Hello all,

I have some questions about my air filters. My car is fuel injected and uses two of the roughly 6" square filters. Back in 2012, I bought two from Summit Racing. They are cotton gauze, and the description says they are "pleated and oiled." They cost about $24 each.

Both filters are pretty dirty now, and I went to order replacements but the Summit ones are discontinued. Their suggested replacement is a K & N, which says they are washable and cost $75 each. Other than the washable part, the description is identical, as are the dimensions.

Instead of those, I purchased some Spectre Performance filters at $19.99 each. Again, the description is identical to the old Summit brand, and these also say they are pre-oiled. Nothing on the website about them being washable. However, they arrived today, and the box says they are lifetime filters, washable and reusable.

I talked to Summit and asked if their discontinued filters are washable/reusable, and the best they could tell me was "probably", but that was based on their recommended replacement of the K & N.

So, my questions:

(1) Does anyone know if the Summit ones are washable? Or is there a way to tell?
(2) How do I go about washing them?
(3) After washing, do they need to be oiled and if so, with what sort of oil and how do I do it?

You'll want to buy a K&N recharge kit (regardless of what brand filter).

In the cleaning kit you'll find two bottles, one is a detergent, the other is oil. Directions are usually something to the tune of "knock off any visible dirt, spray vigorously with detergent, let it soak, spray filter off from the inside out (i.e. blow the dirt back out of the filter), allow to completley air dry (typically 24 - 36 hours), apply gratuitous amount of oil, install."

I've run both the Spectre and the K&N filters and my experience is the Spectre's deteriorated and were unuseable after a few years but have had no issues from the K&N's, one of which is over a decade old and still good.

There are dry filters that don't require oil, such as Airaid. Wet filters should be a thing of the past. Honestly, a good, clean paper filter is all you need and it filters better. Just change it more often before it's all brown and yucky.

Just watch Project Farm on YouTube... That guy tested air filters... The k&n filter didn't do too well with actually filtering... I have both. K&n on one car and paper on the other...

If you do use them, I also recommend buying the recharge kit....

Good advice here

So what brand do you recommend? A lot of the filters I was looking up are out of stock/discontinued.

I'd put AC Delco or Wix paper filters in a street car and not think twice about it. The idea of trading proper particulate filtration for 5hp or whatever isn't appealing to me.

several of the responses upthread are right on-oiled gauze filters just don't filter finer dust particles good enough for long term general street use:I ran an oiled gauze filter that I maintained properly for 100,000 miles on one SBC,and there was a lot of valve guide andtop of bore wear from fine dust getting through...I do think oiled gauze filters are great for limited use on paved tracks though.

I;ve used al ltypes of filters and see no difference in between them aside the maintenance of the oil filters which takes a bit of time.. and you need to buy the pricey cleaners and oil........


I still use it cause I have it but would have no issue switching back to a good brand like maybe STP or something from auto zone... easy and cheap pull out and drop in and be done with it deal vs claning, drying / waiting / oiling .

The oil is kinda messy too

Holy **** its the one other person on the internet that understands the importance of filtering particulate as an engine longevity enhancing desirable feature`

I recommend to reading:
Try to filter close to 1uM to 2uM And the engine will can last much longer.
It may require filter staging (first filter, second filter) to achieve the benefit of a million mile engine...
Paper OEM style filters tend to do very well, but some filters such as AFE off-road are intended for use with say, sand environments, seem to do good also

An oiled element filter is nothing like an oil bath air cleaner - Two completely different designs. True oil bath air cleaners are remarkably effective at filtering particulates, but do introduce a restriction in air flow. If longevity is a goal it is tough to beat an oil bath.

My car had a couple of the K&N filters in it when I got it. They looked pretty new but the idea just didn't work for me. I put in a couple standard pleated paper filters and forgot about it. I'd really like to see a dyno test of the gauze vs paper filters in a stock L98.

Dyno test is irreverent. What you really want to see is a pressure drop test post air filter. 0.5" to 1.5" Hg is performance territory but sacrifices PCV system and engine longevity.
1.5"Hg to 3.0" Hg is engine cleanliness, OEM target range for engine health long duration.

A high flow filter will sacrifice engine health because it disrupts kinetic energy necessary to drive the PCV system which protects the engine oil and crankcase from deposits which lead to failure.

You are better off with a low flow filter, superior PCV action. If you want power add a turbocharger, not a high flow filter.