Fram and Wix Air Filters

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I bought a pair of air filters a few months ago for my old 98 Ford Escort and I picked a Fram and a Wix to compare.

The Fram is made by Sogefi Group in Brazil and the Wix is made in Argentina by Affinia. Wix is a quite young brand here and is kinda difficult to find them, but Fram is almost everywhere. I paid about 7 US Dollars on the Fram and 4 USD on the Wix, but despite this price and brand presence gap between them, the Wix is way better.

Here are some pictures:
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The Fram filter is not well made as the Wix as can be seen by the "gummy" border, and the filter as a whole is smaller than the OEM and Wix, and doesn't fit well on the filter box.

I used a Brazilian-made Mahle a few years ago and that one was even better than the Wix, too bad I can't find them anywhere now, so I will stick to Wix filters from now on, as the Mann filters is almost the same s**t and sometimes even more expensive than the Fram ones.
 
Both look good. I've used Fram, Wix, STP, OEMs, all kinds of non-reusable air filters. Most of them seem to do the job just fine. I kinda think Fram and Wix are the best when it comes to this. I am also not a fan of washable/oiled air filters at all. I think it has been proven plenty that they let a ton more [censored] get by.
 
I've used both in my Jeep. It actually has a (dare I say) a P1 right now which I am very happy with. Since apparently I am a Fram boy, this should be considered treason, espionage, heresy etc.
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I am using a WIX in the girlfriends Volvo. I have no idea what the Fram looks like, but that WIX looked very good compared to the robust Volvo OEM. Lots of pleats. This summer will be 3 years of service.
 
Yes, and I've bought based upon luck, lately. Normally, I'd special order the Fram for the G37, since nothing is available on the shelf from Wix or Fram. My one supplier has had the Wix air filter numbers I needed the last two years, so I went with them. I wind up replacing them about once a year, give or take, based upon mileage.
 
What I've learned over many years is that you cannot rely on consistency with any of the brands. For one vehicle Wix might make a better filter vs. Fram/others and for another vehicle it might be the opposite.

This is especially true if the particular filter is a reboxed brand from another manufacturer. They all do this.

Finally, sometimes you might get a great filter of one brand for several years, then they change the construction and/or supplier of that filter and it declines in fit and quality.

Buyer beware. It does seem that the filters that Wix actually makes themselves are of excellent quality based on looks. We don't really know the filtering capabilities.
 
The biggest problem on Fram is the size difference as the filter won't 'seal' as good as the Wix on the filter box. For almost twice the price, I was expecting the Fram to be at least as good as the Wix, to be honest.

I had a problem with a Fram fuel filter months ago and maybe I am a little biased now, but I used to use Fram filters everywhere in the past and I remember them being better until maybe 5 or 6 years ago here in South America, but after my clogged fuel filter and this slightly undersized air filter, I can't trust too much on their quality control.
 
There are some good comments in this thread, with respect to different construction depending upon model number. I've seen that many times. Oddly enough, in Wix itself, I've had different construction from the same air filter model numbers. I've had different packaging, too. My previous set of Wix air filters had some metal reinforcement. The current set does not. Both had the same part numbers and were bought from the same location.

I haven't run across differences between one Fram of one model number and another of the same model number (other than eventual model changes over years), but I also cannot say that doesn't happen.
 
I'm not a fan of anything fram. Sorry, no flaming please!

when I bought my 2012 Fusion in 2013, it was a used car, the dealer put a MC oil filter and claimed to use MC 5w20 semi-syn.
The air filter I assumed was MC, well a while later I decided to look.. low and behold.. a fram.
I wasn't to surprised, it was probably cheaper than a MC filter.

I have 30k on this fram filter, I check periodically, tap the extra debris out, and I put it right back in. The airbox has dust & dirt in it, which means the filter is keeping that stuff at bay.
So it's not a bad filter, I'll be switching to a Wix probably, or a MC, depending on the mood I'm in.
But unfortunately, fram isn't exactly on my top 5 choices.
 
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