When tuning an engine, a large amount of incoming air is required and a zero filter is required. Let's tell you what it is and what it offers compared to a filter element.

What is it needed for?

The main function of a standard air filter is to clean the air and protect against dust getting into the engine. But while we gain effective filtration, we lose power. Paper elements offer a lot of resistance to air flow because the material is dense. The greater the resistance, the greater the power loss. It is especially noticeable when the filter gets clogged.

Filter zero resistance- replacement for the standard one, which allows you to reduce the inlet resistance without reducing the filtering capacity and increase engine power. This happens due to special material, which has less air resistance. Accordingly, more air enters the engine, and the power is higher. This way you can add “several horses”.

In most cases, the “nulevik” gives a power increase of about 3-5%. A person physically cannot feel a difference in power of less than 5 hp, but dynamic characteristics almost invisible. So, they can stroke their pride more numbers on paper than reality.

Is there any point?

The misconception is that if you remove air filter and its body, power will increase significantly. This is wrong. The fact is that engineers calculate the operation of the motor taking into account filter losses. From a practical point of view, an engine that gets caught in dust will not last long. A barrier in the form of an air filter is necessary. Flow resistance can be reduced by increasing the passage holes, that is, slightly deteriorating the quality of filtration.

Remember: if the car does not have a sports engine, it is not advisable to spend several thousand rubles on a “zero”. Installation on serial engine- just a beautiful thing under the hood.

It’s another matter if you comprehensively modify the engine by installing sports camshafts and boring the cylinders. Then a zero filter is appropriate. Also, together with it, an enlarged throttle valve is installed, which will give the greatest effect in increasing the efficiency of intake system cars.

Advantages

Firstly, increasing power without reducing air purity. The filter has a complex configuration that provides low resistance, but at the same time effective filtration, protecting the intake system from clogging and the engine from wear.

Secondly, eliminate the need to replace the filter every 10,000 km. It is easy to clean, washed with a special composition and restores its original properties.

Third, after installation, a little more unique noise and a few additional “horses” will appear, and torque will also increase at medium and low revs.

To obtain a real increase in power and torque, it is necessary to dismantle the standard housing assembly with the filter insert element. Next put it on the sensor mass flow air or on its pipe a cone filter of zero resistance, which is selected according to the diameter of the seat.

How to follow?

With purchase zero filter the car enthusiast is obliged to regularly wash and impregnate it with a special solution. Moreover, it must be processed using a certain technology, which is difficult to compare with the simplicity of the “remove and install” operation. You cannot forget about periodic maintenance, otherwise the machine will become “dumb” and “gluttonous”.

Remove the filter and clean it from large dirt particles using a soft bristle brush. Then washed with water. There is no need to dry it, but you need to shake it several times to remove any remaining water. Then a cleaning agent is applied to the filter element on both sides and the “zero” is installed in place.

Personal experience

You need to be careful with the zero filter. The increase in power is small, but it is due to better cross-country ability, which means dust particles can get into the motor, especially if you forget to soak it. Another thing is installing a zero in standard seat. It’s a huge plus that you can save standard system air intake. If the nulevik “takes” air under the hood, this will not lead to anything good. The air there is hot, it is imperative to move the air intake system away from the hot engine.

It has been proven experimentally that the lower the inlet air temperature, the more power. During the day, in the heat, the nulevik only causes harm, but in the evening you can feel the difference. It is advisable to install with increased throttle valve and a cold air system. It is installed for the summer, but in winter it is useless, if not harmful.

Buy a good zero, for example from K&N. He's different good quality, but it's not cheap. The damage to the motor will be minimal. And from the purchase Chinese analogues I'd be careful. It is not known how they filter the incoming air and whether they will cause harm.

Every car owner wants to modify his car so that it is perfect in every way. But perfect car should be not only externally, but also internally. The engine also requires improvements. If you tune the engine, then you can’t do it without a zero-resistance filter.

It is absolutely impossible to do without installing such a device, since a new injection and a reworked intake and exhaust system significantly increase the power indicators of the power plant, which requires more air to operate as smoothly as possible.

