20 micron, 15 micron etc.....explain please......

[youther]

Read this info below on another post. What does all this mean and which "micron" speed does a person want? Does the higher # micron = better??

Bosch Premium - 98% @ 15 micron first pass
93% @ 15 micron multi-pass
Mobil 1 - 98% @ 10 micron first pass
95% @ 10 micron multi-pass
Super Tech - 98% @ 20 micron first pass
K&N - 90% @ 10 microns multi-pass
Ultraguard Gold- 98% @ 8 microns first pass
AC Delco Duraguard- approximately 98% @ 25-30 microns first pass

 

[digitaldrifter91]

micron refers to particles..imagine a grain of sand, and a grain of rice...the rice is bigger right..so that is, lets say for this example, 20 micron size. the sand is 10 microns....oil filters have differnt filtering specs. the filter that is multipass at 15 microns means that no matter how many times oil is passed through the filter, anything above the size 15 microns is caught....for the mobil 1 anything that is 10 micron ormore will be caught...a better filter. i was confused before as well when i came to this forum...but after a while i started learning the "oil language" hehe. hope i helped..

 

[youther]

So the smaller the micron # the more particles it will catch? Thanks for the great post.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

yea according to the filter...ur doing this to ur f150 arent u...with mobil drive clean...? i use mobil driveclean as well...with a bosch filter...

 

[youther]

I'm gonna use a Mobil or Bosch filter then, whichever I can find.

 

[metroplex]

I'm sticking with the SuperTech and Motorcraft.

The K&N has what, 15-20 micron first pass just like the SuperTech.

 

[Patman]

The K&Ns might filter similarily to those filters, but they are worth the extra money if you drive your car very hard, or if you have a filter that is in a location that could be susceptible to road debris. That's because the K&N is built like a tank, it's outer shell is very thick. And it's media might not filter as well as a PureONE, Mobil 1 or Ultraguard Gold, but it'll flow a lot more oil. It's rated at 12-16GPM, better than any other filter specs I have seen. Only a pure racing filter might flow more (I know Ford used to make, or still makes a racing oil filter, I bought one for my old 5.0 Mustang but never ended up using it when I later found out it was only a 60 micron filter!!)

 

[metroplex]

Yeah the K&N is pretty much overkill for anyone with a street car.

Powertrain engineers place the oil filter (usually) in a spot where its quasi-accessible and not readily suceptible to road debris.

If you off-road, rally race, etc... anything that would most likely void your warranty - then by all means go for the tank of an oil filter.

For the average joe that sticks to road driving and non-race use, Motorcraft, AC Delco, Purolator, SuperTech, Wix, etc... would more than suffice. I've never had an oil filter being dented or pummeled by road debris and I live in NJ - where you can find anything from firestone tires that blew up to plywood boards (complete with Nails sticking from them) on the highways, turnpike, or the parkway.

Just my 2 cents but any oil filter that costs more than $5/pop for non-race/abusive use is just overkill.

 

[metroplex]

Even if I drag race I'd just use Motorcraft and Purolator filters.

Unless you professionally drag race your Stang or F-body, I see zero NEED to get a K&N.

Maybe with the F-bodies and the poor oil filter location design you would NEED the K&N. I don't hear my Stang and Crown VIc buddies hurrying out to buy them. And yes they do drag race their vehicles. One guy has a 400+ hp blown Crown VIc but he doesn't require the use of K&N oil filters.

Purolator PureOne, Motorcraft, AC Delco, and Wix will suffice even if you drag race. Heck everytime I pull into the NJ Turnpike or Garden State Parkway I usually do 0-65+ mph runs, sometimes higher to merge with traffic (avg speed on those roads are about 80+ mph). A stock Crown VIc does roughly mid 15s to low 16s @ 85-95 mph.
So basically in a normal commute I'd be doing at the least a few 1/8 runs per drive.

If you have extra money to throw around, then the K&N would be an optimal choice all the time.

But yeah I don't drag race or own a F-body so I'm all set.

 

[Patman]

I guess it all boils down to my comfort zone here. With my extended intervals I just feel much better using these filters. Perhaps I don't really NEED them, but I sleep better at night knowing they are on there.

 

[OneQuartLow]

Do you have test results showing this improvement in sleep patterns?

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by OneQuartLow:
Do you have test results showing this improvement in sleep patterns?

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Yes! I now sleep from 10pm to 5am instead of from 10pm to 4:30am!

 

[metroplex]

 

[Patman]

In my case, and in the case of many of my friends, I drag race my car, and I drive it hard on the street too. With my LT1 f-body, and my friends with the same and with LS1s, the oil filter is down below, and there is the slight possibility of it getting hit.

So while the K&N's high flow rate might be overkill for the average motorist, I don't see it being overkill in my case.

Another thing to consider is if you're doing extended intervals. A higher quality filter like the K&N is going to have better quality bypass and antidrainback valves in them. So if you want to push your oil filter to 10k, the Supertech is not the right choice over a K&N.

If you don't race, don't want to do extended intervals, then sure, the Supertech will work well.

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Patman:

quote:

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Originally posted by OneQuartLow:
Do you have test results showing this improvement in sleep patterns?

---

Yes! I now sleep from 10pm to 5am instead of from 10pm to 4:30am!

---

See, I just got up. Went down at 9:53pm.