Pod filters

[Thessman]

I hear all the time about pods being useless and ineffective. Does anyone know the facts? Do they do anything? In particular wil they help an ls1?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

If you hear all the time that they are useless and ineffective, it kind of answers your question then doesn't it.

[undersuspicion]

agreed mate, thread\

[monkeys437]

As far as I know they effectively have a greater surface area than a panel filter and are therefore slightly less restrictive (for a quality one). I was reading the K&N website a while back and they had flow figures for their panel filters vs their pod filters and the pods performed slightly better from memory. Having said that unless you make a new airbox+intake you will just suck in the hot air from the engine bay and accomplish nothing

[EDGE3]

All they do is suck in hot air I agree with monkeys437

[VT-565]

As far as I know they effectively have a greater surface area than a panel filter and are therefore slightly less restrictive (for a quality one). I was reading the K&N website a while back and they had flow figures for their panel filters vs their pod filters and the pods performed slightly better from memory. Having said that unless you make a new airbox+intake you will just suck in the hot air from the engine bay and accomplish nothing

A pod filter is simply a different shape.
This gives people the automatic misconception that it 'flows more' than a panel filter.
They all come in different sizes and it boils down to element surface area.

But yes, most people remove a perfectly good airbox to clamp a 'pod' in the engine bay.
Works well in Russia, not so much here.

[soop]

Pods:

[graham7773]

Pod filters suck and they make your right foot 35% heavier!

[jakstas]

Why bother? Get an OTR.

[Thessman]

Because the people I hear it from are muppets and spend $10 on it and swap it for their air box. I will be getting an OTR but I figured in the meantime to have it running better. However after reading all the replies, I can't justify spending all the time and money setting one up for a 'slight difference'. Just a question guys, just a question.

[MACE]

From our tests between a common style of OTR to our pod kit (read boxed) the power difference on a mainline dyno was around 3wkw. This was with the bonnet up, so the results would be even closer under real world conditions. Quality OTR's do work well on LSX engines given the location of the throttle body, better then a pod filter setup, but the difference between the two setups isn't all that great that people make them out to be. FPV use them on their new supercharged 8's from factory, so they can't be all that bad

Cheers,
Steve

[Cameron P]

FPV use them on their new supercharged 8's from factory, so they can't be all that bad

Cheers,
Steve

fpv hve them enclosed. so yeah if you do it properly it will be ok.. but most people just throw them on dont put them in a box therefore its completely useless

[graham7773]

So what's the difference between a boxed pod or a boxed panel filter? different shape? Bugger all, if any extra performance. My son had a pod on his car for about 6 days. when the fuel consumption went up by about 15% he ripped it off again. My daughter (37yr old) tried the same setup, ripped hers off as well. Same result. Worse fuel economy, no discernable increase in power. Just by the way, has anyone actually cut a pod filter down one side, laid it flat, measured the area and compared it with a panel filter? I doubt it and would find the difference in the low single digit percentage difference. Either way. Way better performance gain with a widened and polished throttle body and cleaned plenum and i/t manifold

[slutvs]

ive had a stock panel filter setup, a K&N ultra flow 4" pod without a box and in a box, f### all difference. i found that the pod will give you a TINY bit more kick, nothing to go wow over.....if your willing to fill up your car alot more often.

[lufkin]

So what's the difference between a boxed pod or a boxed panel filter? different shape? Bugger all, if any extra performance. My son had a pod on his car for about 6 days. when the fuel consumption went up by about 15% he ripped it off again. My daughter (37yr old) tried the same setup, ripped hers off as well. Same result. Worse fuel economy, no discernable increase in power. Just by the way, has anyone actually cut a pod filter down one side, laid it flat, measured the area and compared it with a panel filter? I doubt it and would find the difference in the low single digit percentage difference. Either way. Way better performance gain with a widened and polished throttle body and cleaned plenum and i/t manifold

have to agree with this, i used to run pods, switched to a lukey high flow panel, best investment i ever did, i then a few weeks back, cleaned my TB and plenum and goes alot better, wont be using a pod again

[Dr HaxZaw]

i personnally havent used a pod but i do currently have a K&N panel filter in the standard airbox on my ecotec (although i removed the OTR part of the airbox)... the one difference i look at isnt the actual surface area of the filter so much as what happens after the air goes through the filter. With a panel filter once its been cleaned you then have to suck it into the air intake without creating too much turbulence but a pod filter has the air is already in the intake so to me there is much less restriction in terms of air flow with a pod filter... having seen the top of most airboxes its going to create problems cause its sucking from a corner of the box not from a central location

just my opinion, no scientific evidence used just some simple thinking

[graham7773]

I hope not to offend anybody but the only boost I see from using a pod filter is a boost to the ego and then to your fuel bill.

