SuperTech ST3593A - 2,500 Miles

[ThirdeYe]

Meijer doesn't carry Wix. Must be O'Reilly's...

 

[SWHeat]

Yes O'Reilly's does carry wix behind the counter for most part numbers.

 

[chevrofreak]

I opened up a SuperTech ST2 after 4,000 miles on my 96 Crown Victoria P71 that has 120K+ on it. The filter media had the expected simple paper "endcaps" on it that were glued on, but showed no signs of pulling away from the media. After reading some complaints about the plastic core being flimsy, I was actually pretty impressed with how stout it is. It feels like a Nylon rather than a simple plastic, and I felt no give when I tried crushing it in my hand.

The main reason that I'm not using them anymore is that the price increase on them has taken them to less than $1 difference from the Motorcraft filter that Ford recommends, which uses a silicone ADBV rather than the Nitrile one the ST uses. That, and the bypass design on the Motorcraft filter is better. That wouldn't be an issue, except that I drive my car very very hard and don't want the bypass allowing the oil to flow over the dirty side of the filter.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
The main reason that I'm not using them anymore is that the price increase on them has taken them to less than $1 difference from the Motorcraft filter


That's why I don't use them for short usage anymore either. It was easy when ST was $2.02 and MC was $3.25. Now with the gap closing, MC isn't going up enough and ST is going up too much. MC was always a good buy, it just couldn't trump the $2 filter while you were at Walmart to buy cheap(er) oil. Now the $3.49 MC seems a much better deal for all the reasons you mentioned.

AATG was my beater filter of choice, but as with most things, that BOGO is no longer available.

 

[beanoil]

Originally Posted By: glenncof
Gary,

Nice try...you probably got that off Champ Labs website.

Now try to go find one retail...


Locally available here at the Farm and Home Store. I do have a relative that worked at the plant. Champ, STP, ST, e-core AC's.... they are all the same, just different paint. M1 and K&N are built to spec. And Champ Labs is very prolific.. John Deere, Kawasaki, B&S, a very long list of OEMs come out of Champs facilities.

 

[Gary Allan]

I think that I understand what he was getting at.

Champ (labeled) filters are available to anyone who can find a sales rep that handles them. You may find one as the "house" oil filter if you an actually find an independent auto-parts store. When was the last time you saw one of them? There the owner used to carry a bunch of, independently represented, lines (Moog, TRW, KD Tool, Goodyear or Gates rubber products, etc..etc.). Now you have franchises or contractual agreements if you're not corporately owned outright. The list of vendors is, more or less, set by the association/alliance ..or the corporate heads.

Now you will probably see Champ labeled filters in fleet or quick lubes ..indy shops ..or any place you can see any other branded or rebadged filter. That's the filter business outside of the end user consumer direct market.