I have to jump in on this one, because this is the industry that I work in. I am a research and development employee at *, and I test filter paper every day. I can tell you from experience, because my company sells almost all of the filter makers the filter paper that they pleat and put in these filters, there
is a difference in filters. We make filter paper to the specs that the filter (air, lube, fuel) manufacturer wants. There are grades out there that are absolute junk, and there are filters out there that are so amazing at filtering they have almost no chance of failure, even if you don't change the oil often, say every 20,000 miles.
Fram takes the heat a lot because, when Honeywell bought them out, Honeywell did nothing with them. As cost rose, filter performance and construction suffered, because Fram was given no additional money to make better filters. So they started using cheaper materials, turning a once good company into a second rate P.O.S. The only filter I would buy from Fram right now is a filter with paper that I assisted in designing. The paper (the trial just completed at the beginning of the month for a production grade, it is now a grade we make all the time) is 87% synthetic fibers, which makes it strong and resistant to acids in the crank-case, and also is so efficient and has such a high capacity, you can (and my boss does in his Integra and Accord) go 20,000 miles between oil changes
. My boss has been running the Integra with these filters for the past 100,000 miles, and he sends his oil to be tested every change (wouldn't you at 20,000 mile intervals?), showing no unusual wear.
The Fram extended guard oil filter, Baldwin oil filters (though that paper is likely our competion's paper, Ahlstrom or Lydell), and Amsoil are excellent filters that you can go the distance with. If you choose to change your oil every 3,000, save yourself some cash and use a cheaper filter, Supertech Purolator, Bosch and others. You are wasting the potential of the other filters by not using them for 7,000+ miles. Just my $0.02.
