Originally Posted By: westwind999
It's interesting that they show that the Tough Guard is better at removing dirt than the Extended Guard. 99% vs 97% per iso 4548-12, what ever that means.
They also show check marks for different oil types, the XG is the only one for synthetic oil but then in the notes they state that all filter types can be used with all oil types. Sounds like up selling to me.
I think they are correct in listing the Extended Guard (AKA Synthetic oil filter in Canada) as being the filter of choice when using synthetic oil as it's the best built filter they make in terms of extended drains. So it's not so much that you need to use this oil when using synthetic oil if you're only going to do 3-5k intervals, it's just that if you're going to run synthetic AND longer intervals, that filter is the best choice out of their lineup. Upselling maybe, but still good advice. I definitely wouldn't want to run their Extra Guard filter for 10,000 miles (heck I wouldn't even run it for 1000 miles!)
I must admit that I'm tempted to give Fram's best oil filter a try! NAPA Golds for my car are now almost $14, but I've seen these top level Frams on sale at Canadian Tire every few weeks for under $10 (and there are lots of Canadian Tires near me, but I have to drive out of my way to get to a NAPA and they seem to almost never have sales)
But even forgetting all that, and just choosing the filter based on quality, I am wondering if perhaps the top level Fram might actually be a better built filter than the NAPA Gold? Anyone have any thoughts on that comparison?