I’ve been reviewing the wealth of information on this forum for the past couple of weeks and doing some of my own comparisons. This is one of the most helpful sites I’ve run across, and I wanted to get some feedback on my filter choice for my 02 Grand Am GT which has just reached 3000 miles. I decided to tackle the filter issue first, then move on to an appropriate oil.
The three filters I was comparing were AC ultraguard, K&N, and M1. After doing some searching locally, I found an AC Delco Service Center that can obtain ultraguards for my engine (it was actually interesting talking to the owner of the service center because he didn’t know that ultraguards existed). I’m guessing they’re leftovers from the last production run because I confirmed with AC Delco today that only the UPF44’s and 52’s continue to be manufactured—I was hoping to hear something different. I have been using K&N’s but decided to switch to the ultraguards until I can’t find anymore. Then I’ll probably go with M1’s.
The issue of bypass occurring with a more restrictive filter is still a bit unsettled for me, but I doubt that I’ll have a problem with that in my application. I’m not planning on doing any racing and have only been to 5000 rpm’s very briefly a couple of times when on a long trip. Also, my extended warranty requires that I change my oil every 3 months/3000 miles. I have toyed with the idea of a supercharger, but if that happens it won’t be for a while, at least until the new car warranty expires. Cost isn’t really a concern. It may be overkill using either ultraguards or M1’s, but I still like the uniformity of synthetic (or mixed) media. Then I wonder if I’ll really be getting maximum performance from them given my drain interval. Is it possible that the filter would barely have begun filtering at peak efficiency when the 3 months/3000mi is up? If that’s the case, then cost to benefit would make something like AC’s duraguard the better option.
Just wanted to check out my logic with all of you. There’s a lot of info and opinion out there to try and make sense of as well as a serious lack of it in some areas. Can’t help but think that I'm overlooking something.
Thoughts anyone?
The three filters I was comparing were AC ultraguard, K&N, and M1. After doing some searching locally, I found an AC Delco Service Center that can obtain ultraguards for my engine (it was actually interesting talking to the owner of the service center because he didn’t know that ultraguards existed). I’m guessing they’re leftovers from the last production run because I confirmed with AC Delco today that only the UPF44’s and 52’s continue to be manufactured—I was hoping to hear something different. I have been using K&N’s but decided to switch to the ultraguards until I can’t find anymore. Then I’ll probably go with M1’s.
The issue of bypass occurring with a more restrictive filter is still a bit unsettled for me, but I doubt that I’ll have a problem with that in my application. I’m not planning on doing any racing and have only been to 5000 rpm’s very briefly a couple of times when on a long trip. Also, my extended warranty requires that I change my oil every 3 months/3000 miles. I have toyed with the idea of a supercharger, but if that happens it won’t be for a while, at least until the new car warranty expires. Cost isn’t really a concern. It may be overkill using either ultraguards or M1’s, but I still like the uniformity of synthetic (or mixed) media. Then I wonder if I’ll really be getting maximum performance from them given my drain interval. Is it possible that the filter would barely have begun filtering at peak efficiency when the 3 months/3000mi is up? If that’s the case, then cost to benefit would make something like AC’s duraguard the better option.
Just wanted to check out my logic with all of you. There’s a lot of info and opinion out there to try and make sense of as well as a serious lack of it in some areas. Can’t help but think that I'm overlooking something.
Thoughts anyone?
