If you are customizing the engine of a high-performance vehicle, using a universal air filter for your car’s cold air intake system offers a lot of flexibility in intake system design as well as adding increased horsepower and performance. Also, using a universal air filter offers several economic advantages over a custom designed and manufactured air filter.
Many high performance air filter manufacturers offer universal air filters that can easily be adapted for use in most cold-air intake systems. Companies like K&N, AEM, Volant as well as many others offer easy-to-install universal air filters that fit a wide variety of configurations and system design types. Most of these universal air filters can be clamped on to existing air intake systems, and need not match perfectly in size as these types of air filters are generally designed to be stretched up to about 1/16 or 1/8 of an inch. By using strong molded, but pliable rubber in the manufacturing process, universal air filter manufacturers allow you flexibility in the design of your intake air intake system.
Universal air filters are relatively inexpensive when compared to having an air filter custom built by a manufacturer. Depending on the complexity and type of custom air filter you might need, you may need to spend several hundred dollars on a custom air filter—whereas, many universal air filters cost less than $100. Needless to say, using a universal air filter can also save you valuable time in not having to search for a manufacturer that can produce a custom air filter for you.