An oil filter does what you would expect it to do; it filters the oil to prevent contaminants and engine by-products from being circulated into the engine. The filter has to be porous enough to let good oil pass through, but trap any particulate matter that could do damage.
The more contaminants that pass into your engine, the more it will reduce the engine’s life. The majority of engine wear comes from particles between 5 and 20 microns. The better job a filter does of keeping those particles out of your engine, the better performance you will get. The lower the micron efficiency number, the higher the price. The best high efficiency filters are efficient to about 10 microns and also filter out most smaller particles.
The Society of Automotive Engineers has done extensive car oil filter testing. The group reports that switching from a 40-micron oil filter to a 30-micron oil filter can reduce engine wear by as much as 50%. Switching from 40-micron filtration to 15 micron filtration for your automotive filters can reduce engine wear by as much as 70 percent.
While you do not need a synthetic oil filter, or a special oil filter with synthetic oil, the quality of your oil filter can make a big difference. However, like most things in life, you get what you pay for.
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