Powering your UTV through dry and dusty conditions is inevitable for almost all of us. Dust, dirt and fine silt is not the exclusive domain of the west coast desert and sand dune riding crowd. The more dirty air gets to your air filter, the more it gets clogged up, robbing your machine of power.
There are multiple air filter options on the market for UTVs, however the better ones that provide the best filtration and air flow are never cheap. Replacing throw away filters get expensive and constantly cleaning reusable ones can be inconvenient. S&B Filters has a solution that greatly extends the life of your air filter. Based off military helicopter technology, the S&B Particle Separator gets rid of 94% of dust particles before it even reaches your air filter. This extends the life of your air filter and protects your engine, while allowing the most clean air possible for optimal performance.
Our feedback is based off of nearly six months of ownership, so this is a longer term review. During that time, we have raced King of the Hammers, multiple east coast races and enjoyed recreational trail rides. During that time we have experienced everything from choking dust to thick mud. Prior to installing the S&B Particle Separator, we simply used the factory pre-filter. The Frogskinz pre-filters that comes stock on a Polaris RzR work just moderately well in keeping dust from reaching the intake filter. In dusty environments, the air filter clogs up quickly decreasing performance. In muddy environments, the pre-filter gets covered and chokes off air going to the intake resulting in major power losses. We needed something better.
The S&B Particle Separator fit the bill perfectly and performs no matter what the environment is.
When we first got the product back in December of 2018, we couldn’t help but notice the quality of the product as soon as we opened the box. Packaging of the product was sturdy and enough to keep the product intact throughout just about anything outside the most abusive of shipping companies. The product itself was a visually pleasing design and very modern looking, yet looked like it would hold up to the abuse we were determined to put it through. A quick look through the included detailed instructions and we were ready to install it on our machine.
Installation of the product was simple. The hardest part of it was determining if we wanted to mount it above or below the roof line. Since we mainly ride on the east coast, we decided that below the roof line was the best bet to protect it from being ripped off my low hanging branches that we frequently experience. Many on the west coast mount them above, however we never had any issues with our engine getting enough air in our chosen location. The only advantage to running above the roof line that we can think of would be if you’re running a rear window or want to mount it up higher to negate a little bit of the sound of the scavenge fan running.
We had not changed or cleaned out our air filter since installing the S&B filter before today’s review. After four endurance races, including pre-running and other recreational trail rides, the amount of dust that came out of our filter was minuscule. Our most recent ride was on the east coast at the Southern Shine Crawl in Harlan, KY at Black Mountain Offroad Park. There we experienced three days and nights of riding in some of the most dusty conditions we had ever seen on the east coast.
In addition to the superior dust filtration, the S&B Particle Separator works extremely well in muddy conditions. We had to stop during multiple races last season to clean off our stock pre-filter when it got clogged up with mud shortly into a race. When the pre-filter clogged, our engine was robbed of power significantly. We struggled on hill climbs and our top speed was tremendously reduced. Since switching out to the S&B product, we have eliminated any issues and have had full power on command every time we needed it.
The bottom line is that the S&B Particle Separator has so many advantages, it should be on your wish list regardless of what kind of riding you do. Over the long run, it is going to save you money over regularly replacing filters. It is going to save you time in servicing your machine. The product is going to keep the fun going by making your UTV more efficient and power at 100%.
The Particle Separator is currently available for multiple UTVs from Polaris, Can-Am, Yamaha and Arctic Cat.
