Hi there everyone, so I'm new here. Lots of valuable information I see, as I have been studying for the past few days trying to find the best filter I can get. I finally settled on the Ultra. Kinda sad to learn it had been downgraded some last year, but I'm hearing it's still very good, so I still have faith in them. Anyways, I went into Walmart today, and picked up the first XG2 I found. Broke the tape seal on the outside and peeked in to see what was going on, and I was shocked to see a wire backing inside! I am not sure if this is particular to this specific model or what, but it's nice to see. I am unsure how close to OG Ultra it is. I cannot tell if it's cellulose behind the wire or synthetic. I am leaning towards it being synthetic. Filter date looks to be May 26, 2022 and I do not see it mention wire backing on the box.
I have two personal engines I take care of, which are my 4.6 2V in my 2000 Town Car, and then my CV495 Kohler Command 1-cyl. on a '03 Craftsman LT. I switched from the FL820S to the Ultra on the Town Car, and then also switched the '03 LT from a stock Kohler filter (typical e-core), to an Ultra as well. So it was interesting to see the XG2 has the wire backing still, and the XG3614 does not have that same feature. I baby the LT, rebuilt the engine 2 years back. Probably have close to $1,000+ in that 19 y/o mower! Always changing the oil way before it gets dark, it comes out about the same color as coffee. I'm sure the e-core would've worked fine, but I liked that the Ultra does better at lower microns. That's something I worry about more with the LT being that it's constantly exposed to a ton of dust. Then for the old 2000 TC, I like the Ultra because I'm running 0W-40 Euro Spec Mobil 1. Figured it would work with the XG2 pretty well. Will see tomorrow on cold start.
I also went to Advance Auto, saw the Titanium Fram but didn't bother because it was $7 more than the Ultra at Walmart. But then I also noticed some of the older style Purolator Boss 15K filters were there. I saw the same part number with both the 15K and 20K options, so some old stock floating around town maybe. Either way I was also very sad to learn that the Purolator Boss has been downgraded with the 20K ones. Not sure what the full details were but it seems like the new Ultra is better than new Boss. Seems like they were pretty close to the older Ultra at one point in terms of overall quality with the 15K Boss. Anyways, very cool forum, glad to be here, looking forward to learning more!
I have two personal engines I take care of, which are my 4.6 2V in my 2000 Town Car, and then my CV495 Kohler Command 1-cyl. on a '03 Craftsman LT. I switched from the FL820S to the Ultra on the Town Car, and then also switched the '03 LT from a stock Kohler filter (typical e-core), to an Ultra as well. So it was interesting to see the XG2 has the wire backing still, and the XG3614 does not have that same feature. I baby the LT, rebuilt the engine 2 years back. Probably have close to $1,000+ in that 19 y/o mower! Always changing the oil way before it gets dark, it comes out about the same color as coffee. I'm sure the e-core would've worked fine, but I liked that the Ultra does better at lower microns. That's something I worry about more with the LT being that it's constantly exposed to a ton of dust. Then for the old 2000 TC, I like the Ultra because I'm running 0W-40 Euro Spec Mobil 1. Figured it would work with the XG2 pretty well. Will see tomorrow on cold start.
I also went to Advance Auto, saw the Titanium Fram but didn't bother because it was $7 more than the Ultra at Walmart. But then I also noticed some of the older style Purolator Boss 15K filters were there. I saw the same part number with both the 15K and 20K options, so some old stock floating around town maybe. Either way I was also very sad to learn that the Purolator Boss has been downgraded with the 20K ones. Not sure what the full details were but it seems like the new Ultra is better than new Boss. Seems like they were pretty close to the older Ultra at one point in terms of overall quality with the 15K Boss. Anyways, very cool forum, glad to be here, looking forward to learning more!