Fram used to be good. WalMart took care of that. Now they are bottom of the list. Most people say Wix is best, and if you cut one open, you'll see why. I believe any "best" quality will be adequate, as there really isn't that much of a difference. Just don't buy the cheapest filter you can, and Fram is it right now.\
AND, if you're running a 3.8L, put in a filter from a 4.3L, as they are almost an inch longer, and flow better than the shorter filters. Same amount of paper, just not as compressed.

 

I think I worry more about my oil and filter in the course of the day then I do anything ellse. I have to agree with a lot of things I have read here but I just want to add a few somthings. In my oppinion synthetic oil is the only way to go. It got a bad rap back in the day becuase people were putting it into high milage cars and they got oil leaks. Well this is becuase synthetic oil molecules are smaller then conventional oil. As a result it would find it's way through cracks that conventional oil couldn't. This is good news for most of us though becuase if the oil has smaller molcules then it will protect better by getting into areas conventional oil can't. I personally would suggest castroll syntec but the warrenty sounds pretty convincing with that mobil brand. Royal purpel and amsoil are good too. As far as the Quakerstate goes PLEASE let me cuation you. If your going full synthetic great but if not your sending your engine to an early grave. Quakerstate and Penzoil both use the same crude from the same oil reserves in the north east part of the country. This oil has a really bad caracteristic of seperating. When this oil's molecules pick up dirt the clean molecules force the dirty ones to the outside perimiter. This cuases sludge to build up very quickley and attatch itself to the walls of the engine. This cuases higher heat, increased wear and bad gas milage. As far as filters go the magic word is "micronic". Any brand that offers a micronic filtration is going to be what you want becuase the smaller weaving catches more particles and keeps the oil cleaner longer. The two brands I would suggest are WIX and Purealator. I use the Purealator micronic becuase of all the test results I have seen. I know it's long but I hope it helps.

 

Mobil 1 Full Synthetics is the best ... I think they run that in the Corvette

 

I have indeed switched to Quaker State Q Horsepower. There is less lifter/rocker noise, and pressure is consistently higher so far. Mileage initially went up, but with winter it's heading back down. I've documented all my mileage though, so next fall I should be able to make fair comparisons.

In regards to your caution of using petroleum-based Quakerstate products, I understand what you mean in reference to Penzoil. In my spare time, I drag race. I drive for a man who is extremely particular about his engine, and the only reason he doesn't run Royal Purple is that he doesn't feel it's worth it when you change it everytime you're at the track. He previously ran Pennzoil, and after one run, I noticed the pressure falling at the end of the track. I cut the engine, and we pulled the dipstick. The oil ran off of it like water, and after we dropped it, it had for sure seperated. Needless to say that was the last time we ran Penzoil. He switched to Quaker State, and even lauching at 7500 and shifting at upwards of 9K, it has always worked well. I also ran QuakerState in my previous car, and in my wife's car. I pulled the pan on my wife's '95 Lumina, and at 145K miles, it was surprisingly clean. There's no argument that synthetic can stand the test of time better than petroleum-based. What it comes down to is maintenance, and regual oil changes with quality filters.

Anyway, to put and "end" to this post, I will from here out ignore my GM's oil life system. Thanks for all the input.

-Adrian

 

Please check out my post in the engine and internals section as to what GM approves, you ALL will be suprised, as I was. Check out your owners manual to confirm my post. Then check out the back of your oil bottles.
https://montecarloforum.com/m_67855/tm.htm