Overview
Engine oil serves a critical function in the operation and longevity of an engine. Having the right quantity and quality of oil is essential for any engine, and ever more important for an engine used in racing. So it's natural that we pay a lot of attention to the type of oil we run. But what about filters? Some people care a lot and run only the best filters, others don't care at all and only change their oil without even changing the filter (I don't recommend this). Some are just fine with running a Fram or STP oil filter from the local auto parts store, while others insist on using nothing but Wix, Royal Purple, Amsoil, or what have you. My personal favorites have been OEM and Mobile One, due to solid rep and generally very good local in-person availability. This, availability, is perhaps an underrated factor for an oil filter which is a regular maintenance item. Where service intervals are low due to heavy use, I'd much rather grab a good or decent local filter than wait to special order a rare item and keep flushing dirty oil through an engine.
OEM Filter
What's interesting to me is that while the oil filter for the KA24DE is about the size of a ceramic mug and is Made in Japan, the oil filter for the VHR37DE/VQ35DE is about the size of a teacup and is Hecho en Mexico. It's surprising that an engine with 1.5x the displacement has an OEM oil filter that's about 1.5x smaller in overall size. It's also a bit funny that for an engine made in Japan, the standard oil filter is made in Mexico. While the 240SX's KA24DE runs "a truck motor made in Mexico", yet is spec'd with an oil filter that's still Made in Japan today.
It's probably not a huge deal either way, but some tidbits as background to why I care about these oil filters. With the Z ready for an oil change, I thought it would be easy to scoop up an OEM oil filter and move on. I was confused when I picked up the oil filter, Part #15208-65F0E, from the Nissan Parts Counter and found a list of compatible engines that excluded the VQ37VHR. This must be a very old item, since VQ35HR was not even listed, only VQ35DE. According to the parts guy, Nissan just never bothered to update the engines listed on the box. The OEM filter is made by a major, $580M revenue company est in 1953 called Grupo Gonher. I hadn't heard of them but I imagine they are a major automotive maintenance parts supplier for NissanUSA, if not other OEMs in the US as well.
Nismo Oil Filter
The Nismo oil filter box is black and is clearly marked as being made in Japan with writing to boot. Here we find an application list that's up to date and includes both the VQ35HR and VQ37HR engines as expected. Interestingly, this filter is also spec'd for the S14/S15 running the SR20DE(T). That leads me to believe if you are running an SE-R Spec V Sentra this oil filter might be compatible there as well.
Opening up the box I find a filter that's about the same size as the OEM, does not have the "VERUSPEED" markings seen in some photos, a plastic seal that is a proper seal, and no drain plug crush washer.
Comparison:
As far as sizing is concerned, both of these filters measure out to very nearly the exact same sizes, with variance of < +/- 0.1mm likely due to production factors. The Nismo filter is actually lighter than the OEM one by about 20g or 0.8oz.
Peeking inside the filter, there's a yellow wavy filter media visible that extends through the length of the filter not seen in the OEM. This might be the "inclined density structure" of the filter weave described in the product page on Z1. They describe the filter weave as becoming "denser towards the center", "...providing a reduction in oil flow resistance, a decrease in pressure drop and an increase in oil filtration". I don't know how true these statements are but I'll take their word for it for now.
This component inside the filter also looks different between the two. I'm not sure what it does but it looks like an inlet to the filter's inner oil distribution channels.
Tech Specs
Name | Part Number | Outer Shell Diameter (excluding lip) | Overall Length (including rubber o-ring) | Weight | Made In | Made by | Price |
Nissan Genuine Parts Oil Filter | 15208-65F0E | 65mm | 71mm | 195g | Mexico | Group Gonher | $12 |
Nismo Oil Filter | 15208-RN011 | 65mm | 71mm | 173g | Japan | Nismo | $45 |
Why go nismo?
Engine oil is a slippery subject. Why would I spend $45 on a Nismo oil filter vs. $12 on an OEM unit? Well aside from the fun in making this comparison, my logic is this: For the occasional track day use seen by my Z, this is perfect. A higher quality, higher performance filter with a structure that "continues to bolster filtering power over an extended period". Now if I was doing several track days per month, or driving several thousand miles per month, I probably wouldn't buy this filter, because I'd be changing oil much more frequently. At that point, I'd very likely just go with an OEM, Mobile One, or Wix filter.
For reduced service intervals, a 'fancy' filter will probably not make much of a difference. If you don't put a ton of miles on your car and demand just the occasional performance out of your car, this nismo filter might be right for you, too. The main reason being that the Nismo filter should ensure that the oil filtering performance is not reduced over the service interval, which is an important spec for those 'weekend cars' out there. We'll see how it does once installed, I'm sure my high performance butt-dyno will detect a 100 HP increase.
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