mavfan

Man all you need is a "NeverStart" from Walmart, only $40.00!!!

In this case the price truely reflects the quality...

J Silverman

I actually have walmart batteries in both my 924 and my GTI. Never had a problem with them.

The previous owner of my car had mounted an optima yellow top. Like the red top it is too tall so he set it on its side. To secure the battery he screwed a plastic bracket into the battery tray and used some type of nylon strap to secure it. Needless to say it wasnt very secure so I had to remove it so I could pass tech for a track day. Too much effort for a battery that isnt any lighter than stock IMO.

Hoosier Daddy?

The Optimas are shaped like a six-pack with the humps on the sides. The factory hold downs will eventually cut through those humps.

mavfan

Here's my story. the P/O had a (N)EverStart in the car, it died and i got a replacement from walmart, it died a few weaks later. both times bad cells, maybe you got lucky, but so far i'm 0 for 2 with them, now i got higher quality ones in mine.

Edit, oh and I work at a Tire and Auto shop, and whenever we have a car come in with a (N)EverStart battery, we ALWAYS check it to make sure its not bad.

bearone

you said you'd post pics and i'm a little concearned about laying it on it's side, it wiggles a little with the stock fastener so i'd like to see the package and wasn't aware it was sniffing.

87951

KuHL 951

It's interesting that Consumer Reports did a test series on a a standard size battery Group 24?, I think. They all had similar cold cranking and reserve stats. Surprising the two worst batteries were the DieHard and Exides from Kragen Auto. The top performers were the DuraLast from AutoZone and the International sold through many places like CostCo. I've had bad luck with DieHards myself in the past and have used the DuraLasts in 3 cars for the past 3 years with no problems. The gen 1 Q45 is famous for eating batteries and I had to replace the Exide 72 month battery twice in 3 years. I've had the DuraLast in there now for 24 months had it's doing great so far.
The Optimas are great but don't expect an AGM (Absorption Glass Mat) type battery to take a quick charge if they ever go stone dead on you. It used to take 12+ hours to get the Miata AGM battery to a full charge. They can also be ruined very quickly by overcharging at too high a rate or by jump starting when dead. YMMV

UncleMaz

After listening to the other folks, you probably want something more secure. I am not concerned about it cracking, but I need to get to the autoparts store to find something to hunker it down. I don't like any movement either. Haven't brought the car to the track but it sounds like it is a nightmare to get past tech inspection. Haven't had the car on the road (after paint and weeks of neggling problems) anyway. When I say it moves a litttle, you do have to put some good force on it but it does move a bit. As an aside, if I recall, I could wiggle a stock battery too. The battery is strong otherwise. I paid $99 bucks at Costco and have had really good experiences with these batteries as I have had them in my Jeep, Saab and various motorcycles. I went through two of them (all of them replaced, free) before I was told how to mount it. Leave them for weeks and they start right up.

The car is now being smogged and a new muffler is being put on it at the same place. I should have it back tomorrow and will post pics if I indeed get it back and if you are still interested in the mounting orientation.

Tom R.

Thanks for the heads up on the AGM battery Steve. It is off to the garage tomorrow to disconnect the Miata battery. I was going to start it up every month or so, but usually forgot to do that with the RX7.

Like they say let sleeping miatas lie.

bearone

please post the pics.

87951

Kyle Donley

Go to Napa Auto Parts, get a Ledgend 75 month battery. 18 month free replacement, pro rated for the remainder of the 75 months. Part #7547.

Jfrahm

Wal-Mart batteries are nice, made by Johnson Controls I believe. I have had a number of them in many cars over the years. Killed one of them by deep-cycling it but that was my fault.

Manning

There are only a handful of companies that make all of the automotive batteries on the market. Johnson Control makes a lot of them. They manufacture the Diehard batteries for instance.

KuHL 951

Well Tom not exactly. The common practice for Miata storage is to keep an automatic trickle charger on them all the time that cycles on and off as needed. I kept one attached to the battery and just had the pigtail sticking out of the carpet when I planned not driving it for awhile. You shouldn't use one that charges at a rate higher than 500mA. NEVER leave an unregulated charger on them and try not to let them run down to dead. One reason the AGM style batteries are popular is there is no venting of corrosive gases so they can be placed in the trunk or behind a seat. If they overcharge at too high a rate they can swell up faster than Juan at an all you can eat taco bar.

UncleMaz

Forgive the lousy photography... Here you go.

josephsc

Interesting.... Just couple of weeks ago, I stuffed an odyssey 34R standing straight up into a 968 using stock brackets -- it had to stretch the cable but it fit (but I did duct-tape the connectors just in case....)

For you cold weather guys -- forget lightweight batteries (not enough CCA).