About 3 years ago, we had the pleasure of meeting a CEG member from Kansas City, Peat Romano, whom came to visit our little CEG group at the time. Back then, he and other KC CEGrs saw testing of various filter brands used on our Contours, including Motorcraft, Purolator, Fram, etc. Those results showed that in fact the Motorcraft was the best oil filter of the bunch. This included the number of pleats inside the filter, which was greater than the competitor's brands. I am not usually a supporter of OEM oil filters, but that is what I use in both of my Contours. Of course, since that time, other manufacturers, such as K&N have brought out oil filters too. Can't really say anything about those filters as I have never used them.