I have heard from many people that they work better when they are dirty.
K&N says to clean the filter at 50,000 miles
So I guess what happens is when brand new they are good flow but not too great at the filtering. However when u put some miles on it the filter gets dirty. I am sure it filters better when it is somewhat clogged and dirty. Hense working better when dirty.
So I guess the big question would be if they were to run these tests again and the K&N had lets say 10,000 miles on it, would it filter better. I think it would

 

I don't buy it... Look who is doing the test... I dont' think K&N got where they are with having results like that...

Kinda like the study that says "take an asprin once a day" Yeah per the Bayer Corp...

Just my opinion... and like an A** we all got one..

 

Also a side note a mechanic told me to change the oil every 2thousand miles.. he said if u look at the oil at 2,000 then u will see it is already black.. maybe that is even accelerated by the k&N filtering less when new. and more when Dirty. Wonder how much the flow is cut down when Dirty. and if not much maybe should never clean until 100,000 miles.

 

I would suggest sending a sample in to be tested, then you will know what is going on with the oil.

 

If you change your oil every 3k miles anyway, silicone levels will never reach that high to begin with. When I'm talking about extended intervals, I'm talking about the same oil in for a year, with filter changes every 6 months. Every 6,000 miles is rather short, in terms of extended drain intervals as well. If the air is filtered good enough, and the oil filter is good enough, a quality synthetic oil can last up to one year, sometimes even more if the analysis indicates so...

 

Also....I noticed you live in Idaho. Is it dusty there? Here in Las Vegas is very dusty all year round and has a lot to do with it...paper filter or not.

 

Ok, we are talking very expended intervals (I thought 6000 was a long time).

It is rather dusty up here, live in the high desert where the wind blows and add to that all the farming that goes on around here and dust can be a problem.