Does replacing your stock air cleaner in a Chevy Cobalt 2.2 LT with a K&N re-usable air filter really improve horsepower or not? We tested out a K&N air filter to see if would give our 2006 Chevy Cobalt a horsepower increase. We have seen other reviews stating the horsepower increases, but really need to see for ourselves if actually does or does not increase the Cobalt 2.2 horsepower. The one point we do like about the K&N air filter is it is reusable and will last many thousands of miles/km.

Changing over to the K&N air filter is not hard to do, you just remove the top of your stock cold air assembly, remove stock air cleaner, and replace it with the K&N air cleaner. The K&N is already pre-oiled, you just drop it right in and your done. We were told that it would take the Cobalt’s computer a short time to adjust to the K&N filter increased air flow, about a few hours of driving time. After the install our Cobalt 2.2 started right up and we noticed a change in the sound of the 2.2 motor, sounded a little heavier than stock.

The Stock Air Filter Gave More Low End Power

We drove around for a few hours to let all adjust. We noticed the power of the car changed from having more power at lower rpms with stock air filter, to now having more power at higher rpms only, but less at the lower rpms. We also took note that our gas mileage was a little better than before. We took note of our 0-60 times when stock air cleaner was in the car. The 0-60 time with the K&N air filter was much slower, actually the whole car felt much slower than stock.

We left the K&N filter in for the winter, as the tires would not spin as easy as car had less torque down low than with stock filter installed. For winter driving this worked well, gave better gas mileage and less power, which made winter driving better. However when spring arrived we put the stock air filter back in and after a few hours of driving, our Chevy Cobalt once again had more horsepower, it had returned back to stock horsepower levels.

Our conclusion is the K&N air filter made our 2006 Chevy Cobalt 2.2 slower than stock, yet sounded heavier than stock. The K&N gave the car better gas mileage than the stock filter, so if gas mileage is your concern, the K&N is good, but if more torque/horsepower is your concern, the K&N actually makes the car slower. We think a aftermarket K&N cold air system, not just the filter, may improve horsepower, but that is a test for another time.

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