I've got ants in my pants!

[Flashlightboy]

I'm stopping off at AZ on the way home this evening to pick up a filter for a '03 Civic EX.

I have the M1 104 right now and I was planning to use it but depending on the responses, I might go back to the 110 or the K&N equivalent.

This car is still on the original oil 7 months after purchase but it only has 4,400 miles on it. I have a bottle of Techron in there right now and the oil is getting changed soon.

Here's the dilema: The 104 is oversized, the 110 is the standard but the bypass settings are different i.e., 11-17 and 14 repectively. The K&N has good flow but I don't know the setting. I've got a case of RL 5W-20 waiting for whatever filter I buy. The trips are all short: less than 5 miles each way, all stoplights.

Comments and opinions are welcomed!

 

[Flashlightboy]

A very thought provoking question. I'll be the first to answer this bright gentlemans question.

FLB - You've made a fine selection with the RL oil but with limited miles you might want to change it every 6 months. RL may last a year but if you don't want to spend $7 a quart, try the M1 0W-20. It will only cost you $35 a year for oil instead of $49 but for $14 you might as well stay with the good stuff.

The filter choice is much tougher but let me say that either K&N or M1 are terrific filters and you can have complete confidence in both but I understand where you are coming from. You already know that you're getting top shelf performance but you're like the rest of us because you want that little bit extra that separates us oil junkies from the masses.

I think you'll be OK with the 104 and I'd use it since you already have it. The K&N will give flow and these cars that use 5W-20 oils seem to like flow over viscosity. It's open to debate even among the scholars here but you can't really say the UOAs are wrong. More UOAs will let us know. Is there some reason why you don't use the 110? Warranty concerns?

Hope this helps.

 

[Flashlightboy]

Thanks for the quick reply. You really haven't told me much besides what I already knew.

The 110 filter is tiny but I am under warranty for another 36k miles. I'm not unhappy with the M1 that I use on my Explorer but I want to flirt with what's over the next hill.

I haven't made up my mind but thanks for the input. It helps to have someone else's ideas!

 

[quadrun1]

You forget to take your meds again? J/K!

As long as it fits, I'd use the Honda S2000 filter (made in Japan by Toyo Roki), p/n 15400-PCX-004.

 

[Schmoe]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I am one of the oversize filter is better in any application crowd......lawnmowers....cars...boats...whatever. The more filter area, the better. Since one filter is 11-17 and the other is 14, that's not a factor, both cover the factory settings.

[ March 18, 2004, 02:50 PM: Message edited by: Schmoe ]

 

[Ray H]

Filter can size doesn't always translate to more media inside.

 

[VQ35DE]

But when you are talking about the same company (brand of filter) bigger does mean more media. At least 99.9% of the time.

 

[edwardh1]

I have seen wix and wix clones - big can teeny element

 

[Virtuoso]

Yeah; But I've cut open a 51515...big can, big element. I suppose the same goes for every filter manufacturer..some of their line just has more clout than others.

 

[JohnnyO]

Here are UOA's on my wife's car, one with a Mobil 1 filter and one with a K&N, both good and nearly identical.
M1 vs. K&N