Your Favorite Non - OEM Air Filter ?

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What are your favorite non - OEM air filters to use ? After my Hyundai OEM air filter became dirty after 15,000 miles I tried a STP air filter (bought what Auto Zone had in stock) but found it to be too loose a fit and resulted in a UOA with increased silicone noted . I went back to Hyundai OEM air filters which have a tighter fit / seal but of course at 3X the price of the STP air filter . *I read that Wix and Purolator air filters get good scores in the criteria air filters are measured against one another - I would want to check for a snug fit to be sure it doesn't wiggle loosely once inserted .
 
I like STP Premium air filters that are red and oiled :)

The Fram TG/Ultra air filters that are still yellow oiled media are also good, but they seem to be cheapening most of them, with many recent Ultra air filters being plain white media and now made in CHina (used to be mostly Mexico and Korea)

Walmart's ST air filters are a good price and US-made.
 
Knock on wood, I've never encountered a poor-fitting air filter. I've used Motorcraft, Fram, Denso, and WIX in the more recent years (and according to my Amazon order history and/or memory). Before that, it would likely have been Autozone store brands (pre-STP, if I'm not mistaken) and Fram. My Dad always seemed to buy Fram so I figured why not continue...
 
aFe Pro Dry S
^^^^This I will give the OP a pro and a con; I've had an aFe Pro Dry S in use for almost 40K miles, blown it out occasionally with >30 psi gentle air...UOA shows very acceptable Si levels. Con: My son had an '04 Impala while in college a few years back. He had a K&N air filter on for awhile and we did UOA; the Silicon ppm came back in the 900+ range. We threw the K&N in the trash and put a stock air filter on and the Si counts dropped to normal. If someone GAVE me a K&N air filter for my car it would go in the trash. ;)
 
What are your favorite non - OEM air filters to use ? After my Hyundai OEM air filter became dirty after 15,000 miles I tried a STP air filter (bought what Auto Zone had in stock) but found it to be too loose a fit and resulted in a UOA with increased silicone noted . I went back to Hyundai OEM air filters which have a tighter fit / seal but of course at 3X the price of the STP air filter . *I read that Wix and Purolator air filters get good scores in the criteria air filters are measured against one another - I would want to check for a snug fit to be sure it doesn't wiggle loosely once inserted .
I always prefer oe filters.. next choice would be wix
 
I use OEM, Wix in my truck.

I've used Bosch workshop air filters from rock auto in my moms Hyundai and they seem alright as well.
 
OEM only for me, it's the most important filter and the OEM is guaranteed to fit and perform correctly, plus it's 3x cheaper than the STP red premium filter I used previously (which seemed to work fine).

A dirty air filter is a good thing, not only is a slightly dirty filter more efficient, but if the dirt's not trapped in the filter then it's going into your engine.

Dirty in only 15k is pretty bad. Heck, I didn't even replace the factory filter on my Accent until 100k (though it probably needed it way before then). Modern EFI vehicles with MAF sensors will run just fine on a dirty air filter. No need to replace it unless it's plugged up and the vehicle is sluggish.
 
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