While a vehicle is driving, the air filter is gradually being clogged. Thus, there is a condition for air mass delivered into the engine’s cylinders to be reduced. It can further degrade the vehicle’s ability to accelerate and, therefore, have an impact on road driving safety, or it can eventually make a vehicle performance worse or cause a change in the exhaust gas composition. The article pays attention to the impact of clogged air filter on selected vehicle characteristics including a vehicle’s dynamic features, fuel consumption and composition of the exhaust gases. The measurements have been performed under laboratory conditions. For higher result objectivity, the measurements have been done under some extreme conditions as well, with both the air filter fully clogged and forced air induction. The importance of the article lies in quantification of the impact of clogged air filter on selected vehicle features. The results from this article show a relatively low impact of air filter on the features studied. The biggest differences were measured under extreme conditions when the air filter had been almost fully clogged, or the air had been delivered into the engine under pressure.

Data stored in the memory of the engine control unit can be adjusted and modified in order to change some vehicle features. The purpose of the article is to determine the impact of such adjustments in the engine control unit on selected vehicle characteristics. These include the engine power and torque depending on the engine speed and fuel consumption. The measurements were performed under laboratory conditions in order to achieve the highest possible accuracy. The results show the possibilities of dynamic vehicle characteristics' improvement without having specific impact on the fuel consumption. ARTICLE HISTORY

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