PossumLT

Hi, I'm new to the board. I'm picked up a brand new LT maybe a few weeks ago, the neat thing is it's a 5 speed (took me many calls to many dealerships to find one). I love it so far and the gas mileage is insane. I'm getting about 34+ highway (mostly the driving I do).

My main question is are there any real disadvantages with putting a K&N air filter on the 2.2? My impressions with them is that they don't seem to work well with fuel injected vehicles simply because the PCM values may change and possibly trip a code. I've also heard of decreased fuel economy because of this. Obviously I'm looking for even better MPG's than I'm getting now. Anybody who has one on their vehicle I'd like to hear your opinion if it's worth it or not (damn things are expensive).

skymynx

I got 32 on my vacation last week to nj from ct. Everything was on my car as usual except for the nos no point of that. needed the trunk room more then anything

tonio5555

Disadvantage to K&N is that its an oiled filter and if you over oil it it can mess up your mass airflow sensor. However it flows better so your mileage should increase. If you get it just take it easy with the oil.

XM15

Yeah, your mileage should definately increase. This May when I went to the track (2-2.5 hours one way) I got 37 mpg there and back. Not bad at all.

PossumLT

But that's only when I clean it, right? Do I have to apply the stuff when I first put it on?

Hell no, especially when I was looking at foreign POS's for MPG's, very glad I went with it.

eirhed

We got 37.2 mpg on our way to the Power Tour this June (Detroit to Cleveland)...I guess driving slow (about 74 mph) in Ohio has one advantage.

Helltime

When i first got my balt brand new it was getting between 26-28 mpg with highway and city driving, now (it has about 1500 on it) I get around 30-32 mpg IN TOWN. I heard about the k&n being a problem with these so i didn't get one but it made a HUGE difference in an 01 civic i had. It used to get 33-34mpg MAX on the highway, once i put in the K&N and it got 38-39mpg running 80mph and above. I was shocked, i couldn't believe it made that much of a difference. It made about a 2mpg difference on my parents' blazers they had (only have 1 now).

PossumLT

I remember using non-ethanol gasoline in my Blazer, shot the mileage up 2 MPGs highway, I could only imagine what I'd get using a K&N with E0 with the cobalt.

denn454

iTrader: (1)

Welcome!

thanks for realizing you have a great economy car! there are a lot of things you can do to really get your mpg numbers up. 34 is nothing, I get that in town beating on my car, on the highway its nothing out of the ordinary for me to see 40.

there are a lot of things you can do. first off is let the car break in. I didn't start to see really good numbers until I hit about 5,000 miles. tire pressure is another obvious one. if you take the passenger side inner fender well out you will see a plastic intake silencer, remove that and you should see 2-3 mpg. (there is a thread in the 2.2 performance section on this right now) synthetic oil is good for another 1-2 mpg. I did a gmpp (general motors performance parts) exhaust, that got me another 1-2 mpg. thats 7 mpg I picked up for around $600. (i only got 32mpg before)

my next step is going to be an intake, some people say its worth 2-3 mpg, i would expect 1-2 with my silencer removed. and there is an intake manifold that is worth about 1mpg.

I love to hear the honda people bragging about how they get 40mpg like they have gods gift to saving gas, when I can do the same thing and have a better running car.

PossumLT

Thanks man! I'm going to check that out.

SSKevinSC

36 MPG 1 time going to N Carolina.

tonio5555

I believe the K&N comes preoiled, but eventually you will have to re-oil it.

cage

Im not sure what the conversion is but I used to get 10-11 Liters per 100km city and 7-8 Liters per 100km hwy. Afer the Injen intake and Corsa Touring exhaust install im getting 8-8.5L per 100km city and 5.5-6L per 100km hwy.

-NIVEK-

with an injen intake I get 36mpg running at 70mph

navyblue2000

with my little DIY half-intake, I see ~35 mpg with my 65/35 highway/city driving.

best combined I ever got was 38.1

BlueCobalt

The worst i ever got was 33.8 and that was mainly in the city. I have got as good as 43 filling up on 100% highway. You gotta realize that i was slipping it into neutral going down hills and all that good stuff and only going 65 or so. But my average is anywhere from 36-39 with each trip being about 75-80% highway. All i have is a k&n filter and removed silencer.

409Cobalt07

I have a K&N cai and I drove from just outside of houston to dallas(about 6.5 hours, i did it in a little under 4) and i got 38mpg and i was never under 85 the entire time.

eazyasone23

33.2-34.5mpg

07LSC

mine never goes under 35mpg even in traffic and on city roads.

PossumLT

Is that your actual calculation or are you reading the dash comp? I found that (for the first tank at least) the dash comp. was maybe 1-1.5 MPG's off when I did the math...but that's still damn good for anything really.

azraelck

I average 33-34mpg with about 40/60 city/highway. I don't drive hard, because I'm entirely too cheap to pay $35 for a tank of gas more than twice a month.

On a recent trip to NY to visit the inlaws (or outlaws, or Carpathian dictators; whichever) I averaged 47.8mpg on a 2200 mile round trip.

The only modification done is a K&N filter and falling asleep behind the wheel and knocking my passenger side mirror off on a mailbox. I haven't noticed the K&N doing anything but slightly altering the engine sound under heavy throttle, mileage stayed the same.

PossumLT

Most everybody I talk to says K&N's are golden, $44 through cruthfield, could find it cheaper somewhere's else, and if it adds an HP or to and gets me 1/2 MPG more, I don't care. The mileage I'm getting now is damn good and its not even broken in yet.

denn454

iTrader: (1)

Thats really good! even if the trip sucked, that would make up for it. I have yet to get anywhere near that, 42 is my best yet, but i haven't had a good road trip in the car since its been broken in (i took one when it was brand new, 32mpg...)

I have been reluctant to get a k&n filter because so many people have had problems with gm saying that they have proven the oiled filter to cause problems. K&N says they have done testing and have proven the filters totally safe, but personally i'd rather not have to deal with fighting with the dealership to get my car fixed when something breaks. Because of that i'm eventually going to go to the gmpp intake. I think its the best looking one out there, I have heard it sounds the best, and with it there is next to no chance the dealership will give you any troubles.

azraelck

Meh, we've used K&N filters for years with no problems on everything from a 30 year old V8 to this car, and never had a single solitary issue. Of course, we don't oil the filters in the intake, we pull them out, oil them, then let the excess drip off before shoving them back in. While the K&N on this car hasn't made much noticeable improvement, usually it is noticeable. Of course, a CAI is much better, and is on my eventual list of upgrades if I keep this car. I may have to trade it in though, as it's a coupe. I bought it before getting married, now I'm thinking of trading it for a 4 door '07 version for easier rear seat access and the better warranty.

Other than having to sneak around town, hiding in order to prevent myself from being hung by the neck until I was dead, it was an okay trip. :P

tonio5555

True, you can always use the K&N and then if you suspect your MAF is shot, swap out to stock filter before you bring it in for service.