Recommended Filters
Based on the simple criteria above and the information I gathered in the Oil Filters Revealed, I have found some filters that are readily available and are of good quality in my opinion. I have disassembled many filters and made observations and measurements on them. Sadly, some of the most common and popular filters don't cut it in my book. Those filters are described in the next section. The filter names are also links to the reference filter page, which gives the intimate details of that filter in the Chrysler/Ford reference filter version. You will find all the hard data for these filters there. What follows are filters that I recommend in alphabetical order:
AMSOIL
The SuperDuty line of filters is no longer being sold by AMSOIL. They now have their "Absolute Efficiency" line of filters that are intended for long duration use along with their premium synthetic oils. The SuperDuty filters had to be changed out at least once between oil changes. From the pictures, they appear to be manufactured by Donaldson. Donaldson manufactures filters mainly for truck applications intended for long duration use. They also manufactured the Hard Driver filter, which I used with great success for several years.
Baldwin
These filters are well constructed and are highly regarded in trucking circles. They don't have as much surface area as some others, but they are one of the best filters you can get for around $5. These are the filters I have been using lately.
Bosch
This used to be another Champion Labs filter sold at Auto Zone, but now it is made by Purolator. It has an impressive surface area and uses a cellulose/synthetic blend media. This should result in well-above average holding capacity. I generally like the Purolator design as well, so I wouldn't hesitate using a Bosch after verifying it was still a Purolator.
Carquest
Like NAPA, they sell two lines of oil filters. One is painted red and the other is painted blue. They are both made by Dana/WIX and the blue one is supposed to be better.
Fram Tough Guard
Even with all the problems of the other Fram filters, this one is not too bad. It has a heavier filter element with more surface area, a silicone anti-drainback valve, the cheap pressure relief valve, but with an integral screen to keep out large particles, and enough inlet holes for good flow. The only other drawback to this filter is that it is capped on each end with cardboard instead of metal. Looking in through the center outlet does not reveal any paper end caps, but they are there. I personally do not use this filter, but the design didn't have enough bad qualities to cause me to tell others to avoid it.
Hard Driver
This was one of the few oil filters that uses a fully-synthetic filter element with a dual-density layering "depth" media. The construction of the filter is what you would expect from a quality filter with steel filter element caps and special epoxy-coated steel mesh retainers to keep the element from flexing. It also has a good flowing, strong steel case and a zinc-coated backplate to prevent preinstallation corrosion. I used these for a few years with no problems until Donaldson stopped manufacturing them. Donaldson does list part number P169071 in their Endurance line for the same application. This may be a viable substitute for the Hard Driver.
K&N
It's a white Mobil 1 filter with a nut welded to the back. It's made by Champion Labs using what I call their "performance" design instead of the "Ecore". Save the $2-$3 plus shipping and get the Mobil 1.
Mobil 1
This filter is made by Champion Labs using what I call their "performance" design instead of the "Ecore". It uses a synthetic fiber element that can filter out very small particles and has a high holding capacity. It is rated by the manufacturer at just under the Purolator Pure One as far as filtering capability, but is still very much above conventional paper filters. It also has a very strong construction to withstand high pressure spikes during start-up. Given the choice between the Purolator Pure One and the Mobil 1 filters, I would choose the Mobil 1 because of the restriction concerns of the Pure One. However, as with all Mobil 1 products, expect to pay 2 - 3 times as much for this filter. I have seen this filter sold at Auto Zone and K-mart and used them a few times, but I feel they are not worth the money in the end.
Though I have never had problems, I had received feedback from a few people back in 1999/2000 that these filters may leak at the base. It seems that the seal between the backplate and can may burst under high pressure (at startup). These were on Ford engine applications.
Motorcraft
The one I opened in 1999 seemed to be a Purolator hybrid. It had the Premium Plus case (anti-drainback valve, gasket, etc), but with what appeared to be a Pure One filter element. This was a cheap way to get a Purolator Pure One. It is sold at many locations including Auto Zone, Pep Boys, etc. I have heard from several people that Motorcraft seems to switch between Purolator and Champion Labs as the manufacturer so be observant. The Motorcraft I took apart in 2008 appeared to be a regular Purolator Premium Plus. Not worth the extra couple of bucks anymore in my opinion, but it probably looks snazzy under a Ford hood.
NAPA
They sell two lines of oil filters: NAPA Silver and NAPA Gold. They are both made by Dana/WIX and there is no obvious difference between them. They may have different elements, but NAPA does not state that this is the case.
PowerFlo
This is a Purolator Premium Plus that I have seen at Murray's Auto Supplies.
ProLine
This is a Purolator Premium Plus that I have seen at Pep Boys. Pep Boys also sells the Purolator Premium Plus brand, which is pretty dumb (to be selling both).
Purolator Premium Plus
The Purolator is a solid design. It seems to have one of the tougher paper filter elements of the low-end filters and the bypass valve is built right into the cartridge. There are no internal sealing problems with this filter at all. There is an assembly string that is wrapped around the filter element, probably to hold it in place while the glue cures in the end caps. In the ProLine (one of the Purolator clones), the string was wrapped too tightly and had damaged the filter element. All the other Purolator-made filters (8 in all) had no trouble, and even the damaged one would probably have been fine. I usually go with these in a pinch or when recommending the cheapest oil filter possible.
Purolator Pure One
This is an interesting filter design made by Purolator. Most of the construction of the Pure One is the same as the Purolator Premium Plus. The big difference is the filter element itself. It has a dense paper/fiber filter element that can filter very small particles. The result of this is cleaner oil exiting the element, but more oil restriction. Purolator addressed this by adding more filter material (more and deeper pleats). After seeing one of these filters cut open, I am apprehensive about this filter. It seems to have so many pleats that it is almost a solid chunk of filter element. It seems like it would end up restricting the flow, more than anything. Purolator has plenty of data on the filtration abilities of this filter and I don't doubt it, but they have no flow data. Even so, I don't see any major problems with this filter. It also sports a silicone anti-drainback valve and a PTFE treated nitrile rubber gasket.
WIX
Another quality oil filter similar in design to the Purolator. It has metal end caps on the filter element, a standard nitrile anti-drainback valve, and a seemingly good flow. They are manufactured by the Dana corporation. These appear to have a depth gradient filter element, which uses cotton fibers to progressively trap smaller particles as they get deeper in the filter. This helps maintain good flow as the filter gets plugged.
