What if ?

Went to the dealership yesterday for a new OEM paper filter and they have a flyer for Pipercross Panel, open amd Carbon filters available from them. Asked about waranty and they say if it is Subaru supplied I can use it.

I have gone for the Panel filter (dry Foam) which was quoted as £45 supplied and fitted, but askjed for the item price only from the spares desk so I could fit it myself.........wait for it.................£16 !!!!!! bought and fitted inside 1 minute. I used to have an STI one about 6 months ago and must say I think this ones is better. Induction noise is definately up from about 4k rpm upwards, and sounds quite angry. Seems a bit more lively too. They said that the pipercross tests returned a 10BHP increase over a standard filter. This is only for use on the WRX and the STI (with our without PPP).

I have asked fo a price on the Carbon Viper filter with forced air incuction, but not received a call yet. Not sure about this as I remember stories of cars leaning too much at higher speeds when using these a couple of years ago and needing remaps to use safely, so I will probably give this a miss rather than melt a piston or two !

Running Shell V-Power fuel too now and all is running great, I love the Scooby when it runs this good!!!!!

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

If they're Subaru approved, there should be no problem
Just looked in the Demon Tweeks cat. and the replacement panel filter from Pipercross (supplied with dirt retention spray, by the way) is £32.99!
I get the feeling it's the Viper induction kit which is claimed to give +10bhp?
Anyone else using these products?
JohnD

marmski

So changing the panel filter in an STi to a much better one than standard will not cause the engine to lean and melt a piston?

I been thinking about doing this, but heard soo many horror stories with people not getting remaps melting a piston etc.. thats its completely put me off.

Which is the best panel filter available?

john banks

It is funny it is "approved" for use with PPP when Mike Wood of Prodrive has previously pointed out that in their testing the stock paper filter was fine and that anything freer flowing compromised filtration quality.

I suspect unless proven otherwise that the dealer are not selling you something that is actually approved for warranty by IM/Subaru UK, but just something that the dealer will turn a blind eye to. It has not been unknown for products to be sold by dealers that are not approved and then people have problems with warranty down the line because of it. If the product is no longer sold or the dealer no longer in existence you could have problems.

And all for something that just makes a bit more induction noise. Pointless.

If you measure an inlet restriction and see an improvement after changing it with your own modifications then fine, but properly modifying your car and keeping a warranty usually compete.

As it is you've probably jeopardised your warranty for no real gain at all.

marmski

/me sticks with stnd filter

Tnx

MikeWood

The ONLY approved filter is the standard paper filter as supplied by Subaru. We haven't measured an increase on our dyno with any other panel filter and would be concerned about the filtration standards without extensive testing (which we aren't going to do as it doesn't give more power!)

Mike

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

I can well believe that there may be no increase in actual max. bhp but of course that's only part of the story when it comes to modifications. Were there any differences in the shape of the power and torque curves? It's the differences (although probably small) in the build-up though the curves that may give the impression of that little bit of extra performance?
JohnD

MikeWood

John

It doesn't make any measurable difference anywhere in the rev range. If you think about it logically, if it flows no more air at peak airflow then there's no reason it will flow any more at flow rates less than that.

Mike

What if ?

I am very concerned that the Dealership (where I brought the car) has said if we supply it, you can fit it and your warranty is ok. This worried me greatly, I went to buy an OEM filter as mine is black agian after 5000 miles and they offer me a pipercross Dry Foam one with the promise of more power, reusable and no warranty issues and only £16. I do like to slight increase in Induction roar from 4000rpm upwards and it does feel a little quicker but I understand exactly what you are saying above and for that reason always used OEM fiters till this time.

clintyboy12

Had one on my last scoob FWIW, didn't really notice much difference performance-wise but was all the rage a year ot 3 ago... Have they been superceded by these Piper Cross panel filters?
As for the melting pistons thingy, on a std uk classic with no other mods save for a back box would that cause a problem? Guessing not but good to ask I guess...

What if ?

I was more concerned about melting pistons with the Viper, forced air systems it has been reported to make engines run lean without a re map. I am sure any current map can adjust enough for a replacement panel filte, but as Mike Wood says the main issue is how well does it filter out particals ?

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Ive an STi panel filter fitted to my JDM car, I saw a very good improvement (12bhp/15lbs of torque) but its a JDM Subaru product and the standard filter is very restrictive in my car (nothing above 6.5k, 8k redline) but my car has a different map to a uk car, and a few other things but its a good quality STi item (note that its a service item, needs replacing every 10-15k)

Tony