AVO Panel Filter installed - Impressions

[JoeFromPA]

Hi all,

 

Put in an AVO panel filter yesterday. First off - My god! I've never had such a difficult air filter installation. I had to remove the air funnel from the grille, and remove the nut directly behind the headlight...and even then, it was a knuckle-dragging experience.

 

Anyway. I expected more intake sound and didn't experience any difference; so a little dissapointing in that end. However, pedal response was improved. I definitely felt the engine respond faster to input, and felt like it revved a little freer. It could fall into the "placebo effect" field, but it definitely felt tangible.

 

Just thought I'd share

 

Joe

[RaGe]

have you removed the bubble on the bottom of the intake yet?

[Drew888]

Bubble?

 

I just installed a header last night and changed my oil afterward. Only until I got to the 'simple' air filter did I scrape my hands on stuff enough to bleed.

 

It's in there properly but what a pain.

 

I'm researching intakes now if only just to avoid this hastle.

[FireB]

Bubble = Silencer Box

from what I know.

Taking that off should yield a little more sound.

[JoeFromPA]

I did not remove the silencer. I want to keep it near stock for now. Maybe in 20,000 miles

 

Along with Hogzaust Stage 1, of course.

 

Joe

[RaGe]

well the thing about it this. i had mine off for a while. yes it will constitute more sound. not only from the intake side, but also the exhaust side of it as well. well the other day, i put it back on. not only did the car feel as if it starving for air, but the exhaust quited down. so i took it back off. got my sound back, and the car does not act as if it is starving for air now.

[smkinsally]

i have had the avo filter in for over 8000 miles so far the only sound difference is when you let off the gas. I feel the filter let you hear the bov more than stock. i dont believe the hype about gaining some ponies from this airfilter. I also have a ralitek tranny bushing in which also adds some drone noise at high rpms, i really like the combo sound! wish someone would test to actually see if the filter alone adds any horsepower.

[RochNY91TSI]

I just did my 30k maintenance and changed filters. I didn't think it was hard to do at all; are 08's different?

[smkinsally]

not hard just a BIG PITA!

[FireB]

Well, you don't have to take off the bumper so it is not that bad!

[JoeFromPA]

It was completely intuitive, not a head scratcher, but still the biggest PITA I've ever had with changing an air filter (it didn't help that I dropped that small nut into the underspoiler underneath the airbox...). Most cars it's about 4-5 clips, little the box, pull out old, put in new, re-clip. About 3 minutes and no tools required

 

Joe

[FireB]

True True, I thought it was gonna be 1,2,3 but yea, takes a little more time than expected for sure.

You should invest in that "Magnetic Antenna Pickup" thing.

Those things are amazing when you drop the Bolt or Nuts where you can't reach!

[onesillyracer]

yeah installing this should be easy but its a true pain in the ass

[JoeFromPA]

True True, I thought it was gonna be 1,2,3 but yea, takes a little more time than expected for sure.

You should invest in that "Magnetic Antenna Pickup" thing.

Those things are amazing when you drop the Bolt or Nuts where you can't reach!

 

Ok, is it sad that I did invest in the magnetic pickie upper thingymajig...and I lost that.

 

I desperately need a garage. My tools are spread out over 2 seperate areas of my townhome and in multiple unorganized places in both of those.

 

Joe

[f1anatic]

Joey mang, time to do a real mod. How about AP2 ? And remove the intake ? The air filter is there just for you to not keep spending money on paper filters, not to get amazing butt dyno powers.

 

20,000 miles before you consider removing the intake silencer ? Please go visit a different forum. Also, do not forget to stick a warning label about your panel filter...the mechanic might throw it away at your next oil change. Better yet, what if it voids warranty ?

 

All you need to do is undo those 2 clips. Not sure why you had to take the entire front side of the car off. I have a Perrin filter, so not sure if it is much skinnier than the AVO but I cannot imagine the AVO being much thicker either.

[RochNY91TSI]

^^That's why I was confused. It wasn't hard, or time consuming to do. I also didn't have to remove any bolts or screws (just the two pop-its holding the air snorkel in). Once the snorkel was out of the way (just to make more room), all that was necessary was to undo the two clips

[JoeFromPA]

Joey mang, time to do a real mod. How about AP2 ? And remove the intake ? The air filter is there just for you to not keep spending money on paper filters, not to get amazing butt dyno powers.