If in such a situation you do not install a zero resistance filter, then the motor will simply “suffocate”. It will shake and twitch, since the mixture will not be enriched at all. In addition, such filters can be bought at any store. car parts. The so-called “nulevik” very easily replaces the standard one. The fasteners are interchangeable. It is also necessary to note the aesthetic side of the new filter. It will give the engine a sporty look.

Why install a zero resistance filter?

It is important to understand the essence of the question: is it possible to use nulevik on ordinary car, and, if possible, then which one to choose? In order to fully and understandingly understand this issue, you need to understand how a zero-resistance filter works.

As everyone knows, any air filter must filter the incoming air from unwanted influences environment, as this air is mixed with fuel to achieve a rich mixture. It’s not for nothing that designers came up with the idea of ​​installing air purification products on engines, since they reduce the wear rate of parts and components of the power plant. In particular, they protect piston group. If you remove the filter, then microparticles that have abrasive properties, entering with air, wear out engine parts in a very short period of time.

But we need to consider the other side too air filters: They are very dense, so it is difficult not only for particles, but also for air to pass through such material. Because of this, the motor loses its power. It cannot produce full horsepower, as it simply “suffocates.” And, in addition, the more resistance the air receives, the less power will be output. Very often this phenomenon can be observed in summer time when the air filter becomes clogged with all sorts of impurities and dust, interfering with the passage of air. But, after dismantling the old filter and installing a new filter, it’s as if something is moving into the engine. The power increases, the dips disappear.

In order to minimize the resistance to incoming air and allow the engine to work at full horsepower, they came up with such special air purification products.

“Nulevik” is specially created in such a way that the motor can consume as much air as possible. Air filters installed on racing cars, increase engine power by several Horse power.

The main advantages that tuning fans highlight

Many people wonder, but not everyone knows what a zero will do with a conventional motor.

• The power of the power plant increases to 10%. This is despite the fact that there is still a filter, and particles will not get into the cylinders along with the combustible mixture.
• Nulevik does not require frequent replacement, unlike a conventional filter.

Such an air purifier, as it becomes dirty, is simply washed with a special aerosol. After treatment, the unit can be reused. You can install a modern filter in regular place, depending on the shape, but you can simply put it on and clamp it with a clamp on the air supply line.

How to properly care for the filter?

In order to service the zero car, it must be removed from the car. After which it is cleaned with a special brush. The cleaning has been completed, now the entire filter is covered with special remedy for cleaning filters. Now you should wait 10 minutes until the product saturates the filter. Then, after this time, the filter is washed in some container with water. And after that you need to rinse the element under running water.

Once the filter has been cleaned, there is no need to dry it at all. The best thing to do is simply remove the remaining water with regular shaking. There are cases when the product has poorly saturated the filter and light spots appear on it. In this case, you will have to use the product again. After completing the entire procedure for cleaning the zero-resistance filter, it can be mounted back. According to factory data, the zeros are designed for 20 washes. Further washing is useless, and replacement is impossible.

It should be noted important information: zero resistance filters perform well on power plants with large volumes. Weak and small engines will not notice the increase in horsepower from such a device.

People's opinions that if the air filter is completely removed, then the engine will become much more powerful are completely mythical. In reality, nothing like that happens. When the designers invented the engine, they calculated all valve timing, taking into account the resistance of the air filter. So, besides the fact that the motor will become unusable very quickly, due to the entry of a large number of “extra” particles into it, removing the filter will not increase power.

Whether to use a standard accessory or try to tune your car is up to the owner to decide.

Video

I'm talking about zero resistance filters. To be honest, I myself thought about installing one of these on my car, but despite all the simplicity, it turns out there are a lot of pitfalls. Therefore, you need to weigh all the pros and cons, which is what we will do in this article. In general, it's real true information from a person who almost bought it (but stopped in time). Looking ahead, this is not at all the “zero” that you thought about...

To be honest, this is a very controversial tuning of your engine, why you will understand at the very bottom, if you can’t wait, immediately scroll down, watch the video, but if you want to get information about what is said “on the shelves,” start from the very beginning.

To begin with, I’ll repeat myself a little (there is information in the previous article) and remind you - why do you need a filter element at all?

