I have a 2024 Honda CRV Hybrid. Recently, a car salesman was raving about replacing the stock air filter with a K&N Air Filter. He claimed it would result in an addition 3-4 MPG. I see conflicting information about these filters. Are they 1) safe to use and 2) worthwhile?
The sales droid doesn't know what he is talking about. (Most of them know virtually nothing about cars.) Stick with your stock filter.
This has been asked here several time before.The answer is the same.
Oiled filters (such as K&N) are for race cars that get torn apart after every race. Stick to paper filters.
3-4 MPG
absolutely no way. He's full of hot air.
Are they 1) safe to use
I would argue "No". Lab tests have shown they let more particulate matter pass through, and that's not going to be good for the engine long term.
2) worthwhile?
If you're trying to eek out milliseconds for your quarter-mile time, then sure. Maybe.
For transportation purposes ... waste of money.
He claimed it would result in an addition 3-4 MPG.
He's just trying to sell you something. If that salesman weren't BSing you, the engineers at Honda would have noticed that immediately and they would have designed it that way from the start. That's like a 15% improvement in in mileage if he were right (of course, he's not).
I have a Roush "cold" air intake in my 2017 Mustang, and I didn't notice any improvement in MPG. The main difference between the "cold" air intake and the stock one is that it has less of a restriction. The engine still utilizes the same opening as the factory one did. There were two 90⁰ angle changes in the stock air filter vs. the Roush air intake's single, gradually increasing 90⁰ angle intake.
The car has an intake temperature sensor that can display on the dashboard, both the factory air intake and my Roush intake are at the same temperature under the same conditions. It's not a "cold air" intake. It's an intake.
Now, if you were about my old '79 Pontiac, that's different. That carburetor's intake is literally on top of the engine and it can get up to 200 degrees under there. Still, it wouldn't be an extra 3-4 MPG boost.
The intake in my Mustang may allow the engine to "breathe" a little better, but not anywhere close to a 3-4 MPG boost, either. That guy doesn't know what he's talking about.
