Pipercross VS K&N panel filter (Astra GTC 1.6T)

[Kieran]

Hi mate. It is personal preference at the end of the day but both have there advantages and disadvantages when it comes to choosing.

The first thing you asked was about sound, most cases with a replacement filter have very little or no noise difference at all.

When I had a K&N panel on my last car before the gtc I would definitely say that accelerating felt more smooth and the car did seem to be running healthier/breathing easier.

Your basic panel filter is a dry filter and in most cases so are foam type filters. k&N is an oiled filter and this can be a tricky one. Loads of people have said that after installing an oiled filter they have had their MAF sensors break, I for one had to replace mine shortly after installing it, even though the brand claims that it doesn't affect them I found it a little coincidental.

Foam filters usually require less servicing than oiled filters over a longer range of miles to. K&N 's filter will obviously need oiled again and its worth mentioning that if there is to little oil on the filter you run the risk off smaller particles like dust and dirt finding there way int the engine.

As I said it is personal preference at the end of the day, i've heard of folk saying that foam filters tend to sag after a while and can breakdown just as much as any other filter. I've just ordered a pipercross filter for my gtc so we shall see

That pretty much answers my question mate, come to think about it I remember seeing something a while back mentioning a problem with the MAF sensors after fitting a K&N but was unsure on wether it was a coincidence, I should have looked that up further! Cheers, would love to hear about how your pipercross goes for you once you get it in there!