[lufkin]

I hope not to offend anybody but the only boost I see from using a pod filter is a boost to the ego and then to your fuel bill.

funny you should say that, i notice alot of people saying they got bad fuel economy and stuff, i got the same from both a panel and a pod, im wondering if people when using pod are not using the IAT on airbox?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

i personnally havent used a pod but i do currently have a K&N panel filter in the standard airbox on my ecotec (although i removed the OTR part of the airbox)... the one difference i look at isnt the actual surface area of the filter so much as what happens after the air goes through the filter. With a panel filter once its been cleaned you then have to suck it into the air intake without creating too much turbulence but a pod filter has the air is already in the intake so to me there is much less restriction in terms of air flow with a pod filter... having seen the top of most airboxes its going to create problems cause its sucking from a corner of the box not from a central location

just my opinion, no scientific evidence used just some simple thinking

Something that you may or may not realise, the engine doesn't really "suck", the movement of the pistons cause a low pressure area inside the bore and the surrounding atmosphere actually "pushes" the air into the engine. So, in physics terms, the whole surface of the air filter has the same amount of air pushing through it at the same time, so it doesn't really matter where the intake hole of the air box is.

[monkeys437]

funny you should say that, i notice alot of people saying they got bad fuel economy and stuff, i got the same from both a panel and a pod, im wondering if people when using pod are not using the IAT on airbox?

Yeah I agree a young bloke I used to work with had the sensor that is usually in the airbox after the filter just hanging by a wire in no-mans land after his pod install. Also no enclosure which means it was sucking in hot air.

[lufkin]

Yeah I agree a young bloke I used to work with had the sensor that is usually in the airbox after the filter just hanging by a wire in no-mans land after his pod install. Also no enclosure which means it was sucking in hot air.

yeah when i was experimenting i had a small piece of alloy piping laying around, i drilled a hole in it, put the IAT in it, then pod, and got same fuel usage as pod, that being said though, i'll stick with my panel filter and 2 hole mod

[monkeys437]

Something that you may or may not realise, the engine doesn't really "suck", the movement of the pistons cause a low pressure area inside the bore and the surrounding atmosphere actually "pushes" the air into the engine.

Same thing mate your just looking at it backwards. Sucking or pushing air is exactly the same thing. Either way the fluid motion is trying to compensate for a pressure difference. Just most people look at it as "sucking" since its the engine doing the work to create the pressure difference. The piston is then "pushing" when it expells the exhaust gasses by creating a higher than atmospheric pressure in the combustion chamber

[Dr HaxZaw]

Something that you may or may not realise, the engine doesn't really "suck", the movement of the pistons cause a low pressure area inside the bore and the surrounding atmosphere actually "pushes" the air into the engine. So, in physics terms, the whole surface of the air filter has the same amount of air pushing through it at the same time, so it doesn't really matter where the intake hole of the air box is.

the air is flowing whether is being sucked or pushed is just a matter of terminology... my point is more about airflow once its gotten past the filter

[DLFHUB666]

I had one of these: K&N COLD AIR INTAKE KIT HOLDEN COMMODORE VT - VX LS1 | eBay on my ls1 for about 3 years never got it dyno'd so don't know if it increased power but i definitely got better fuel economy than the stock setup, An a kool induction noise.
EDIT: OTR FTW

[HarmlessMuffinMan]

Pod filters do need to be enclosed in an air box which has a fair bit of cold air flow, else they are just usless. Anyone who puts a pod filter on without being fully covered and exposed to a fresh sorce of cold air, would be classified as a "Ricer".

The main problem is, is that there are many different choices for Pods, and each has different characteristics. The best kind of pod, is an open topped POD, where the filter groves are all on an angle. Not only does this offer a higher air flow (Because of greater surface area), but due to the shape of the filter elements themselves, twists the air, creating more turbulance and alowing for a better air Fuel mix (Working in much the same way as a HyClone).

Using a pod filter, on say a VX V6 commodore, inside the normal airbox, with a standard stock CAI would be rather pointless. Sure it would create more noise, and you wouldn't need to clean it as often as a Pannel filter, but over all the effects would be more detromental to performance then anything. However if you got a custom over the radiator, big mouth, Cold Air Intake, then a POD filter (The one described above ONLY), would be beneficial. Not so much for performance, but for Fuel economy.

Also as mentioned above, there will be some extra sucking noise, and it wont need to be cleaned as much then say a high flow pannel.