you might also add that people who live in Arizona would have more reason to be concerned about this vs. people who live in Washington state where it is always raining and washing the air.

this is something that i have seen conflicting reports since i stated on this car thing about 15 years go.

paper has pretty much stayed paper... but open cell oiled foam and oiled gauze go back and forth on cleaning and flow rate; is it all just negative marketing?

 

I feel that the particles are going to be so small that it really wont make a difference.

Oiled gauze filters like the K&N catch a shit load of stuff in them when properly maintained... its when you dont maintain them they start letting more through... but I still feel they are so small it would take years and years before you noticed anything.

 

its when you dont maintain them they start letting more through...

Actually, it is when they are not maintained that they let the least through. Unfortunately, when they reach this state they also are not leaving enough air through, but the fact is that oiled filters actually filter finer particles out when they are partially loaded, as compared to freshly oiled.

 

It comes down to a GOOD filter slows and or stops good air flow = less HP/TQ

A filter that lets some dust through flows better and helps HP/TQ

You asked if it "will actually contribute to significant damage over time" My OPINION is no it wont
I have delt with customers that have been using and racing Cars , Boats , Trucks for many many years and have not see any significant ware to there engine

Tom

 

It comes down to a GOOD filter slows and or stops good air flow = less HP/TQ

A filter that lets some dust through flows better and helps HP/TQ
Tom

Well, it all depends on whether or not the engine can use the flow from less restriction. You can have a "good" filter with whatever restriction you want.. you simply have to increase the surface area of the air filter.

If you take most modern engines stock with no exhaust, chip, or other modifications, and do an extreme comparison of (a) the stock paper air filter and (b) no filter whatsoever, you will see little, if any, change.

Now, if you start to open the engine up with a less restrictive exhaust, chipping, etc., then a less restrictive filter may have a noticeable impact.

But if all you are changing is the air filter restriction... the difference is negligible.

 

my old shop teacher, ex mechanic said he noticed a ring ridge difference between coastal driven cars and inland driven cars, the assumption is this is based on air cleanliness. mind you this is over many many kms that most people don't put on to vehicles. i don't expect to get out this focus what i got out of golf in the way of milage, or kilometerage which doesnt sounds anywhere near as good

 

Which one had the ridge?

 

obviously not scientific... but if you see a trend you see a trend.

the interior of British Columbia (Canada) had the larger ridge... for those not familiar with the geographics of BC, the interior shares same strip of desert that extends up the whole west side of the USA. The city where grew up regularly hit summer temps of 100F with about 8" annual rain fall... its a pretty dusty place.

 

that really depends on the car, i have had some like you state above, negligible impact with performance filter; yes there are others that have responded miraculously.

the most noticeable in my experience were gm products, my gf at the time's cavalier, moms buick; and to a lesser extent my focus of course that was the whole SVT airbox. Least noticeable were my VW and mom's subbie.