Why do you need a filter in the engine?

It’s very simple to catch all the nasty stuff that flies in our air - fluff, leaves, midges, but especially dust. This whole thing adversely affects the engine inside, since dust is the smallest particles of sand that will simply melt at high temperatures. And they will settle inside on everything and everyone, some smart person calculated that without an air filter, the service life of the engine decreases by 10 times! So it is needed in any case - that is, it is not discussed, it is an axiom, if you like.

Why is the regular one so bad?

Again, everything is simple - as you and I know from the unit internal combustion only 4 strokes, this is intake, compression, ignition, and exhaust gas removal. The engine is on the intake stroke, sucking air-fuel mixture into the engine cylinders, if gasoline flows along its own line, then air is sucked in from the environment. If there were no filter, it would be sucked in with everything that came across (midges, dust, etc.), but the filter protects against this - however, it is a kind of plug that prevents the air from passing through normally, that is, resistance is encountered.

The standard filter element has a significant resistance coefficient, often taking away 5 - 7% from the engine power. This is understandable, it practically does not allow dust particles to pass through, and is made of special paper.

This element is far from ideal, it seems like everything is simple, but damn there is no solution and that’s it! Or is there?

Zero resistance

Of course, there are - filters of zero resistance have long been created, which practically do not delay the air supply, that is, they allow the engine to “breathe deeply”, they simply give 5 - 7% of the power stolen by standard elements, and this indirectly affects both consumption and dynamics acceleration and maximum speed- such a budget tuning.

The principle of such a filter element is a specially selected material from which it is made. How it is assured that these are large pores and a minimum of paper in the structure. Typically, several layers of cotton fabric are used, which is placed on a special aluminum screen.

However, “nuleviki” are not the same; there can be two types.

Types of zero resistance filters

ON this moment There are two buildings:

• No impregnation or dry - as assured, not so effective. It somewhat resembles a regular standard filter element, but the materials used are completely different. Gives a power increase of up to 5%.
• With impregnation. The most effective one is made from fabrics (several layers) and impregnated with a special oily composition. Dust enters it and settles on the “oil” (lubricant) and remains there. Power increase up to 7%.

It is the second type, which is “impregnated”, that has become widespread, because we are fighting for power, and 2% (of the first type) is significant. However, it has many more disadvantages, for example, every three thousand kilometers it needs to be washed, dried, then soaked again - otherwise the dust and other deposits that it retains will clog it tightly, productivity and air flow will drop many times, that is, it will become even worse, than the standard filter. In this regard, the first option is much more effective - it needs to be changed every 10 - 15,000 kilometers, in principle, like a regular filter element.

In a regular place or not?

Often, anyone thinking about installing such “nuleviks” is faced with a choice: install it in the standard place of the air filter or install a separate one, that is, bypassing standard box. Often, many companies make a separate one, it certainly looks impressive, but is its installation justified? Let's look at each situation:

• . That is, without regular placement. According to the manufacturer, these options are the most productive, that is, they are capable of delivering up to 7% of power. YES and they look impressive under the hood. However, there are many controversial issues here, the whole point is that a heated engine has high temperature, and this element sucks air, so to speak, right on top of the engine, where it is approximately 50 (and in the summer up to 60) degrees Celsius. The point here is this - the density of hot air is much lower than cold air, so such a filter works, even loses power, because it supplied hot air– its density at 50 degrees Celsius – 1.109 kg/cm3 . Whereas the air 20 degrees has a density of 1.204 kg/cm3 . The difference is almost 10%, that’s your increase in power, you will lose even more and the effect of such an element will be negative than positive.

• To a regular place . Now they are sold for almost every car, that is, you can throw out the standard one and put a “zero” in your car - square, in general, as we are used to. However, as the manufacturers assure, its performance is lower, that is, it can provide up to 5% of the power. But such a zero-resistance filter has its advantages, namely - the standard air intake system, as a rule, is located either next to the wing or under the engine, where the air is much cooler. Thus, we increase its density (that is, we suck from the bottom), rather than the hot one from above. It turns out that this is precisely the effect of a 5% increase in power.

That is, the second type, in a regular place, wins in almost all respects.

