Oil filter K&N or OEM Subaru

PartReview Score

Rank #9 in ranking

123

3.6

Leaks

3.1

Smell/smoke

3.7

Warning light

3.3

No data

PR Score

Ranking

Votes

Reviews

Average rating

Properties

Car

PartReview Score

Rank #16 in ranking

4.0

Leaks

0.6

Smell/smoke

0.5

Owners' choice:

Subaru Impreza

Reviews

All

K&N

OEM Subaru

OEM Subaru › Oil filter

Cheetahsareveryfast 9 Jan 2026, 21:12

Rating 4.0

This is the one to use my guy. On my fxt the cartridge is slightly taller than subarus. So more filter material and its easier to take off because its longer.

Pros: more filter material

Cons: slightly taller

Vehicle: Subaru

K&N › Oil filter

Mizar97 9 Jan 2026, 21:10

Rating 4.0

Personally I like K&N filters, they come with a nut welded to them so you can use a normal wrench instead of a filter wrench. Gotta be careful not to over tighten them though

Pros: nut welded to them

Cons: careful not over tighten

Vehicle: Subaru

OEM Subaru › Oil filter

TechNo1geek 8 Jan 2026, 13:45

Rating 5.0

Yes, it's absolutely worth it! in fact, I own one myself. I bought mine for $6,500 AUD with around 280,000 km on the odometer, and it's now at over 306,000 km and still going strong.

Pros: user-friendly, easy servicing

Vehicle: Subaru

Mileage: 280000 km

K&N › Oil filter

Motor-Professor6268 7 Jan 2026, 01:41

Rating 4.0

I have a kn 1 on my truck and winter is about every 1k miles I empty it. Its the 6oz canister and usually about half full. From may till like October I dont even have to look in it because it doesnt get more than an oz of oil build up in it. But man winter time with the condensation sucks.

Pros: little oil build up

Cons: condensation sucks

Mileage: 1000 km

OEM Subaru › Oil filter

MancyLad79 18 Dec 2025, 17:50

Rating 4.0

Use quality oil and filters, changing them often. To this end, oil pickup and baffle are sound upgrades.

Pros: sound upgrades

Vehicle: Subaru

OEM Subaru › Oil filter

HexenOfEndor 9 Dec 2025, 14:47

Rating 5.0

I changed the oil/filter at 590 miles on my 25 Forester wilderness.

Vehicle: Subaru Forester

Mileage: 590 km

K&N › Oil filter

CoconutIntelligent42 3 Nov 2025, 02:54

Warning light:

Rating 3.0

K&N is good but sacrifices filtration for flow for better performance.

Pros: good performance, better flow

Cons: sacrifices filtration

Vehicle: Acura TLX

K&N › Oil filter

ElMurkel 21 Dec 2025, 20:12

Warning light:

Rating 1.0

Not sure about mobil1 filters, but stay away from K&N oil filters. I've just used one for an oil flush after extensive maintenance work, and after just 100 km it had collapsed.

Cons: collapsed after 100km

Mileage: 100 km

OEM Subaru › Oil filter

AverageWtDad 13 Dec 2025, 18:15

Rating 1.0

Avoid the blue Subaru filters. They are Fram made with cheap components.

Cons: cheap components

K&N › Oil filter

andysgalant69 13 Dec 2025, 00:35

Leaks:

Rating 1.0

K&N filters are some of the worst quality filters on the market.

Cons: worst quality

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Reviews found: 0

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Show all

Which oil filter to choose — K&N or OEM Subaru?

If choosing oil filter across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.

We compare oil filter across these categories:

Comparison of oil filter K&N and OEM Subaru

PR Score.
Overall ranking.
Vote balance.
Average rating.
Number of reviews.
Feature ratings.
Car owners’ choice.

Which oil filter are better — OEM Subaru or K&N?

In March 2026 on PartReview, oil filter K&N were overall better than OEM Subaru.

K&N received a PR Score of 70 out of 100, and OEM Subaru scored 80 points.
K&N ranked 9 in the overall ranking, and OEM Subaru ranked 16.
The average rating is higher for OEM Subaru (4) than for K&N (3.6).
Oil filter OEM Subaru have better feature ratings than K&N:
- Warning light - owners believe, that this property for K&N is better than OEM Subaru.
- Leaks - drivers claim, that this property for K&N is outperforms OEM Subaru.
- Smell/smoke - reviews suggest, that this property for K&N is preferred to OEM Subaru.

Which oil filter are more popular — K&N or OEM Subaru?

In March 2026 on PartReview, oil filter K&N were overall more popular than OEM Subaru.

By vote balance, oil filter K&N surpassed OEM Subaru:

For K&N, the ratio of positive (214) to negative (91) votes is 123 votes.
For OEM Subaru, the ratio of positive (51) to negative (12) votes is 39 votes.

By number of reviews, oil filter K&N surpassed OEM Subaru:

For oil filter K&N there are 99 reviews: 66 positive, 8 neutral, 25 negative.
For oil filter OEM Subaru there are 21 review: 17 positive, 0 neutral, 4 negative.

Which oil filter do car owners prefer — K&N or OEM Subaru?

In March 2026, according to PartReview, oil filter OEM Subaru led more car-specific ratings than K&N:

OEM Subaru are chosen by owners of cars such as: Subaru Impreza, and others.

Oil filter K&N have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.

Other comparisons of oil filter

If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.

For example, comparisons of oil filter K&N with: Fram, Mann, Wix, Mobil, Bosch, OEM Toyota, Motorcraft, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, AMSOIL.

Also available: comparisons of oil filter OEM Subaru with: Fram, Mann, Wix, Mobil, Bosch, OEM Toyota, Motorcraft, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, AMSOIL.

You can also see who is better among other oil filter manufacturers: Fram or Mann, Fram or Wix, Fram or Mobil, Fram or K&N, Mann or Wix.