Optima Batteries

[ls1jt]

We did a review on the Optima Red Top a few weeks back and just posted the story. This review/writeup was not on a Sonic, but it still gives you some facts on why an Optima is a great product and also some quirks I've found out over the years of owning them. Hope you enjoy!

JT

Optima Redtop Battery - Hoagies Garage

 

[Blue Moon Sonic]

I was looking into getting a yellow top for the sonic if you run heavy electronics. The only problem is that they don't make them specifically for the car. I'll end up getting a d35 or the d75-25 at 620CCA and 775CA. The fitment is pretty close to to what can fit and is 20cca higher than the replacement ones.

 

[The Champ]

The OE battery is only 438 CCA. There is no need for anything more than that to spin a 4 cylinder engine.

If you have high electrical demands in your car - the key item to look at is the reserve capacity of the battery. The OE battery has a reserve capacity of about 100 IIRC.

Having said that, the correct battery size is a 47 series.

The ACDelco 47PS is a 525 CCA battery with a 30 month free replacement warranty and it has a 115 minute reserve capacity. The ACD 47PG is 650 CCA's with the same reserve capacity, but has a 42 month free replacement warranty.

Unless the longer warranty was important to you, I would be perfectly happy with the 47PS.

 

[Preloader]

I had an Optima in my Camaro, and I loved it. It's great for big sound systems. Especially for running pre-MOSFET amps. Some older JBL amps don't have MOSFET power supplies, so the Optima holds a 14.4V charge and the non-MOSFET amps will turn that higher voltage into higher wattage. My two 12"s slammed so hard in that Camaro...... I miss it.

 

[Dirkdaddy]

I had heard some pretty consistent negative feedback on the optima batteries after they moved production south of the border. Just saying, may want to do research before plunking down big money on a battery. And Amazon if I recall wasn't honored as a retail seller and Amazon said to contact optima on claims, people were really getting honked over the situation, and batteries were failing a lot more than you would expect. The old ones really were super. Just need to remember to always use AGM rated charger.

 

[Preloader]

My experience was over 10 years ago, just to clarify. Didn't know there had been issues with them.

 

[wasteoffilm]

I bought mine in 1997, it was still going in 2009 until I didn't have a car to use it in anymore. Sat in the basement for a couple years, and then didn't want to take a charge.

I've had several issues with the new ones, but nothing worse than the other crap we sell. People here in the northeast expect to leave something sit outside all winter without ever starting/maintaining it, and have the battery not die off.

 

[The Champ]

I had heard some pretty consistent negative feedback on the optima batteries after they moved production south of the border. Just saying, may want to do research before plunking down big money on a battery. And Amazon if I recall wasn't honored as a retail seller and Amazon said to contact optima on claims, people were really getting honked over the situation, and batteries were failing a lot more than you would expect. The old ones really were super. Just need to remember to always use AGM rated charger.

I've heard the same feedback on Optima's since their move south of the border.

AGM batteries are designed for heavier electrical draws. You can get AGM batteries that are made here in the United States - ACDelco has AGM batteries that are made in St. Joseph, MO.

They are more expensive - and I personally wouldn't spend the extra money unless I had a really big sound system or other major electrical draws.

I do have some customers buying AGM batteries from me.

For instance police pursuit vehicles that are running all the lights, sirens, laptops, radar, etc... and I have a fleet of short buses that have the wheelchair lifts and dual AC units that have switched from the big 65 series 850 CCA Motorcraft batteries (which they also bought from me) to the lower CCA 700 CCA ACDelco 65AGM.

FWIW - when I toured the production facility in St. Joe, MO - it was interesting to see ACD, MTC, Interstate and other brands of batteries all being made at that plant. Now each battery is built to the manufacturer's specs - they are NOT the same batteries by any means.