There is certainly a difference between the two. For example, compare a Napa Gold oil filter vs the pro select. The gold is a wix filter that uses a higher quality bypass valve made of neoprene sealing media vs rubber in the pro select. The filter media has significantly more pleats and therefore more dirt capacity in the gold part. The select uses a paper filtration media and the gold uses a synthetic media, the canister is heavier gage steel that is more reluctant to crushing as well as a synthetic sealing gasket that is more easily removed when it is time to change. The gold is good for 12,000-mile change intervals vs the select's 7,500-mile interval. The gold air filter has a much larger filtering capacity via more pleats which equals a much larger area to hold dirt. The gold air filter uses, yup, you guessed it, synthetic fibers vs fiberglass media. the gold meets or exceeds OEM specs, the select does not make such a claim. Is it worth the extra cost? If using the unit where the lawn has a lot of bare areas where fine dust is being kicked up, certainly. If you have a well grown lawn with little dust, it is probably overkill. The pressure drop across the filters is slightly higher with the gold but not enough to have any impact on performance. Purchasing these cheap 10 dollars for 5 filters is crazy if you want to get the maximum life from the engine. Air filtration is the most critical item on the engine to prevent cylinder and valve wear as well as longer oil life. It is the only pathway for dirt ingestion. On the topic of cleaning, NEVER ever use an air compressor to blow dirt out, it disrupts the laymen of the media fibers causing the media to become nearly useless. The only method of cleaning is to slap the pleated side against a flat surface until no loose dust remains.
