hood when closed. Even long cold-air intakes still generally pass metal tubing through the engine bay, which picks up heat
All I can really say is that I like mine.

Where you the one changed the oil of your Z? Or you had a shop did it for you?
I have my typhoon filters for years now never had this issue. 35k miles on it.
I'm just wondering why yours is no longer reddish in color.

They get that way when they are dirty. Also, you can use a different brand of oil which will change the color.
I can't remember what brand it was that I used for awhile, but it changed them to blue, since the oil was blue.

It does not suck in a lot of hot air. Unless you're stopped for an extended period of time or using a dyno with a closed hood. Neither of which constitute real world driving.

It is a very, very (very) old myth that "short ram" intakes suck in lots and lots of hot air and there for make less power than long tubes that draw in cooler air.

I've been around tuning, and tuned in the past a variety of platforms, done real-time data logging with multiple tuning platforms and different types of cars. The ambient intake temperatures when a car is moving with a short vs. long tube is almost always negligible.

The difference between the K&N Typhoon setup and Stillen long tubes will come from intake air velocity, 10x over the difference in the filter placement.

What kind of IATs are you seeing with these?

Good info, thanks. That makes me wonder if I should get a different brand of filter though, because these K&N filters are closed on the end facing the ducts, only allowing air to enter along the sides of the filter. This already seems counterintuitive to me, but if intake velocity is that important then this has to be limiting my gains.