Brand new XG9018... You be the judge

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I usually make a point to swing through the automotive aisle whenever the Mrs. and I visit WM, and this was today's discovery.

This XG 9018 was part of what looked like a freshly stocked row, and my GOD is it bad! So bad, in fact, that my completely auto oblivious girlfriend commented: "Wow, is it supposed to look that uneven??".

I'm not sure how something this bad got through QC, and I certainly wouldn't use it. The XG that went in my Regal 2 months ago had absolutely laser straight pleats.

I can't wait to hear the feedback from you all on this one...

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BHopkins said:
Please help me understand. I've never been able to wrap my mind around how the evenness, or unevenness of oil filter pleats change it's ability to filter the oil. It has always seem nitpicky to me.
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That's due to lack of understanding & it's good that you're asking questions to learn. The evenness is going to help trap & hold debris for one. Go too far out & it'll put more pressure on the uneven pleats causing a tear. The filter media is constructed the way it is to help w/these things. IMO it has more to do with performance than with aesthetics alone. That being said when you're paying good money for a premium filter that's what you want to see. Seems reasonable to me. This filter media looks uneven all the way around.
 
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fantastic said:
That's due to lack of understanding & it's good that you're asking questions to learn. The evenness is going to help trap & hold debris for one. Go too far out & it'll put more pressure on the uneven pleats causing a tear. The filter media is constructed the way it is to help w/these things. IMO it has more to do with performance than with aesthetics alone. That being said when you're paying good money for a premium filter that's what you want to see. Seems reasonable to me. This filter media looks uneven all the way around.
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This! The lack of consistency is not good. This doesn't only apply to oil filters. I've dined at a few restaurants and had to point out inconsistent food, and or service.
 
The uneven pleat spacing "looks bad" and could be better ... but in this case it really won't matter because that media is wire-backed for support. If it was not wire-backed, then I'd be more concerned about the non-uniform pleat spacing.
 
fantastic said:
That's due to lack of understanding & it's good that you're asking questions to learn. The evenness is going to help trap & hold debris for one.
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The pleats being evenly spaced or not will not effect the media's filtering or holding capacity performance. All of the media is going to have oil flowing through it, regardless of how the pleats are spaced.
 
Seen better pleat spacing uniformity and alignment, that's for sure. This cartridge application looks to be the one for ecotec engines. If so, ecotec cartridges can look ugly post use. Lots of posts about them on this subforum. Wonder how topic would look post use.

I too don't recognize the media being used. It's white and wire backed like the Endurance, but based on pics alone, I can't make that leap. Imo, media does 'look' better than the made in Brazil XG cartridge for Pentastar engines.
 
I looked up first brands group corporately a little while ago. There sitting on a Ton of debt - not surprising since they likely levered up to buy Fram. There private so there isn't a lot of data to be had - but Fitch rates there bonds at BB-. Anything below BBB is considered a junk bond, so there well in that area. Junk bonds are not as bad as they sound, but there is significant risk of them not being able to pay. So it wouldn't surprise me that these cost cutting and price increase measures are related.

You can read about it here if your so interested - however the key takeaway for me is "Cost Saving Initiatives: FBG continues to identify substantial cost savings opportunities, the majority of which are related to acquisitions that were completed over the past several years." its about 8 or 9 paragraphs in.
 
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SC Maintenance said:
I looked up first brands group corporately a little while ago. There sitting on a Ton of debt - not surprising since they likely levered up to buy Fram. There private so there isn't a lot of data to be had - but Fitch rates there bonds at BB-. Anything below BBB is considered a junk bond, so there well in that area. Junk bonds are not as bad as they sound, but there is significant risk of them not being able to pay. So it wouldn't surprise me that these cost cutting and price increase measures are to a degree an act of desperation.

You can read about it here if your so interested - however the key takeaway for me is "Cost Saving Initiatives: FBG continues to identify substantial cost savings opportunities, the majority of which are related to acquisitions that were completed over the past several years." its about 8 or 9 paragraphs in.
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wow "cost savings opportunities".. meaning "hey bob.. let's see how cheap we can get these products without getting sued..." a race to the bottom, folks!
 
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