My 2005 Honda CR-C comes with a "thimble-sized" filter as well. And Honda says to go 20,000 miles on it!
I just can't get myself to do that. And I dearly wish all these small imports would hang the filter straight up and down in front of the block, not sideways, squeezed between the engine, the firewall, and Heaven only knows what else to make a neat clean removal nearly impossible.
They could all take a lesson from the Audi 5000 we owned a number of years ago. Filter was nice and large, at the very front of the engine block.
Oh well... I guess we shouldn't expect good mileage AND logical packaging.
Glen