The UPF64R (the "R" is important) oil filters are absolutely excellent and made on the same production line as the Mobil 1 and K&N filters. Many who have taken them apart claim they are the same as the M1. I bought a bunch on RockAuto for about $6/each.
I'm a guy who traditionally has owned older cars with traditional designs. In those I always ran Amsoil oil and filters (their oil filters are awesome). However, for this car I figured sticking to GM-approved stuff made sense given the long intervals. Knowing that the filter media had been approved for 2 years etc seemed like a good call, especially when the "R" filter is so good. I'm sure the Donaldson media in the Amsoil would have been fine, but why risk it? Wear of the Voltec engine is not going to be the limiting factor in the life of the car IMHO...unless something catastrophic takes it out (like a filter failure).
I'm a guy who traditionally has owned older cars with traditional designs. In those I always ran Amsoil oil and filters (their oil filters are awesome). However, for this car I figured sticking to GM-approved stuff made sense given the long intervals. Knowing that the filter media had been approved for 2 years etc seemed like a good call, especially when the "R" filter is so good. I'm sure the Donaldson media in the Amsoil would have been fine, but why risk it? Wear of the Voltec engine is not going to be the limiting factor in the life of the car IMHO...unless something catastrophic takes it out (like a filter failure).
