Thread: Td5Alive foam air filters - opinions

Hi - Td5 Alive seem like a fairly credible mob and are now selling their own designed foam air filters: TD5 Alive Ltd Air Filters

I know there's a thread on this site suggesting there's nothing wrong with the flow and filtration capabilities of paper filters, but the idea of washable does appeal to me (even though I realise I can always use a pre-filter washable foam cover on snorkel head in dusty conditions). Curious to know if anyone's bought one of these.

Gotta love the exchange rate at the moment...also looking at their Samco Sport XDB silicon hoses...

I used foam airfilters in my 3.5 litre Rover V8 powered car from 1988 till 2007, 19 years of service and 226,000km.

I drove in all manner of conditions on all manner of roads from wet and foggy to dry and dusty.

From my understanding, if an engine is injesting dust which the filters are allowing to pass, then this will see increased wear in the piston rings and bores resulting in increasing levels of blow by and ultimately a marked increase in oil consumption.

My engine never showed an increase in oil consumption, nor was there ever an indication of blow by increasing. When dismantled, the cylinder bores were smooth and free of abrasive wear. The rings were in fine condition for an engine that was 33 years old with a total of 327,000km covered.

I make this statement based on my own experience. At no stage in the 19 years that I used them did at any time I see anything that made me feel concern for the long term life of my engine. I was never aware of any negative press regarding these at the time, but the life of my engine I feel speaks for itself.

Ron.