I've read three or four different "oil filter comparison" websites over the last few years, and they all pretty much have one thing in common:
No actual
testing is done. Somebody with a hacksaw cuts them open and reports what they see. They include all sorts of irrelevant data such as the square inches of area the filter media contains when folded out, but they ignore the fact that different filter media types perform differently. (Funny thing is, they often say that the media itself is different.:confused2
Saying one cannister contains 200 square inches and is therefore better than another one that contains 150 square inches means little unless you're comparing apples-to-apples.
Engine manufacturers set forth minimum requirements filters need to meet. The SAE
tests filters to make sure those specs are met. Stuff like first pass efficiency, size of particles the media traps and passes, bypass valve opening pressures, etc. are all actually
tested.
Any website or message board that "compares" filters without testing them is a complete waste of time.
As for this issue:
Yes, some small blocks do have lifter noise on startup. BUT.....if the oil filter is the genuine
cause of the problem to begin with, then the owners manual and maintenance manual should specify a filter that by design alleviates the issue. If Chevrolet didn't
spec a special filter, then all they're doing now is looking for a scapegoat after the fact because they dropped the ball somewhere along the lines themselves when they designed the oiling system. Long story short, if engine "A" they build calls for a certain filter part number in the manual they printed and it
doesn't make noise on startup with that filter installed, then engine "B" they build that they spec the same filter for shouldn't make noise on startup either.
If they tell you that the noise can be "fixed" by switching to a filter they didn't say was required from the get-go, well.....that's just a Band-Aid for whatever the real problem is.