YELLOW JACKET

I use frams in my S's and have no issues. my01 I have put almost 200k miles on it using fram filters and have no issues. and I do drive it hard a good bit. so it would be hard for me to believe frams aren't any good.

shind3

Some maybe most Frams are good enough. Some fail. More than other brands. Google it.

zeroptzero

A lot of people dislike Fram as they used cardboard endcaps on their filter media in the past, not sure if they still do that or not. Some Honda dealers used to have a display in their service departments showing how inferior the Frams were compared to Honda filters. Funny thing was that Honda switched to Fram manufacturing for some of their filters for a few years after that, but that was a long time ago. The cardboard endcaps probably worked fine but the thought of having cardboard in the oil filter turned many people away.

TonyHondaFreak

Great discussion as always on this forum. Just picked my PCX filter from my local Honda dealership. They knew straight away about the S2K only filter. Great stuff

Thanks again guys.

jkelley

That's rare, actually. Every time I've gone in to pick up filter(s) I have to explain exactly what I want, because they always grab the wrong one initially. This has happened 3 times at 3 different Honda dealerships.

BLACK05

zeroptzero

Isuzu had an SUV that used a Honda motor, can't remember the name of the model that Honda had going with Isuzu, maybe Passport or something like that? Very strange, I don't know if that is the right size filter for the S2000 but it would turn me off or at least make me question it. There might be a slight chance the SUV used the same size filter as the S2000 but maybe not. I would hold out for the right looking filter in the right packaging if you can get one, why chance it. Dealer parts guys will sell you anything to get stuff off their shelves.

Car Analogy

There are other Honda filters that will physically screw onto our engines and 'work'. But that doesn't mean they have the same gasket design hat is built to hold up to 9k rpms and not spin loose (or the media to handle the oil flow that occurs at that rpm).

Will the filter spin off, leak all the oil, and quickly destroy the motor? Will it go into bypass mode at higher rpm, slowly destroying the motor?

Just because it fits, doesn't mean it will do all the things you expect an oil filter to do, when used on our motors.

A quick easy check, does it have the markings on the side to show it needs to be tightened 7/8 of turn after initial gasket contact? If not, its the same filter.

BLACK05

Mr.Matchbox

Comparsion of mahle oil filter oc617, recomended for allmost all Hondas, also for the S2000 to the honda Filter.
Have a look at the oil flow holes: 6 big ones at the Honda filter, 8 small ones at the mahle filter.
I have done the math, the mahle filter reduces oil flow about roughly 1/3. (!!)
Do you want a oil filter that reduces oil flow in your engine? Lower oil flow, higher oil pressure, the bypass valve at the oil pump openes much earlier...

For the S2000, only OEM filter for me.
And dont get me wrong, i use Mahle air and oil filters in every other car, they make high quality filters. But the S2000 is sold in so small numbers here that they sadly go the "one size fits all route" in this case.