 

20,000 miles before you consider removing the intake silencer ? Please go visit a different forum. Also, do not forget to stick a warning label about your panel filter...the mechanic might throw it away at your next oil change. Better yet, what if it voids warranty ?

 

All you need to do is undo those 2 clips. Not sure why you had to take the entire front side of the car off. I have a Perrin filter, so not sure if it is much skinnier than the AVO but I cannot imagine the AVO being much thicker either.

 

Hey F1....ass...

 

I'm not going to mess with the intake silencer for awhile....essentially, maybe the next time I take out the AVO and clean it (~20,000 miles). Does that make sense?

 

And by the way, why in the hell would I take my car to a mechanic? Unless something warranty related breaks, I do all my own servicing. I'd inspect it myself if I could

 

When I popped my hood, I undid the 2 clips. Try as I might, there was no way I could get enough room to remove the stock air filter. And I was knuckle-busting myself trying to get it out. I certainly had to remove the air-funnel. And then the airbox itself doesn't even move or given you anymore room unless you take the nut off the mounting screw behind the headlight. Oh yeah, and I had to disconnect the MAF sensor plug as well

 

So unless I'm missing something, I had to do exactly what I did in order to even remove or replace the air filter. It wasn't much, it just was more than any other air filter I've ever seen. (Ok, outside of a 99 Porsche Boxster)

 

AVO Panel Filter is about the same thickness as any other aftermarket filter I've ever seen....actually a bit thinner than the stock filter that was in there.

 

Just to be clear....with the air funnel taken off, the nut removed from the screw holding the air-filter-canister steady, and with plastic-breaking levels of torque from my hands bending the airbox to fit.....I was BARELY able to squeeze the AVO filter into the airbox without busting the rubber seal that was set around the edges. That's how tight it was, even with the steps I took.

 

Maybe I missed something obvious. IDK.

 

Joe

 

P.s. I test drove it last night to see about BOV noise. There is a SUBSTANTIAL increase in turbo whine and BOV dumping sound with this air filter. It is not very clear when you floor it up to 4000-5000 rpms and let off the throttle....alot more whining and whooshing. Nice.

[spect2k]

Has anyone cleaned this filter yet? Any idea how to do so?

[korpsepatrol]

Install when i had mine was pretty straight forward, unclip, take off the "air funnel", pull the box enough to pull out the stock filter, slide the other one in. Simple as that. I did however cut myself on the box so i guess it's common.

 

Cleaning: Use warm water with very little amount of soap, pick out any fuzzy things and leaves that might be in there, let it air dry and thats it. There are only a few air filters that allow this, Blitz, Fujita, and Avo. I am not sure if the aem allows this too.

[Scotty]

The key thing LET IT AIR DRY. Don't try to blow it out. I work for a company that makes air filters for helicopter engines and you should see the number of different ways mechanics have attempted to quick dry a filter including using the engine to suck out the water. That is the fastest way to destroy an air filter element.

[smonkbmw]

installed today in my pzev car. probably one of the more.....interesting installs ive done in awhile. its not that it was hard, it was just kind of tedious. i ended up removing the lower 10mm bolt that holds part of the box in and the other nut behind the headlight and pulling it all out.

 

um, some what of a interesting question. the gauze'ish panel filter looking like element that is on the afm side of the airbox, what is that? i kinda sorta removed it thinking it was part of the original air filter element. it was glued on, has a couple rubber blocks around the outside of it. i popped it off, then put it back in along with the AVO element.

 

im running it without the scoop that runs above the headlight. the initial off the line "noise" is increased. i noticed a very slight "throttle lag" when i floor it off the line, kind of like a stumble, then it accelerates like normal. ill try reinstalling the scoop and see if that goes away.

 

regarding the product, from what i see the AVO is definitely a step up in construction over the stock filter. keep in mind my car has 700 miles on it and obviously the air filter is brand new. the stock filter is like a cotton ball material, the AVO just seems....better in design.