Oil filter ratings/ rankings

[BigD1]

German made Mann not in the list, so it's incomplete.

My list would look a lot different because I don't need a 15,000 mile oil filter for 4,000 to 7,500 mile oil change intervals. Wix, ACDelco Classic, Fram TG, and German made Mann would all be tops in my list.

 

[crazyoildude]

Generally as to todays date I like the Napa Gold and Fram Ultra... I still find the build quality of the napa gold very very good and i like the Synthetic Media in the ultra, not that i am an expert in filter media it just seems very strong.

Filter quality can change at any minute it seems so.....

Of course German Made Mann Is a very very well made filter also... In general i will only use their German made filters..

 

[bbhero]

Well where do or can you buy these German made filters?? I've never seen one available in a store. It's not like they are commonly available. Though I have heard great things about them so I take your word and crazyoildude's word for it. I trust yalls assessment of them

 

[53' Stude]

Good ole crazyoildude nitpicking again. Dude, get a life as we use PARTS MASTER stuff at my work and I'm using BALDWIN and ULTRA's and my Baldwins have "louvers" so get over the cr**

 

[crazyoildude]

I got a couple from my Volvo dealer for under $5.00

 

[crazyoildude]

Yes 51 i guess im nitpicking again according to you Im sure thats from owning a precision engine machine shop for so many years most people say things are good enough but i wanted them perfect and although i may not have been a favorite boss we turned out very good quality engines with a very low percentage of come backs. And my reputation is still golden.. Sorry car 51 i already have a life and i hope all is better for you also.

 

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Generally as to todays date I like the Napa Gold and Fram Ultra... I still find the build quality of the napa gold very very good and i like the Synthetic Media in the ultra, not that i am an expert in filter media it just seems very strong.

Filter quality can change at any minute it seems so.....

Of course German Made Mann Is a very very well made filter also... In general i will only use their German made filters..


+1 .... NAPA Gold build quality is excellent ... one of my favorite filters.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: car51
we use PARTS MASTER stuff at my work and I'm using BALDWIN and ULTRA's and my Baldwins have "louvers" so get over the cr**


Baldwin/Hastings louvers are VERY different from those used by Mann/Purolator/Wix and Fram/Champ.

Baldwin actually knows how to make a slotted center tube. Purolator doesn't.

 

[53' Stude]

Yes I know this, crazyoildude has a louver infatuation, unlike some Of us here.

 

[andrewp1998]

napa platinum just as solid!?!

 

[andrewp1998]

Napa plat or wix xp as solid as napa gold?

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

DENSO

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
$2 is hard to overcome but with the Ultra if it got stuck in place for 20K I wouldn't sweat it- but you cant say that for the Pronto. Plus the $8-$9 Ultra can be had without the grippy surface for $6 post paid and in theory would handle 3 OCI- so the Pronto still comes up short especially if you have a dreadful filter location that's hard to get to. but it all boils down to what you like.

Originally Posted By: bvance554
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Solid list, I agree with your reviews.

I don't see the value in saving just a couple dollars going with a cheap filter.

Is that $4 saved by going with a cheap filter REALLY going to impact your life? $8.97 for a Fram Ultra really isn't a big deal. So I say go big or go home.


Yea but, that extra $4 you spent on the oil filter isn't going to have any impact on the engine either. I cheap out on my oil filters. $2 Prontos. Not because I'm trying to save money, but because I know that a $9 Fram Ultra isn't going to do anything that the Pronto can't.


I just took one off my son's Passat today after 13k. I never intended to run it that long, but it appeared to be in fine shape.

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Solid list, I agree with your reviews.

I don't see the value in saving just a couple dollars going with a cheap filter.

Is that $4 saved by going with a cheap filter REALLY going to impact your life? $8.97 for a Fram Ultra really isn't a big deal. So I say go big or go home.


Yea but, that extra $4 you spent on the oil filter isn't going to have any impact on the engine either. I cheap out on my oil filters. $2 Prontos. Not because I'm trying to save money, but because I know that a $9 Fram Ultra isn't going to do anything that the Pronto can't.


How do you know that? It's no more valid than someone saying they use a high efficiency filter because they know it does give you better protection than a $2 filter.


Empirical evidence... I'm not saying the $2 filter is better, but they've never killed an engine. I routinely put 300k on my vehicles with the cheapest filter I can find. I get rid of them when other things are failing, but an engine never has. So I'm just saying that you really don't have anything to gain with your fancy flavor of the month filter.

 

[ZeeOSix]

^^^ An engine might last 300K too with a complete sieve of a filter (or no filter at all) if you changed the oil frequently enough. And besides, an engine can become pretty worn out and still seem to run just fine. You'd have to do a complete tear down and accurate wear measurement between two engines ran the same but with low vs high efficiency filters to see if there was truly any difference due to the filter. Been lots of papers on engine wear vs particle size and ever one of them concludes that better filtering is beneficial.

But since high efficiency oil filters are available, that's what I choose to run ... anything 95% @ 20 microns or better.

 

[bvance554]

^^ agree, but if after 300k I would need to tear down the engine and measure clearances to see of one wore more than the other, I think the cheap filter did just fine.

 

[ZeeOSix]

People use what they want for the reasons they have ... end of story.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Well where do or can you buy these German made filters??

They're great filters, for sure, but you generally won't find them for anything outside a European application. I've found them available up here, even on the shelves, for German cars. Once you hit a North American or Japanese application, you're done. It winds up being a rebadging of something else, usually from Purolator.

 

[Olas]

In joint first place I put Mann, Mahle and Hengst.

Everything else is joint last.

 

[4WD]

+1
IMO - it's about reaching the 100k mark and the car still gets to 70 mph like it was new.
My small contribution to society is I'm trading in something the next person on a different budget can run a long time for the same price as a poorly PM'd ride. We get amazing value in these two product lines - skip a cup of Starbucks every 7500 miles and get the good stuff.