Speed Shop Oil Filter Of Choice

[Ugly3]

I was in a speed shop today and saw a Vette up on the rack. It had maybe 24" slicks on the back and what looked like slightly larger than bicycle tires on the front. I notice on the window is the quarter mile time of 5.3 (I assume that is pretty quick).

I walk to the front and what do I see but an orange can for an oil filter. I asked the guy why he runs regular Fram filters and he says he has been running them for 20 years and never had one fail for any reason. I told him of the construction concerns many have, his reaction was predictable I guess. "The performance not the construction is what counts".

One vote for orange there.

 

[427Z06]

Did he use one of the FRAM HP models? How often did change it? Once a year, every weekend?

 

[Ugly3]

quote:

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Originally posted by 427Z06:
Did he use one of the FRAM HP models? How often did change it? Once a year, every weekend?

---

It was a regular old orange can - nothing special.

 

[427Z06]

The HP models are in an orange can and unless you look closely, appear identical to the crap regular models.

So...how often did he change it? Or didn't you ask?

 

[ruking77]

There are indeed the "premium" FRAMs. I get the feeling he was using the commonly available ones. Indeed his take about ...""The performance not the construction is what counts".".. has a certain amount of validity.

I have personally run 15,000 OCI's on TLC's with Mobil One 5w30 for more miles than I probably should tell, because of the backlash against FRAMS. (694,000 miles) One TLC I sold with 14 years and app 250,000 miles specifically using the FRAM PH8A filters. (usual price was 2 for 5 dollars, lately going up to 2 for 6 dollars)

Currently on other vehicles I do run Champion Labs made filters AKA SuperTech. They are available 24/7 for 2.07 per. I also picked up a slug of AC Delco PF44 filters at 2 per.

[ February 25, 2005, 09:39 PM: Message edited by: ruking77 ]

 

[2004 F150 4x4]

You can't change someones mind that has been using them that long. The marketing along with the orange paint and the word FRAM (hey i just realized FRAM is a 4 letter word) are just too powerful. Heck I am even tempted to buy them sometimes. They are'nt going to ruin your engine but unless you just LOVE the color orange you can get a better filter for the same money or less.
Now if we could just get Wally World to start selling Motorcraft again....

Also I doubt he ran a 5.3 thats like 300 mph?

 

[DJ]

Fat and skinnies like that provably means dedicated race car so even a whole year would be well under 100miles granted much of that at WOT but still not much usage there.

 

[Ugly3]

quote:

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Originally posted by 427Z06:
The HP models are in an orange can and unless you look closely, appear identical to the crap regular models.

So...how often did he change it? Or didn't you ask?

---

I didn't look real close but I will be going by there next week and I will stop in and ask more specific questions. He may throw me out!

 

[Gary Allan]

Every weekend racer I know has the orange can on it. I REALLY think it's the color. Nothing quite sets off the filter like that orange color. Most of them are a little older than I am ...so they're probably just been using them since they were teenagers. Most of them don't really give too much thoughts on lubrication ...they're into hp ..a new Dart block ..aluminum heads ...ect..etc.. they're into cooling systems if the thing overheats.

You can tell them all you want ...and they're looking at a new set of slicks

..and they typically rebuild/refresh them every two or three years if nothing breaks.

 

[Bagger_Matt]

5.3 on a 24 inch tire in the 1/4 mile, no way.
My race car ran 24 inch slicks and ran 7's in the 1/8 mile. 5.3 in the 1/8 is **** fast and sounds more like it. Go orange can go.

 

[427Z06]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
Every weekend racer I know has the orange can on it. I REALLY think it's the color. Nothing quite sets off the filter like that orange color. Most of them are a little older than I am ...so they're probably just been using them since they were teenagers. Most of them don't really give too much thoughts on lubrication ...they're into hp ..a new Dart block ..aluminum heads ...ect..etc.. they're into cooling systems if the thing overheats.

You can tell them all you want ...and they're looking at a new set of slicks

..and they typically rebuild/refresh them every two or three years if nothing breaks.

---

This has generally been my experience too. If that car is as fast as he claims it is, he's certainly not driving it on the street either. In a typical year, I bet he puts much less than 1K miles on that engine. If it's a Chevy engine, the bypass valve issue is not even a player.

FRAM's cheap, shoddy construction may very well even be adequate enough for general use. The part that turns me off to them is that they have and continue to charge a premium price, compared to something like the old SuperTechs.

Unfortunately, it seems like Champion Labs is finally giving in to the lastest round of corporate cost cutting craze too. The last few Ecore models I looked at Walmart were built like crap. And I just can't see how the "rubber lip" bypass valve is going remain consistant over an extended OCI.

Nope, I'm not going to reward FRAM's or Champion Lab's behavior with MY dollars.

 

[Ugly3]

427Z06 - This has generally been my experience too. If that car is as fast as he claims it is, he's certainly not driving it on the street either.

I did see on the rear slicks where it said not for street use.

 

[T-Keith]

He probably runs SA motor oil too. Just because you don't have a problem doesn't mean you can't.

My guess is that he's never given a single thought about oil filters and he's too proud to change anything.

-T

 

[99]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ugly3:
I was in a speed shop today and saw a Vette up on the rack. It had maybe 24" slicks on the back and what looked like slightly larger than bicycle tires on the front. I notice on the window is the quarter mile time of 5.3 (I assume that is pretty quick).

I walk to the front and what do I see but an orange can for an oil filter. I asked the guy why he runs regular Fram filters and he says he has been running them for 20 years and never had one fail for any reason. I told him of the construction concerns many have, his reaction was predictable I guess. "The performance not the construction is what counts".

One vote for orange there.

---

24in slicks? Huh? Certainly that wasn't the diameter...because that's tiny, way too tiny for any drag car that isn't of oriental origins. The diameter was probably over 30in...at least; the width was probably closer to 24in. Anyways, that time on the window was probably 8th mile because a 5.3 in the quarter is pro-mod territory, even close to Funny Car territory. I doubt you were looking at a pro-mod car or anything of the nature...they surely wouldn't put a Joe Schmoe/run of the mill Fram on a $50K+ engine. I can see the racing specific Fram being on something like that, but the 2 filters are night and day from each other, with the only similarities being the paint and name per se. The Frams I'm talking about aren't even the "HP" ones you can get from Summit Racing, the ones I'm talking about are the ones Top Fuel and Funny Car teams use. That's the technology Fram needs to incorporate into it's mainstream filters.

[ February 28, 2005, 01:32 AM: Message edited by: 99 ]