Advantages and disadvantages

Needless to say, there seem to be only advantages:

• Increases power.
• Due to the passage of a large amount of air, the consumption decreases, because the engine is not overstressed.
• Can be installed in a standard place, that is, for almost any car, nothing needs to be altered.
• It can also be changed after 10 - 15,000 kilometers, like standard options.

However, there are also disadvantages:

• It is expensive, if you take branded ones, the price can reach up to $150 (about 10,000 rubles), while a standard one, even a branded one, costs only about 1,500 rubles (maximum), and analogues can be bought for 200 - 300 rubles. To be fair, there are zero resistance filters that cost less - about 1500 - 2000 rubles, but compared to analogues this is ten times more.

• If you install a separate one, then you not only may not feel the increase in power, but you may also lose it due to hot air being sucked in from above the engine.
• If you take the impregnated option, you need ongoing care, every 2000 - 3000 kilometers - be sure to wash, clean and lubricate again, otherwise you will not only gain power, but vice versa - it will drop. Very uncomfortable.
• There are still debates about the effect of these filters, some say that they give absolutely nothing, others on the contrary - but where is the truth? I don’t really want to shell out 2,000 rubles (let alone $150) for whatever reason.

The truth about the “zeros”

Well, now we come to the most interesting thing, namely, whether they are of any use at all. After all, you can talk for hours about how wonderful they are, but if there is zero effect, then everything is in vain.

A “zero resistance filter” (although it is correct to talk about “reduced” resistance, it cannot be zero) is one of those internal combustion engines that has established itself in the mass consciousness as a must-have item. You can see a zero filter on a serious tuning project, or on Chinese scooter. Moreover, the owners of such filters do not at all understand either their operating principle or the rules for caring for low-resistance filters.

What does a zero resistance filter do?

In an internal combustion engine, the working fluid is atmospheric air. The more it gets into the cylinder, the more fuel is burned in it, the higher the temperature and pressure during the working stroke of the piston. Hence the increase in torque and power.

But the higher the engine speed, the stronger the effect of resistance intake tract for filling the cylinders. If at low speeds for gasoline engine the filling is still reduced by the throttle, then in the “slipper to the floor” mode the power already depends on the intake configuration, receiver settings and air filter resistance.

Why do you need a “zero” resistance filter? By definition, it resists air flow. Even if you remove the filter, turbulence at the cut of the air intake pipe will create some losses in filling - it’s not for nothing that bell-shaped shapes are used in sports receivers.

Moreover quality filter, which has a high degree of purification, with an equal surface area, “chokes” the engine more than allowing all the dust into the cylinders. Therefore, earlier on sports engines Air filters were not installed at all - at most, meshes were attached to the air intakes to protect against stray stones. The service life of the engines was still calculated for several races, and the increased abrasive wear of the cylinder-piston group was not critical.

But for equipment that was not used in such extreme conditions, and simply without wealthy sponsors, the problem of reduced service life due to the lack of air filtration was acute. Therefore, the “zero filter” has become a kind of compromise between throughput and the degree of air purification.

Structurally, “nuleviks” are made of two types of materials: cotton or large-pored foam rubber, but the essence of the work remains the same. The filter curtain itself does not provide sufficient filtration; the pore size in it is effective only against relatively large particles. This provides low resistance to air flow.

Impregnation for the zero-resistance filter combats fine dust - a special sticky oil that envelops the microcells in the filter curtain. While the air flow passes through the “labyrinth” of the curtain, microparticles adhere to the oil film.

For this reason, these types of filters require regular washing, removing dirt and old oil, and new impregnation.

The most effective in terms of air purification are foam filters: it is not for nothing that they are already used from the factory on many motorcycles, the operating speeds of which can exceed the five-digit mark. Foam rubber is easy to clean and is thick enough for dust to stick to the walls of the cells. Cotton “cones” and curtains are much less easy to clean due to the rigid reinforcing mesh inside, and their efficiency (especially for cheap models) is less.

You will also be interested in:

Pros and cons: is there any sense in “nulevik”?

