Air Filter Testing (MPG's) - Drop In's - AFE Dry Vs OEM Fleetguard

[IndyRamMega]

Agree- I don't have the Monster Ram horn (I run the GDP with the throttle valve heater and their grid heater delete plate) but if I did, my comment about 'synergy' related to having matching Banks pieces -

Again, I would definitely run the S&B if I was spending the coin, based on your experiences with the lid cracking (S&B fixed that with the newer seal on top of the box) and easier servicing of the filter, and the filters are about $40-50 less than Banks.

I took some precise measurements again last night of the AFE drop in that I had in the stock box (which was a newer style part with a much thicker rubber surround to accomodate the foam pre-filter on the filter bottom now)

With the much larger urethane surround, the AFE drop in, current production style, measures approx 8.75" x 7", rounded up to just about 61.5 square inches of surface area
The factory Fleetguard, as well as the older AFE drop in that I removed (purchased around 2021) measures exactly 9x8" or just about 72 square inches of area - a 17% reduction difference in surface area vs a factory style filter, which even if it 'flows more' than stock, which is debatable, I don't think you can argue with less surface area.

Less area is less flow in my opinion, and could be contributing to what I felt was some mpg loss when I went from 'old style' AFE drop in, to the newer style with a good amount less surface area, even though technically its a 'higher flow' filter than factory.

I'm bored so I'll do more testing but if I consistently am gaining a good 20-30 miles per tank that equates to about 1-1.5 mpg or more (I do hand calculations at the pump) and we don't even have winter diesel yet.
I do miss the sounds of the AFE drop in, it definitely had more than stock filter even with the smooth Airaid intake tube I have - Airaid is the only other dry drop in filter I've found, which I may test as well - if it has same usable filter area as stock it might be a good alternative, or just say screw it and I'll get myself an S&B to purdy up the engine bay some, and get some of the sweet turbo noises back that I lost by taking out the AFE filter.

Overall, the truck has been running great with an AFE drop in (newest style), I just detect a bit of mpg drop off since putting it in late summer, vs. the 'old style' I removed which had same surface area as stock filter.

Totally agree.

I'm not a fan of drop-ins; get the whole system, as it corrects not only the minuscule surface area of the stock filter but also eliminates 3 of the 5 90° bends in the factory system, and gets more air to your turbo faster.

You'll love the intake horn.

Do yourself a favor and get the boost tubes, too.

Drivability is way better when all these items are added.

Lag is significantly reduced.

Ah, I see you already have a horn.

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[ricky_bobby]

3.5" boost tubes have been installed a couple of years now, as well as the GDP Stage 2 intake horn (grid heater delete plate as well, and their Mega Flow TVM, which is the grid heater in the throttle body and works like stock, so I have significant flow on that end and with the boost tubes!

For sure, I agree.

I'll get the S&B ordered, maybe an early Christmas present to myself.

For now, all seems to work fine, and like I said, I'm actually tracking better mpg with the factory filter in the stock airbox (I do have the smooth 4" Airaid Jr modular intake tube as well, so it is a smoother flow than stock, using the stock airbox).

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[J695]

I tried running the AFE drop-ins, but they wouldn't get a good seal on the edges, and I saw just a faint dust in the tube, barely visible, but I could get a finger wipe on it.

Went back to the fleetguard filter.

Would like to get an S&B, but I run a 3rd-gen manifold, which has the flange sit more forward than the T4i, so I use a custom pipe hooked up to the stock airbox.

If I knew something that would for sure fit, I would be interested in getting an intake system in the future.


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[ricky_bobby]

Update on testing (keep in mind, setup is stock airbox, with Airaid Jr smooth intake pipe added only)

2/3 highway tank and 1/3 around town driving, not as many short trips, but some of the highway driving was 75+ mph, and a few grunts near 80.

I got about a full tank in as I topped off with just under 29 gallons.

Hand calculated, with Fleetguard air filter (second tank since swapped to a new filter) = 19.1 mpg.

This is at least 1-1.5mpg more than I had with the 'updated' AFE drop-in filter, which is proof enough for me that the hypothesis was correct and overall filter surface area matters!

I may put a Banks or S&B in it eventually, but I seem to have found the 'missing fuel mileage' thats been bugging me for almost 6 months or so!

And we aren't even in full winter diesel down here yet.

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