Any one running an AEM dry flow drop in air filter on their ecoboost? Thoughts? Concerns? I have run K&N in the past with good results, but looking for something easier to clean, worst part of the K&N is the downtime when cleaning it.

Also looking at the AFE pro dry drop in as well. Any differences?

 

I have the drop in filter and it works as good as can be expected. On a long trip 3500 mile round trip I got 2 miles a gallon more then stock. You will notice a difference instintly. It was worth it to me. Easy to clean.

 

I got my AEM filter in last night. Seems well made, very similar to a k&n in appearance. On another note, I was very surprised how dirty the OE paper filter was after 19k miles. It seems those turbos really draw a lot more air than a na engine does. I never had a filter that dirty on my 5.4 3V.

 

I like it when my element has a dirt layer on it. Air filters become more efficient as they load up with dirt, so it means cleaner air in the engine. I'm still on my original element at 34k, plan on running it to 50k like I have in the past. Its ironic that changing your element more often literally means more dirt in your engine.

Its not true the EB uses more air vs. a 5.4L. Simple math, an engine is really just an air pump. 3.5L of displacement at 10.0:1 compression vs 5.4L 9.8:1 compression. If your gearing was different, the effective average engine RPM's would affect the amount of airflow per mile the engine would consume. There is an amount of parasitic loss (blowoff valve, etc...) but I doubt it would offset the 35% difference in displacement.

 

Forgive my physics, been out of it a while, but doesn't the air compressed @ up to 15 psi make a difference vs na?

 

I had a pressure/vacuum transducer on my EB while we were testing our new Hydac HMG3000, and the overall mean pressure was slightly negative over a 700+ mile period. More air during boost, but its not like the engine is at boost continuously while running. The Iowa wind was helpful in this case, but even without it I'm sure the average boost over the life of the engine is pretty low for most owners.

Also, my 09 averaged 13.5 over it's 95k life, and the EB is averaging 17.0 as of this morning at 34k. I would suggest that less fuel also equates to less air through the engine, assuming similar ATF ratios.

Anyway, now I'm digging through our test equipment to find an instrument grade air flow sensor to do some more scientific mythbusting. It would be intersting to have a measured airflow for two vehicles in the same conditions to see what actual looks like. Truck ownership is a continuous experiment for me, now I'm curious...