Who has an Opitima Battery?

Who has an Optima Battery?

Likes? Dislikes? Was it worth the money?

I like mine in my '94 V8 T-Bird. It lasts the winters of not firing it up too much. I also think it is a bit lighter than the MASSIVE stock battery in there as well. That's my $.02

Nate

I have seen a rather high infant mortality, but they seem fine if they work from the get-go.

I have a red top relocated to the trunk inside the car. Works very well and have been very happy with it. Haven't had any problems with it in the years that I've owned it. Car does sit sometimes for a few weeks at a time and it holds charge no problem.

I have a red-top (came with a project car, was transferred to my daily driver) - no complaints, but I'm not convinced they are worth the hype.

I've had a Yellow Top in my Protege for just over two years. The cranking power is amazing, even when jump-starting another car. I fully expect to transplant it into my next car, whenever that day comes.

I have an old one, "made in USA"

It is great. The newer ones are made in Mexico, not as great as the originals.

These batteries do not like to sit dormant, in anything. If it is a dormant vehicle either go led acid or get a trickle charger/maintainer. They have very low internal resistance and can loose a charge from little things like a dash clock. They do not just charge up from driving around and are picky how you charge them back up.

Other than that, they are extremely tough and don't produce noxious gases. Depends what you want. Scared of acid and use it all the time, get one. Acid is your friend and you drive 2 months of the year, not the battery for you.

I've had a yellow top in the Stang for about a year and it's fine so far. The S197s have a higher than normal draw when parked. A lot of the guys have been going to a yellow top instead of a red top because of the increased small drain capacity. My understanding is that the yellow top is like a combo deep cycle (like trolling motor) and starting battery so it holds up better than a cranking only (red top, std lead acid) type battery. It's working so far.

It's hard to judge battery performance. It's either fine or it sucks, it either starts a car or it doesn't, you know?

I have a red top in the GT6. It's been fine so far and has never been dead, even though the car frequently sits for a week or two between drives. Other than that, it seems like a "normal" battery to me, but it looks better under the bonnet :)

My winter miata came with one in it. It's worked great for the two weeks I've had it. I also didn't realize it had one until about a week ago.

I have a red top in the engine compartment of my Dodge Motorhome and a yellow top at the back of the motorhome to power the 'home' part. It's overkill but I never had a problem with them.

borf42 wrote: I like mine in my '94 V8 T-Bird. It lasts the winters of not firing it up too much. I also think it is a bit lighter than the MASSIVE stock battery in there as well. That's my $.02 Nate

Same battery, same car here. It's worked great for over 7 years now.

Red Tops are available fairly cheap at Sam's Club. I bought mine there for my BMW.

Might want to Google. According to brother, lots of complaints turning-up on them in last couple of years.

I never bothered with the Optimas. Always considered most of their reputation as hype. I went right from lead acid to a Hawker Odyessy Dry Cell. 925ccas and only 15 (or so) pounds. used it in two seperate cars since 2003 with no issues

I went through 2 of them in my Camaro in less than 3 years, but then the Camaro does sit a lot. Driven often they perform better.

We've had one in the 'nice' 1800ES since the car was purchased in late '04... most Winters we keep it on a trickle-charger... sometimes not... it (sadly....) will go weeks between starts during the season... but it's always cranks over when asked to... (starting on the other hand...)

Didn't know there have been issues with the newer ones...

I had one in my ski boat. Regular car batteries would die quickly due to the knocking around they get. Optima was great!

mad_machine wrote: I never bothered with the Optimas. Always considered most of their reputation as hype. I went right from lead acid to a Hawker Odyessy Dry Cell. 925ccas and only 15 (or so) pounds. used it in two seperate cars since 2003 with no issues

+1 with the Odyessy batterys. I let one sit for two years once. It needed a trickle charge but still maintained about 11 volts, before the charge. Odyessy is the way to go if the vehicle sits. Check ebay & other online retailers for the best price, the Odyessy can be shipped.

Odysseys rock.

I've got a couple of Optimas. One was passed along to me after it had been overheated a bit after a big winching session. It lives in the Land Rover and will often sit for a year without any action. Never had a problem, it always cranks the truck over.

The other was one I bought for my Toyota Tundra, which gets pretty much daily use. It lasted a year without exceptional usage, just starting the truck and driving. Replaced for free without a fuss, but I can't say the two batteries are equal.

Have a red top in the BMW, cost was pretty close to a stock one and I didn't have to hook up a vent to it...

Have a red top in the BMW, cost was pretty close to a stock one and I didn't have to hook up a vent to it...

In reply to TIGMOTORSPORTS:

I've got one. It's 12 years old, and I've had it in three different cars. Recently I left the lights on and the battery got totally drained. I charged it up and its fine. Well worth the money.

I've had two Hawker Odysseys, each lasted for little over a year. I hadn't heard of battery conditioners until well afterward, which would probably have improved their longevity. The huge advantage of this type of battery is their light weight relative to wet cell lead acid batteries. The downside is that although they are sealed (can't add water/acid), they aren't maintenance free and don't take kindly to full discharge (ie leaving lights/radio on). When my long-term project is again ready for the road (at this rate, about the time my 5yo twins are ready to graduate college), I'll buy another Odyssey.