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Best Engine Oil Filters

Author

Javaughn Barrow

I researched and cut open an engine oil filter to better understand the construction and anatomy of what filters your engine oil. In this article, I will share my research to give you the best engine oil filters from an informational standpoint. 

Contents:

Best engine oil filters at a glance:

Best premium: Purolator boss oil filters

Best cost-effective: Fram Extra Guard Oil Filter

Best balance of quality and price: Wix XP Oil Filter 

Best long distance: Mobil 1 Oil Filter (Extended Performance)

Best Premium oil filters:

1. Purolator Boss oil filter

With a company that started the game of filtering engine oil to the spin-on filters they have today, Purolator boss oil filters have become one of America’s best engine oil filters supplier. 

Build Quality – Looking within the Purolator boss, there are high-quality design choices made for the benefit of your engine oil. With metal end caps, a silicone drain back valve, a release valve, and synthetic media the Purolator boss is built for the long run.

Flow Rate – This filter uses synthetic media for the filter. Although synthetic media has been proven to be quite good at catching particles it may be better than paper media in terms of being less restrictive to flow.

Particle Catcher – The Purolator boss oil filter has a synthetic media with its smart fusion technology, taking filtering to another level. Synthetic media can catch particles from a range of 20-70 microns.

Price vs Value – With 4.7 out of 5-star Amazon ratings and over 1,300 ratings, the Purolator boss oil filter seems to satisfy many customers’ needs. It is priced competitively among the competition with a price of $12.41. Check out my full review to learn more.

2. K&N Oil Filter 

The K&N Oil Filter claims to be the official filter of Nasscar. This means that this company knows a thing or two about oil filter performance. 

Build Quality – The K&N oil filter has a heavy-duty construction with metal end caps, a silicone drain back valve, a release valve, and Synthetic media.

Flow Rate – The K&N Oil filter is made with synthetic media as opposed to paper media. A Synthetic media is constructed with a more even structure to the material, which increases the flow rate.

Particle Catcher – The K&N Oil filter traps 98% of particles at 30 microns. Considering we can only see particles above 40 microns, that’s good.

Price vs Value – With 4.7 out of 5-star Amazon ratings and over 5,000 ratings, the K&N Oil Filter seems to satisfy many customers’ needs. It is Priced competitively among the premium competition with a price of $14.05 for a pack of one. Check out my full review to learn more.

Best Cost-effective : 

3. Fram Extra Guard Oil Filter

Starting in the 1930s Fram was one of the fastest-growing oil filters and best engine oil filters for easily replaceable oil filters. In 2024, the Fram Extra Guard Oil Filter is one of the more affordable oil filter options.

Build Quality – The Fram extra guard has quality materials like a silicone drain back valve, paper media, and surprisingly a release valve. Release valves make sure that your engine gets a supply of oil when the filter becomes restrictive.

Flow Rate – The fram extra guard oil filter has paper media with a metal barrel and a release valve. Although a paper media may prioritize catching particles over efficient flow, the release valve also is there to make sure flow is there at different oil temperatures.

Particle Catcher – The Fram extra guard is made with a paper media that can filter out 95% of particles that can cause harmful engine wear. Paper media can catch particles between 8-10 microns. Considering we can only see anything above 40 microns, that is impressive.

Price vs Value – With a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Amazon and over 16,000 ratings, the Fram Extra Guard Oil Filter seems to satisfy a lot of customers’ needs. It is Priced competitively among the competition with a price of $4.12 for a pack of one. Check out my full review to learn more.

Best balance of Quality and Price: 

4. Wix Xp Oil Filter

With its great design and high build quality, the Wix XP Oil Filter became one of the best engine oil filters in 2024. 

Build Quality – With the silicone drain back valve and a wire-backed full synthetic media, the Wix XP oil filter passed the quality test as these materials operate well under hot and cold oil pressures. You don’t find a lot of glue as some oil filters use.

Flow Rate –  No need to worry about the Wix XP’s flow rate. Made with sturdy synthetic media, oil flows through filtered and on time, unlike paper media.

Particle Catcher – The Wix XP’s filter is a synthetic media, basically meaning the filter is made of synthetic fibers which do a great job of filtering oil. The Wix XP oil filter can filter out particles in the range of 20 – 70 microns while lasting 5,000 – 7,000 miles. 

Price vs Value – With a 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Amazon, and over 2k ratings, the Wix XP oil filter seems to satisfy a lot of customer’s needs. Priced competitively among the competition with a price of $11.49. Check out my full review to learn more.