In reality, the difference with and without a filter is noticed only on a dynamometer stand. The benefit of reducing the resistance of only one element of the intake system appears exclusively in the “full throttle” mode at high speed, in the standard city driving cycle the effect of the “zero filter” is exactly zero.

Even for forced engines, reducing intake resistance gives a penny of benefit. Let's take, for example, a graph taken at a stand with Nissan Skyline ECR33, whose RB25DET engine has already moved away from the standard configuration:

The result is not bad - 250 horsepower at the wheels. But, if we remove the air filter altogether - to ensure a reduction in intake resistance even greater than that of a high-quality "zero" - we will get the second graph:

The drop in power after the 5000 rpm peak has become smoother, but the difference in numbers is negligible: its increase without a filter is only 8 horsepower. With 250 hp, which is already there, it is impossible to notice anywhere except on the track, when hundredths of a second count.

And you have to pay for these pennies by complicating maintenance and deteriorating air purification.

“Zero” resistance filters have the “right to life” only on (and primarily on those with increased revolutions, and not supercharging). But even there, installing a “nulevik” is one of many stages of fine-tuning: installing wide-phase camshafts, adjusting and polishing intake channels, and adjusting the receiver. In another case, a zero air filter is nothing more than a harmful, albeit beautiful, accessory.

In addition, the oil impregnation of “zero” vehicles itself can cause problems on engines equipped with mass fuel flow sensors. The air flow, passing through the filter, carries along microparticles of oil, which then settle on the walls of the inlet pipes and directly on the surface of the sensing element. Because of this layer, which acts as a heat insulator, the mass air flow sensor begins to “lie”, giving an incorrect injection signal. And here already on the “departed” composition air-fuel mixture the conversation will not be about a microscopic increase in peak power, but about a noticeable drop.

In some cases, the installation of the Federal Tax Service itself can even reduce maximum power engine. When installing a fashionable cotton “cone” or a foam “mushroom”, you have to dismantle the standard air filter box and air intake. If the layout fails engine compartment after this “anti-tuning”, the engine does not receive air that is close in temperature to atmospheric temperature, but air that is already heated, passing through the radiator. An increase in air temperature for every 10 degrees Celsius gives a loss in density of 0.04 kg/m3 - and an average atmospheric two-liter engine, spinning up to 5000 rpm, drives 35 - 40 cubic meters through itself per minute! As a result, an engine with a zero-resistance air filter receives less air mass than with a standard, supposedly “stifled” intake.

An inevitable harm from using zero air filters is accelerated wear of the cylinder-piston group. Even the air purification results of these filters declared by the world's leading manufacturers (for example, K&N) do not exceed 99% under ideal conditions and using expensive branded oil for impregnation. The paper curtain air filter is capable of filtering out 99.5 to 99.9 percent of dust. It would seem that the difference is small - but after several tens of thousands of kilometers we will already be talking about the difference in whole grams of dust that got into the engine cylinders. Moreover, as pollution paper filter only increases the degree of filtration: dust, clogging the pores, reduces the flow area, and they become capable of trapping smaller particles, although at the cost of increasing resistance.

In “zero” filters, contamination on the surface of the pores reduces the likelihood of new particles adhering, and the cross section of the pores remains larger than the size of the filtered particles; as contamination increases, the degree of purification decreases with little change in resistance. Previously used contact-oil air filters suffered from the same thing, where oil soaked the fishing line stuffed inside (designs familiar, for example, from trucks and motorcycles). “Nuleviks” have become a more compact and lighter version of these filters, which have long been replaced by paper filters.

And errors during filter maintenance only increase the wear rate. Some people manage not to saturate the filters, while others use cheap aerosols or oils that are completely unsuitable for impregnation. Try rubbing a drop of the brand's impregnation oil between your fingers: it's so sticky that it's hard to even wipe it off your fingers. Other oil will not provide any noticeable improvement in cleaning compared to a filter that is not impregnated at all.

The only advantage for engines that have not undergone serious tuning from installing “nuleviks” can be considered the absence of the need for regular replacement: you need to wash and re-impregnate the same filter on time.

Video: Zerovik air filters - evil or tuning?

A zero resistance filter is installed instead of a standard filter element to increase power power unit car and reducing intake resistance. We will figure out whether there is any real benefit from installing such a device.

