I've seen the articles, too, and had 2nd thoughts (should I put the OEM

filter back in for Pikes Peak this year -- NAH!).

We know that running without any air filter will take its toll eventually.

How long is eventually? I don't know. All air filters are a compromise

between flow and filtering, along a continuum. Any filter has to be much

better than running with none, judging by all the bugs it's kept my engine

from ingesting. If the best one insures my engine will last for 5M miles,

is that 10 times better than one that insures my engine will last for

'only' 500K miles? Not to me -- I doubt I'll ever put that many miles on

an engine! So perspective and proportion are more important than numerical

data once a certain level of effectiveness is reached, except to those who

worship cars as idols and/or really do keep them 'forever'.

I ran my previous turbo engine 134+K miles. I don't remember the exact

mileage I dropped in the K+N, but I'm pretty sure it was before 10K mi.

The engine was never quite the same after its blown head gasket at 119K

mi. Oil consumption was zero until about 90K mi, when it slowly began

creeping up, though it was never any kind of problem (1/3 - 1/2 qt lost

during an oil change interval, at worst, but the 2nd head was never as

good as the original...).

I dropped in a K+N at 7K mi in this car. Oil consumption is still zero,

though it took an extra-long time (14K mi) to get to that point.

I wonder how many miles a typical modern Volvo accumulates under its

original owner. I wonder if the onset of oil consumption at advanced

miles can be correlated to the abrasiveness of intake air.

Anyway, my current and previous turbo engines have gone 90K - 100K mi

without any oil consumption, while the manufacturer will not help you if

your year-old car with 15K miles consumes 1/2 qt per 3K mi, so my

perspective is that K+N filters can hardly be considered engine-killers.

If I keep mine another 150K miles, I'll probably wish I'd found a better

air filter. And if I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd probably

have taken better care of myself...

If Amsoil has such a great filter, what's the URL of the filter's web page?

(If none, perhaps it's time for the great Amsoil supporters around here to

start sending me their stuff to put on the web (and my car)...)

- Dave; '95 854T, 101K mi, Mobil 1, K+N, DurAlt Fuel Conditioner