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Green Cotton Air Filter

Due to the current problems supplying K&N air filters for the 4 cylinder Esprits. PNM Engineering have sourced a new manufacturer of performance air filters. The only K&N filters available at present have no frame, which causes problems with sealing and fitting (see bottom of this page for info). The new manufacturer, Green Cotton, produce a filter which also comes without a frame. The difference is the Green Cotton Filter comes with the rubber seal already attached. So unlike the K&N, you won't have the problems of fitting the rubber seal back onto the new filters. The only modification needed is to cut off the corners of the rubber (which PNM will do before sending you one).

Green Cotton Filters are of the same type and quality as the K&N filters and will give you the same performance benefits. This is the perfect solution for Esprit owners who have wanted to add a performance filter, but have not been able to get one of the old metal frame K&N's (due to a legal problem k&n have with design copyright), and didn't want to use any sealant to fix their filters.

As we were lucky enough to get one of the last metal framed K&N's, we couldn't really test this product. So we called on Yahoo! Group member Curly Jon and his 1986 Turbo Esprit. As we have already done a guide for Steven's Esprit, this guide would show how to fit an air filter to a Guigario Esprit and also show how the Green Cotton Filters differ from the K&N's.

 

You will need the following parts:

Green Cotton Air filter

You will need the following tools:

11mm spanner or socket

Removal & Fitting

   

Guigario Esprits have the same basic engine layout as the later Steven's Esprits. The Air Filter is located in the same place, but is fixed differently. You have four clamps, two top, two bottom, instead on one each end on the Stevens. You'll need an 11mm socket to loosen the bolts. You don't need to remove the bolts, just loosen them off, so you can turn the clamps away from the filter box.

  

You can then pull away the air box and remove the old filter. As you can see from the above pictures. There is a rubber seal that you would normally remove off the old filter and put onto the new filter.

  

As you can see from the pictures above, the Green Cotton Filters already have a rubber seal built into them. The corners need to be cut off to fit the rounded edges of the air box. You can now fit the new filter back into the air box. This isn't really easy and you may have to help squeeze it into place.

  

Now all that's needed is to re-clamp the air box to the Esprit. This was a bit of a pain, as access is limited and the clamps are difficult to locate correctly. Once you've managed to tighten all the clamps back up. Just check the box is secure and you haven't dislodged any other parts on the car. Don't forget to add your sticker to your air box, as you don't want the filter being thrown at the next service

  

This whole process shouldn't take more than 30 minutes, you can then take a quick test drive to test out your new mod. Remember to check again after the run that everything is still secure.

LEW's Verdict

LEW's verdict on this install, is the fitting is a little more difficult that the Steven's Esprits, but you shouldn't have any real problems. As for how the filter performs, we'll leave that to Curly Jon. After all it's fitted to his Esprit!

Curly Jon's Verdict

Fitting process
The air filter seemed to be the first upgrade that I would do to my car, not too costly or hard to fit. Anyway I had Kato there to do the hard work for me. Just a couple of things to note about the fitting. First make sure the engine has cooled down and just be aware that the filter has a thin metal screen and where the rubber edge/seal has been fitted, the odd metal shard is ready to stick in your hand. The rubber seal might need some trimming (very minor) but was fine in my car. Not much time needed to fit, less than 30 mins.

Driving:
Well as with all things sometimes you think you can feel a difference, but you not quite sure. So I decided to refit the old one and go out for another spin. You can feel a difference and the louder induction noise helps you think its better, faster and all that. However with the new filter in, it did seem to be quicker off the mark and pickup seemed to be better. I put a couple of hundred miles on during the testing, every now and then swapping the air filters out just to check that this Green one was better. It is my opinion that it is a worth while upgrade and it will pay for itself as it will not need to be replaced when serviced. Now how many upgrades do that!

Road test:
Car has better pickup and is quicker off the mark. More noise must mean it goes better!

Overall comments:
It will pay for itself in time so it must be a winner! Go buy one now. I would like to thank Kato for allowing me to test this product.

This mod was performed by kato on Curly Jon's 1986 Turbo Esprit.

If you do this conversion. Feel free to e-mail LEW with your opinion on it and we can add it to this page. admin@lotusespritworld.com.

 

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