[AustinSedz]

No. The amount of cooling you would get from the oil in the filter itself, would far outweigh any radiant heat from the header. Air is a poor heat conductor and has a low heat capacity. More likely filters are just garbage. Personally, I've been using the Mazda branded Tokyo Roki filters since day one, and have never had an issue.

+1 to the Mazda filters.
N3R1-14-302

I order mine on Amazon and picked up a bag of drain-plug washers at the dealership because the Mazda ones don't fit.
The Mazda filters are the same as the Subaru filters they used to use 5+ years ago before they switched suppliers.
They have extra capacity too over the newer blue filters.

 

[AustinSedz]

oil cooler o-ring? I had one of those leak on a forester and it looked like it was the filter that was leaking.

I had no idea there were complaints about subaru oil filters. Are the mazda ones really that much better? if so, why?

A while ago (well before 2015?) the Subaru filters were made by the same company as the current Mazda filters.
This company was Tokyo Roki.

At some point the 'contract' to produce the filters for the whole OEM Subaru lineup was lost by TR and won by Fram.

The filter elements became of a lesser quality (cough cough Fram sucks) but were still 'adequate for OEM', so it is what it is.

The Mazda filter (Tokyo Roki) compared to the current Subaru filter (Fram) has better filter elements and is actually of a larger capacity, both of which are advantageous.

Will YOU notice a difference yourself, maybe not, but longevity wise it may have it's impact, and im sure in applications where there is more stress it will have larger benefits.

They also cost basically the same, so it's kind of one of those 'might as well' things.
You may not see the benefit, but it certainly won't hurt.
In fact, you either win or don't notice a difference lol.

 

[AustinSedz]

Better how? What's the media type? filtration specs? Flow capacity? Bypass pressure rating? If you KNOW any of this, please share. Up until now no one has produced this knowledge, (or at least not that I've seen) and have only stated that it's better for completely subjective reasons. If you're going to sell it as a product that can improve longevity, you really need something to back that up. Alternatively, maybe a compiled list of premature engine failures due to the OEM filter failing/defects and compare that to some other brands to establish a 'normal' defect rate.

The Suby blue filters are no longer produced by Fram. Plus Fram has been bought/sold a few times over the years with accompanying changes to management to 'better fit market demands', or 'improve' this and that. None of this matters as much as you think, because the build specs are all provided by Subaru, so no matter who makes it, they all have the same performance specs. Now if the OEM supplier has a QC issues, that absolutely does throw a wrench in the works, and as I said earlier, ALL OEMs at one point or another has issues. Especially with a commodity item like an oil filter.

This thread has gone OT, but for those that MUST have bigger, and believe the people who designed the engine and oil filter specs might have known what they were doing (otherwise, why do you even drive a Subaru), then just get an Ascent Oil Filter (cough cough, we sell both on our site if you want the part No). Same filtration, bypass, burst rating, etc. and about double the filtration media.

Applies to All Model Years - Subaru Oil filters US(Blue)...

Hi fellow Subaru Crosstrek/XV owners. Stumbled on this video talking about the difference in quality between the blue and black filter it seems like the JDM Tokyo Roki one wins it between them. Video below One thing I was warned about in the EJ engine series days is to only use a Subaru filter...

www.subaruxvforum.com

Some info. Obv alternative applications but the videos posted have some info.

While it’s incremental results from bench testing, like i said, they cost the same, and the worst that can happen is they perform the same.