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I was wondering if any of you have ever tried the Ford Racing equivalent to the Motorcraft FL-820s oil filter. I was reading about it on a site that lists/compares alternatives to the Motorcraft filter. Have any of you used one? Here is the description of the Ford Racing filter from the site...

"This is Ford Racings Performance Parts upgraded version of the FL-820S Filter. It includes all the good features of the standard FL-820 Filter plus significantly upgraded media and base plate. The filter media is very tightly bonded to the filter element end caps. In the case of the standard FL-820S Filter I was able to pry the end caps away from the inner core after I cut away the media. I could not do this in the case of the CM-6731-FL820. The caps themselves are steel and appear to be identical to the corresponding parts in the FL-820S. The inner filter support is also steel (perforated) like the FL-820S. The Anti-Drain Back Valve is silicone and appears to be the same part as in the standard FL-820S. The relief valve is at the base end of the filter (Ford's preferred location) and it also appears to be the same as the relief valve in the FL-820S (see the FL-820S discussion for more information). The media is slightly different than the media in the FL-820S. It is thinner, and is of a slightly different color. It also had an oily feel. I have no information on the filtering efficiency of this media, but I would assume it is at least as good as the Purolator PureOne media. The biggest advantage over the standard FL-820S filter is the quantity of media. The CM-6731-FL820 had the greatest volume and surface area of media of any filter I have evaluated. The media joint was formed by a clip (crimp) instead of by gluing the ends together. There was also a string around the media. I assume this was needed to hold the media stable during filter manufacturing because they were packing so much media into the filter element. The filter element was slightly taller than the standard FL-820S (as was the entire filter). The base plate is also different that the standard FL-820S. It is much thicker and heavier. The crimp style is different as well. The base gasket is also thicker and appears to be lubricated to allow for easy removal. The directions on the box call for the filter to be tightened 1 to 1.25 turns instead of 0.75 turns as is the case for the FL-820S.



Ford makes few advertising claims for this filter. The filter box proclaims the filter is "Engineered to Meet the Requirements of Ford Racing Performance Products."



The major negative of this filter is cost. Mustangs Unlimited sold it to be for $12.95, not including shipping. This is almost four times the cost of a standard FL-820S.



If you are looking for the "best" filter for your Ford, regardless of cost, then in my opinion, this is the one. This filter has the two most important features of the FL-820S - the silicone anti-drain back valve and the base end relief valve. On top of this it has more media that any other filter I have looked at. It appears to be intended for high pressure, high flow situations.



I will not be purchasing this filter for my "ordinary" Fords. Although it is clearly a superior filter, I don't feel the additional filtering media is needed for vehicles in ordinary use and when the oil is changed regularly per the Ford maintenance schedule. On the other hand, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this filter to anyone running a high volume oil pump."

Here is a link to the site... http://home.mindspring.com/~ed_white/id7.html