Equipment Tests > Air Intakes

But you don't have to rush out now and buy the most expensive snorkel and air filter on the market. Your standard factory filter may be all you need. The best approach is to think about the amount of dirt road touring you do. If you know you'll travel on paved roads with only a short dirt drive to a camping ground then you'll not need a great deal more than a standard paper air cleaner. But if, like many of us, you'll be driving on dirt roads regularly to get to where you're going, then there are the following options. First is to keep the factory paper element filter, which will require replacement perhaps as often as every few thousand kilometres (or better still check the filter and shake out the dust at the end of the day's drive - it'll last longer), get a reusable filter that can be cleaned and reused or get a snorkel. If you are driving in extremely dusty conditions regularly, you will also need to consider a prefilter. A prefilter is, as it suggests, an air filter that fits in line ahead of the standard filter, It adds another line of defence against dust particle ingress. Most prefilters are quite restrictive and are recommended for use at speeds of less than 40km/h. Though it's not unheard of for people to install these units and drive flat-out, the risk is that with such restriction on a diesel engine it will enrich the mixture and overheat.

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Don't think that by staying with factory filters that you'll be consigned to replacing them every time you go off-road. Pulling out the filter and tapping the dust out regularly is the sensible thing to do, and some standard filters also can be cleaned - Toyota's 100 Series, for example, uses a washable filter. There is also the warranty issue - if your vehicle is under warranty and has an engine failure, one of the parts the manufacturer checks first is the air filter. If it is not a genuine filter, any warranty claim could be compromised. The next option is to keep using paper element filters, but to use the cheaper, aftermarket variety. Some brands are the same as used as original equipment by the manufacturer, except they do not have the car-maker's symbol on the box. This cheaper option takes the pain out of having to replace the filter every 5000km (or less) in dusty conditions instead of the routine 20,000km.

The popular aftermarket alternative in air filtration is the reusable filter. Usually made from a foam or cotton material impregnated with a light sticky oil, these filters simply require cleaning and re-oiling when they become clogged with dust. Some of the manufacturers of this type of air filter argue that their designs allow a better flow of air than paper element types (even when dirty), allow smaller particles through than paper types and are cheaper in the long run because they can be re-oiled and reused, in some cases for the life of the vehicle. Some are also resistant to catching fire in the instance of an engine backfire. But if you prefer maintenance-free replacement, then the reusable filter may not be for you. The process of cleaning is simple but not a five-minute job; you have to bathe the filter in a cleaning agent, wash it, allow it to dry and then spray it with special oil and then wait for the excess oil to drain out before refitting.

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