1

The air entering the injection or carburetor engine car, contains a lot of different chemical compounds and small mechanical particles. Getting into the cylinders, they worsen their performance, and over time even disable this unit. This problem can be avoided in one way - by installing a special air filter. Its task is to mechanically clean the air from various impurities. It is worth remembering that the power indicators of power automobile units directly depend on how much air is in the working mixture.

Zero filter

And here lies the main problem. The better the filter works, the less air volume enters the engine after cleaning. The consequence of this is a drop in engine power. In addition, standard filter elements are made of paper increased density. Such products have enormous air resistance. After some time, their pores become completely clogged. The filter stops letting anything through at all. Due to this, the air resistance indicator increases even more. A zero-resistance filter avoids all the problems described. . It is made from cotton fabric. Typically 3–4 layers of this material are used. A special impregnation is applied to each part of the fabric. After this, the zero-resistance air filter is placed in a special screen made of aluminum.

This design guarantees the unhindered passage of air into the injector or carburetor. Small dirt particles are retained by the filter fibers. At the same time, the indicator bandwidth devices practically does not decrease over time.

The device in question guarantees high-quality air flow cleaning. Therefore, installing a zero-resistance filter is recommended for all sports cars without exception. But here it is necessary to take into account the fact that sports cars can boast of modernized exhaust system. It makes it possible to quickly remove large volumes of exhaust gases from the power unit. In a regular car, be it an injector or a carburetor, there is no such improved system.

2

The device we describe ideally provides a number of advantages. They are given below:

1. Nulevik does not need regular replacement. It only needs to be cleaned periodically (very rarely) using a special solution. After such processing, which can be easily done with your own hands, the zero-resistance filter fully restores its initial characteristics. After washing the device, impregnation must be applied to it.
2. The filter device in question gives a small increase in power - up to a maximum of 5%. It is clear what an increase is speed properties The driver simply won’t notice the car. Therefore, put the zero on the carburetor or on injection engine doesn't make much sense.
3. The zero filter element gives a slight increase in torque at low and medium speeds. Again, the motorist will not be able to appreciate such an increase in traction, since it will be insignificant and will not in any way affect the comfort of driving the vehicle.

Installing a zero filter

As you can see, installing a zero filter instead of a standard one does not provide any real operational benefits simple cars, equipped conventional engine(injector, carburetor). Essentially, a zero mounted on serial motor, will only serve as a “cool” but useless toy under the hood of a car. No more. If you plan to achieve a real increase in engine power and traction, a zero-resistance filter will have to be installed on a properly modified power unit. You will need to mount a tuned, sports carburetor or injector camshafts, as well as produce correct and accurate boring of cylinders.

3

It’s not difficult to mount the nulevik yourself. In some cases, it is necessary to purchase special mounting pipes. But usually a zero-resistance filter is placed directly into a standard corrugation connected to the body of a standard filter device. The operation is simple to perform with your own hands:

• dismantle the old filter housing;
• insert the zero into the corrugation;
• securely tighten the new device using a clamp.

Cleaning the zero filter

It is very important to choose the right new filter. Its outlet cross-section must be a couple of millimeters smaller than the diameter of the corrugation. If you comply with this condition, you will not have any problems with installing the filter device. Now let's see how to clean the element we are interested in with our own hands. First, dismantle the zero and carefully remove all large contaminants from it. It is best to clean the filter with a special solution (regular one is not suitable) and a brush with soft bristles. Then you need to apply a special impregnating compound to both sides of the device. It may be included in the filter kit. But most often such a solution has to be purchased separately.

The element is impregnated for 10–15 minutes. After this, the nulevik is rinsed in a container with clean water. And then it is further washed under the tap. The pressure of running water should be kept very small so as not to damage the filter layers of the device. The next step is to shake off the water from the filter. It does not need to be dried in any special way. Just shake the nulevik a couple of times. Next, inspect the device. If you see prominent light areas on it, repeat the process of impregnating the device and then washing it according to the scheme already described. You can see for yourself that cleaning the nulevik is not at all difficult. The final work is installation of the device in its place.