5. Fram Ultra Synthetic Oil Filter

Tiny particles on the micron level chip off and enter your engine oil. It’s an oil filter job to filter that oil while supplying your engine with clean oil. Fram Ultra Synthetic oil filter is one of the best engine oil filters .

Build Quality – The Fram ultra synthetic oil filter has a synthetic media for its filtering material. Synthetic media is engineered for a more even filtering process, catching tiny particles while supplying oil pressure to the engine. The Fram ultra synthetic oil filter also has a silicone drain back valve and a release valve. The release valve is particularly important because it helps the engine keep a steady supply of oil to the engine if the filter is clogged. 

Flow Rate – The synthetic media of the Fram ultra synthetic oil filter is well engineered for catching particles but more importantly its flow rate proves to be less restrictive than other materials such as paper. The synthetic media is backed by a metal barrel making it sturdy for oil pressures at hot and cold temperatures.

Particle Catcher – With its layered filter media, and engineered synthetic material the fram ultra synthetic has a superior dirt-holding capacity. The filter is pleated as you can see in the image above, to fit more surface area, lasting longer.

Price vs Value – With a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Amazon and over 5,500 ratings, the Fram Ultra Synthetic Oil Filter seems to satisfy a lot of customers’ needs. Priced competitively among the competition with a price of $9.32 for a pack of one. Check out my full review to learn more.

Best Long Distance : 

6. Mobil 1 Oil Filter Review (Extended performance) 

The Mobil 1 Oil Filter (Extended Performance) is known for its sturdy build quality and great performance in keeping your engine oil fresh. 

Build Quality – The Mobil 1 Oil Filter (Extended Performance) has a thick outer casing and metal end caps on the filter media. This can speak to a sturdy design that can hold up under different oil pressures and temperatures. It also has a silicone drain back valve, found in premium filters ensuring the engine is always supplied with oil. It has a synthetic blend media which holds up well in filtering performance and has a glued joint holding the media together, which is not great but works well. 

Flow Rate – The Mobil One oil filter extended performance has a synthetic blend filtering media which is great for filtering oil, unlike a fully cellulose media that can be proven to be more restrictive when it comes to oil flow. Fully Synthetic media are usually preferred in this area because of their even construction.

Particle Catcher – The Mobil One oil filter extended performance has a synthetic blend media which is great for filtering oil. This type of material is capable of filtering tiny particles between 8-10 microns. 

Price vs Value – With a 4.5 out of 5-star rating on Amazon and over 120 ratings, the Mobil 1 Oil Filter (Extended Performance) seems to satisfy customer needs. It is Priced competitively among the premium competition with a price of $14.00 for a pack of one. Check out my full review to learn more.

Conclusion

Engine oil filters are one of the most important parts of an engine when it comes to proper maintenance. Ultimately the best engine oil filters are the ones that the car manufacturer recommends. All the information you need on maintenance can be found in the owner’s manual of your car. This information should be followed as closely as possible when maintaining the engine. Proper upkeep usually results in the extended life of the engine. When it comes to oil filters the materials matter and so, you get what you pay for. It’s worth it to spend an extra few dollars to get he best engine oil filters and protect your highly sophisticated machine.

Javaughn Barrow

Hello! My name is Javaughn Barrow, a young car enthusiast who writes all the articles for Karcandy.com. I’ve written over 50 articles about automobiles. With each article, I deepen my understanding and expertise in writing and the automotive world. Ever since childhood, I’ve always had a strong passion for cars. All types shapes and sizes were interesting to me. I’d spend most of my time after school researching cars and the more I found out about them the more exciting it was. In my teens, I created a fan page about corvettes posting content at least ten times a day! Yes, I was crazy about it. The page ended up garnering over 40k followers! After a while, I wanted more than a fan page. I wanted to express my passion differently. I wanted to create more helpful content, higher-quality content. My first car was a 2013 VW CC Sport. Learned very quickly car ownership wasn’t as expected. I spent a lot of time replacing control arms, cam position sensors, brake rotors, brake pads, etc. Walking away with more information than I knew before. As I was growing in my automotive journey I was learning about writing. Starting by writing a detailed outline about 300 words long then I would pay a professional to write a full 1000-word article and learn from them getting familiar with the process of writing. The moment I realized I could use my writing skills to express my passion for cars and help people simultaneously, I started Karcandy.com. I realized with my unique perspective coupled with my hard work discipline and work ethic I can create a space online to help bridge the gap between the complicated and simple in the automotive world. I’m motivated by the challenges and work it will take to create such a space. My work ethic is something I choose to refine and make better each day. I think it’s important to push myself and stay committed to my evolution as a human and this website is only one of the results of that.

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