Well guys my curiosity finally got the better of me. I went out and picked up another Napa Gold filter and the Pure One I hear so much about so I could cut them open and see the insides for myself. I also took measurements of all the filters I had on hand, total media area, pleats, overall weight, etc. I wish I could go back and put all the filter’s specs with their respective pictures but this will have to do.
First up the Napa gold laid out. First thing I noticed was how thick and supple the silicone ADBV was. The first thing I didn’t like was the spacer on top of the filter element, I don’t think this will cause any real problems but it does mean less space for filter media.
I did like the filter media itself. It was perfectly pleated and glued, the media had a thick, firm feel to it and very evenly spaced. The BPV flap appears to be silicone (note the red tint in the pic) and sealed very nicely against the bottom of the end cap. It did seem to open quite a bit easier than the other filters though
Finally the Purolator Pureone. I have been waiting a long time to get my hands on one of these. Here it is laid out. Unlike the Napa gold, the ADBV was on the thin side but was nice and soft. I could tell the filter element was the biggest of the bunch right off the bat…Nice!
On the filter element, It was in fact the biggest of the bunch with a lot pleats. However, the pleats were very crammed together and not as even as the other filters. In the pic you can see how the pleats at the 7-8 o’clock position are spread out and the pleats pretty much everywhere else on the filter are bunched up. I am not sure if I like this IMO. At least the filter media had a nice feel to it like the Napa gold did. The BPV flap was similar to the Purolator classic on page 2. Some sort of a cardboard like material that seems too weak and not flat enough to make a tight seal. Others have told me it is phenolic which is a synthetic resin type material but it just doesn’t seem very impressive (at least to me). I would have like to see a silicone BPV flap on this filter so that all of the rubberized pieces of the filter would be silicone (main seal, ADBV and BPV Flap)
Ok well there they are. I was very impressed with both of them. The Napa gold just seems like a really solid filter other than the cheesy spacer they use as the neck of the filter element. The Pure one seems to make much better use of the limited space this small filter has compared to the other filters I looked at. I am not sure If I like the filter media itself having so many pleats but at the same time, I can’t see what harm it would really do. The Napa gold was quite a bit cheaper than the Pure one at $5.99 vs. $8.99 with 20% off from advance but it is not a show stopper price difference IMO. Again, just my 2 cents but I think either of these filters are great and it is really a toss up if one is better than the other. My recommendation to others that use this filter application would be to go buy which ever filter you can find cheaper in your local area. For me, I am going to run a Pureone for my next OCI with my truck and see how it turns out (I doubt there will be any noticeable difference in anything). Frankly after seeing the Napa Gold and Pure One, I am even less impressed with the AC Delco and Purolator classic and I don't think I will be using them any more (at least for this application). That is about all the conclusion I am going to come to for now. Here are the measurements I took from all the filters.
AC Delco PF48
pleat length .76"
media height 1 5/8th"
Pleats 55
media length 46"
total media area 74.75"
weight: 8.5 oz
Purolator classic L12222
pleat Length .770"
media Height 1 5/8th"
Pleats 61
media length 51"
total media area 82.87"
weight: 8.35 oz
Napa Gold 7060 (Wix 57060)
pleat length 1.16"
media height 1 3/4"
pleats 48
media length 56"
total media area 98"
weight 8.65 oz
Pure One PL12222
pleat length .80"
media height 2.0"
pleats 66
media length 56"
total media area 112"
weight 8.55 oz
I welcome your input on this, I just ask that if it is negative, please be tactful and have reasons for it, instead of just bashing me. I hope this helps some body out, Take Care!