What is a good air filter?
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) evaluates and approves air filters through a series of tests to ensure that they meet the engine manufacturer's requirements. This test determines how much dust, debris, and abrasive is trapped by the filter, and how long the air filter can last before plugging. The air filters are then rated according to their efficiency during the test.
When your engine draws in air, it passes through the intake pipe, which guides the air through the pleats of the air filter. The holes of the air filter have larger and larger holes in the microcosm, so their dimensions are in micrometers. The thickness, density and micron size of the materials that make up the pleated filter determine the quality of the filter. Micron is a unit of measurement in the metric system, and its length is equal to one millionth of a meter (about 39 millionths of an inch). The average cross section of human hair is 50 microns. The lower the micron level is, the better the filtration capacity is.
Unfortunately, when you look at air filters, they seem to be too often, and they all look different. Low quality discount filters contain very thin filter material with fewer wrinkles, less paper density, and higher micron grade, thus filtering and capturing less debris and abrasives.
High quality and high-quality filters will be filled with high-density, low micron filter materials and extensive wrinkles to enable them to capture a large number of debris and abrasives, thereby improving engine efficiency and better engine protection.
