Buellwinkle

I found a source for the ITG air filter. Call Josh MacMurray at 801 886-2185. It takes about 2 weeks to make and ship from the UK. I didn't bother with a group buy because I want it now and the few dollars I may save weren't worth the hassle.

hokusbenz

hp gains? is it worth it? ive been told time and again you will not better performance swapping out the MB filter.... like with a K&n or something... is this thing better?

Buellwinkle

I've heard from two people who dynoed their cars with and without an air filter. All others that comment are just making stuff up. Brandon said no difference, one popular chip maker said 5hp difference. This of course is without any filter as none are available but K&N and ITG claim to be much better flowing than stock. That's not hard to imagine as the factory filter is inches thick pleats of paper. K&N, my first choice because I use them on other cars said several months out for theirs. ITG makes them on a made to order basis and are included in the Renntech pulley kit. Some say ITG is the best, I can't speak to that but they are available. I can't imagine that Renntech, a very sophisticated tuner with all sorts of mods for our cars including exhaust, intercooler, chip, engine rebuilds to 2.5 liter and pulleys would include an ITG air filter if it's not a benefit. I can't think of a tuner that has done as much with the coupe as Renntech. That doesn't mean I would buy their products, a little pricey for me but at least I can see what they do and try to find a less expensive source.

The negative on the K&N from posts I've read is that the oil from the element gets blown into the intake and has damaged the MB MAF sensor on a few cars. This problem is unique to MBs from what I've heard.

I have some dyno time coming up on Monday afternoon. I'll see if I have time to remove the air filter and see what that does for performance.

trench

I think that the ITG filter also uses oil to trap dirt in the foam. The MAF issues may occur with it as well.

BT

SoCal240/6

Its that kind of "imagination" that allows K&N to sell millions of filters, even though they have been proven time and time again to not increase performance on modern cars.

Carlssen has dyno tested the C240/320, and found no gains to be had with replacing the stock filter.

Negatives on K&N? Heres one:

http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/airfilter.html

But the force of marketing and junk science ("gee, the stock filter LOOKS so thick and restrictive to me . . . ") is very powerful.

zpeed

When I change air filter to K&N I might not gain any horsepower but I get a better respond at the low end.

baron

I heard people have problems on their MAF sensors from the KN sensors is if they oil it the wrong way. You are only supposed to oil one side of the filter (the side that touches the incoming air first).

Baron

young

ITG's website has more info. it looks like they also use oil. but it says you never have to clean it. so, i assume, there is no oil to reapply?

Buellwinkle

It doesn't say if the filter is oiled or not. I sent in the question so we'll see what they say. They do claim to flow better than anything else on the market and allow way more load than any other type of filter. For those not daring enough to remove 6 screws, here's the factory filter in all it's glory.

Buellwinkle

It is a pretty shade of Harley orange!

Buellwinkle

And chunky too!

young

thanks for the pics.

here's the snippet from ITG's website regarding the oil. is this an issue?

Filtration
The three layers of foam selected for Pro-Filter combined with the arresting stickyness of the dust retaining oil, give a high level of filtration to protect the engine from all the damaging particles in the ambient air stream.

and the complete little blurb on their pro-filters:
Pro filter is a high-grade replacement filter element for road or competition use.

The design skill and technology employed to bring this filter to production are superior to all other filter makes, and yet the price is still competitive.

The breadth of design skill available at itg has created the lightest, most capable filters in all fields of motorsport from Formula 1 to the World Rally Championship. The Pro-Filter range receives this same attention to detail at the design stage and is then taken into production with the consummate quality for which itg is renowned.

Filtration
The three layers of foam selected for Pro-Filter combined with the arresting stickyness of the dust retaining oil, give a high level of filtration to protect the engine from all the damaging particles in the ambient air stream.

Power
Pro-Filter performance is unaffected by very large quantities of dirt arrested in the filter. Long after other makes have blocked up and reduced the engine power, Pro-Filter will still flow air with exceptionally low pressure loss.

Life
In normal road use a Pro-Filter will last at least five times as long as the equivalent standard filter. Waste is reduced, so Pro-Filter helps the environment as well as the engine.

NO Cleaning required
You will never have to clean Pro-Filter - EVER.

QC1

I cant' wait to see the Dyno results. I wonder what kind of gain there will be. Also how much do they cost?

Buellwinkle

About $57.

BlackC230Coupe

Buellwinkle -

when u get it can u tell us if u feel any power gains and it it sounds any different.
i would be intrested in the ITG filter also but i was not sure they even made one for the coupe.


by the way when are u even supose to clean/replace the factory filter?

Buellwinkle

They sell the filter. You have to custom order it. Takes 2 weeks.

I have no idea when to change the filter, I figure that's just part of some maintenance they do for free.

KJ-TypeR

Hey Buellwinkle, ITG makes the best filters in the world. For the price you paid, you can't lose! I'm curious as to how it will perform! Can you do a before and after dyno?

Buellwinkle

I don't know when I'll get to do a dyno like that but I'll try to do a filter vs. no filter dyno on Monday. That will at least show what if any is the best you can expect. I won't have the filter for 2 weeks and some people are anxious to see the dyno results of my ASP pulley.

peterrrrrr

How much did the ITG Filter Cost

Buellwinkle

Look 6 replies up...

young

some more info:

itg basically use 2 different types of oil. One is a very thick oil that is
unique to itg which we use in all production panel filters (our brand name
is Pro-Filter). This heavy oil means that you never have to clean and re
oil a filter during it's life. The logevity of the filter will depend on
the conditions that it is used in by generally the filter will last at least
60,000 potentially 100,000 miles before performance will start to fade when
the filter reaches a saturation point.

We have been making Pro-Filter for 10 years now and so far we have not been
made aware of any air mass meter/air flow sensor failures due to excess oil
damaging the wire or foil sensor in the same way our competitors products
have.

The filters that we make for RENNtech are hand made in the same way that the
one we will make for you. This will not be manufactured using our heavy oil
process but will be oiled using a very fine aerosol spray. This will mean
that the filter will need to be cleaned and re oiled every 6-8 months
depending once again on the conditions around. Our cleaning process means
that you can clean the filter in warm soapy (dish washing liquid) water and
means that you do not have to use any chemical cleaners or solvents to
remove the existing oil. You can also touch our filters during cleaning
(unlike our cotton gauze competitors) and help to remove any larger debris
pieces of dirt and dust that may enter the air box. We will be (at some
point) making the C230K filter in production format when we have access to
an air box to take the necessary measurements to produce accurate tooling
drawings.

Like the astute member on your forum we too think that RENNtech would only
use itg products if they not only offered a performance advantage but a
quality advantage as well over our competitors in the performance air filter
market.

note that the itg filter DOES need to be cleaned periodically and the aerosol oil needs to be reapplied. europarts sells the oil for an additional $15 (i was told that it will last about 20 applications)

Buellwinkle

Thanks for getting that info. Does this mean that if you install an ITG air filter you will void your Renntech warranttee because you didn't pay the $200 for it as part of their pulley kit?

young

afaik, the filter is optional so i don't think there are any warranty issues.

i think that itg will eventually produce a Pro-filter version of their filter which will obviate the need for periodic cleaning (at least, i think that that's what was hinted at)

DCX Engineer

60,000 per the manual - I just cleaned mine yesterday at 10,000 miles.

BlackC230Coupe

oh ok thanks.



Buellwinkle - Did u get the filter yet?