I compared the stock air box with K&N air filter drop-in with the Vibrant cone filter today, both individually tuned at 21.5psi. I have some good data with EvoScan that's pretty interesting.

First off, barometer from the stock box with K&N would lower from 102kpa to 94 by 7000rpms. The Vibrant filter went from 102kpa to 99.5 Barely any pressure drop! This means the filter flows extremely well compared to the stock box.

The Vibrant filter spooled up faster as well as leaned out the upper end of my rpms by a good .3-.4 A/F units. It also increased my boost by .4psi. This means that the airflow was both increased on the low end and a lot on the upper end. I then retuned it to the same A/F curve I used on the stock air box, lowered the boost back to 21.5psi, and in the end, it was also good for 4hp and 7lbft torque, SAE corrected.

The filter flows very well, but I would really like to know what its filtering abilities are like. It seems like there's one layer of cloth inside the metal mesh that covers this cone only--you can definitely see through it. I love the sound though!

This pic is a comparison of before and after the Vibrant cone filter, both individually tuned.



By the way, my Injector Duty Cycles are at 94% at redline now (vs 88% before), with my Walbro 255. Is it time to get a bigger one already?

 

I don't have any graph pics to put up right now but I had my car retuned yesterday for my Apexi intake install over the factory box with the K&N and picked up 16 hp! 290hp to 306hp on GST's dyno. The intake was the only mod that was changed for the tune (M2's, 3"TBE, no cat, 780's,GM boost solonoid) and the tune was done on the wonderfull 91 Cali swill both were an 22psi.

I've had a chance to check out a vibrant filter in person, wasn't very impressed, doesn't look like it would filter well at all, that's why I went with the Apexi even though it was a fair bit more expensive.

 

Were they both SAE corrected for a fair comparison? My uncorrected numbers were pretty large at 341/321.

 

not really sure, it was done on a mustang dyno. looking at the sheets it lists a filter mode and filter value. filter mode FIR and filter value 8, I've only done a couple dyno tunes so I'm not really sure about how it all works yet as far as the correction factors and such.

 

BTW I'm with ya on loving the sound of the open filter, makes me wonder why I waited so long to put it on!

 

Short answer: aweful!
I had a Vibrant on my car for a year and the inside of my MAF was caked in a layer of dirt/dust. I bought some MAF Cleaner Spray and after using half the can there was a nasty black sludge puddle underneath it on the garage floor.

Check out the https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...t-results.html thread for more info.

 

It's gotta have some merit since Buschur Racing sells these.

 

I have the k&n drop in rite now and have been really tempted to switch to the k&n cone filter and maf adapter. In my opinion i think it would give me a small power gain, but sound better which would give a better driving experience. Plus k&n makes some great stuff so i know it would be safe to run it in the long run.
Thanks for the info it may have just helped me make my decision.

 

Honestly I'd say just order the maf adapter from Vibrant and use the Amsoil filter instead. It's supposed to be one of the best filtration pieces out right now, but as for now even I use K&N due to how easily available they are. Regardless, buy the maf adapter and you can run any filter you'd like...that's what I did.

 

I hate the MAF adaptor the new Vibrant requires. They used to make one without the adaptor.

FWIW, the ppm silicon content of my engine oil has not gone up with a paper open element filter, so I would hazard a guess that it filters pretty well compared to OEM.

 

What does "ppm" mean and what "paper open element filter" are you talking about?

 

particles per million.

 

ppm = Parts Per Million.

 

I have the GST open filter on my car, but the Vibrant should be similar minus the MAF adaptor. I was looking to get some made for the Evo community, but it wasn't reasonable to do in the short term in the quantities they were demanding.

ANy time you send your oil to Blackstone (or any other service) they give you breakdowns of what's in your oil in parts per million. The silicon content of my oil made no changes going from the OEM panel filter to an aftermarket paper cone filter.

 

Thanks Erik, I'm gonna send off my oil to get a baseline of the K&N stock air box in the next couple weeks when I change my oil, and then another analysis 3750 miles later with my newer Vibrant filter. I'll report back about 6 months later (That's how long it takes me to put 3750 miles on my car)