Luis de Prat

Yesterday I drove the 951 from Madrid to Barcelona, after sitting for a week outdoors at a friend's house while I was out of town on work. The car started just fine but I'll admit that I drove it home on the Spanish "Autopista" at highway speeds that probably would have gotten me locked up in the States. Never thought the needle could creep up so far...

My car has 65K miles and is usually kept indoors in an underground parking structure, so cold cranking, etc. wouldn't be an issue. However, over the past 4 years since buying it, the battery has been disconnected for long periods of time between the opportunities I've had to use it.

Battery is an OE Porsche Moll brand installed by the PO shortly before I bought the car. Moll is an official Porsche supplier and was ranked among the top brands in Europe. It's worked very well until today, when I went to start the car and it's dead, so I guess it's time to get a new one.

Available battery brands obviously depend on where you live, but I'm curious about the brands you guys favor for your 944s. My 83 in the U.S. has a Diehard battery, my S2 had an Interstate battery while in the U.S. and now has a Varta battery. What batteries do you guys use?

hoffman912

not a 944 owner per say.. but a big fan of optima.

Cyrus951

Optima Red Tops all the way..

Strike-Force

Excide...

Matt H

The Optima batteries are made by Interstate.

In the US there are only 3 battery manufacturers (yeah for ALL those brands, only 3). You could probably search the net to find out who makes what.

I am an Interstate fan and after selling batteries for years wouldnt touch an Exide if I had to walk to work instead.
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Luis de Prat

So Johnson Controls makes Diehards... Who are the other major U.S. manufacturers?

Dark Lightning

Does a Red Top fit in the stock battery location?

Cyrus951

If you can find the ones with an R in the code (reversed +/- points) then it will, otherwise you'll have to lay it on it's side. There's nothing wrong with laying it on it's side, because of the gel the Optima's use.

FletchDM

I just replaced a red-top Optima last night with a new DieHard. How long are Optima's supposed to last? This thing was toast.

Matt H

They have a 72 month warranty.

http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content...autosealed.asp
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jjjr944

Time for a new one myself.
I currently run the OEM from the dealer. $110.00US and the current battery I have is made by Douglas for Porsche.
Battery cover fits to prevent water issues and arcing probs, so it's a plug and play. Longevity has never been an issue and I run a battery mat underneath for the acid issue.
I'll run an Optima for the Miata, but have no time to mod mounts to make it work for the 944.
YMMV.
Good Luck.

PorscheDoc

I have always had great luck with cheap walmart batteries. Last cheap battery (not the yellow ones, which are their "premium" batteries) went 9 years in my truck. My battery died in the 951 friday morning, and i was suprised that walmart did not list the porsche 944 in their book for batteries, only the 911. Instead of researching what the proper size would be i just went to the parts store and picked up an autocraft or whatever it is that Advance Auto parts sells, since that was what was in it. Still wish i could have got a walmart battery.

FletchDM

"They have a 72 month warranty."

Thanks... Wish I had the records from the PO. Oh well.

Cyrus951

Fletch,

That's the great thing about it! You don't need a reciept, they scan the code on the top of the battery for it's history.

icat

Karl - that's been my experience exactly.
Call me a cheap scape if you will, but as Matt posted - there are only 3 mfgs out there.