Braille lightweight battery install
 

I swapped out my Porsche OEM battery with a Braille i48CX lithium Ion battery, (@ ~$1600 with charger). https://www.braillebattery.com/index...atteries/i48cx

I was thinking I was going to see a nice weight reduction that is rather high up in the car, and in the front end. Here's how it went:

This is the original battery:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7f9d302cf3.jpg

Here it is on the scales:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...94e52453bd.jpg

Here's the new battery:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...55f8a557f0.jpg

Here it is installed, with it's glorious 41.5 pound weight reduction:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...2e98559aae.jpg

The job took about 15 minutes, plus another 10 for me to retrieve a nut that dropped down under the battery shelf, which I removed to grab it. Here's a link to another thread that goes over how to swap the battery, but it's really easy:

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/1041...ement-diy.html

I will report back on the longer term experience, but my initial impression is that the car fires up immediately, possibly even quicker than with the OEM battery. I don't take my car out of the heated garage when it's less than 45F outside due to the Cup2 tires, so I don't worry at all about how it will do with cold starting, but the weight savings could help with under steer or at least make me think it does. Time will tell on that. Sambo had suggested a larger model (i49CE @ about $2500 with charger) with higher discharge/amperage, so we will see if this is all I needed, or if he is right again.

The only other tips are that you need to ONLY use the charger that comes from Braille. It's not supposed to be jump started either, so that's not so awesome. I will probably carry the OEM battery in my trailer to track events for a while until I see how it goes.

If you have done this swap, please chime in with any more thoughts, tips, or experiences.

Cool Randy let is know how the 48 does long term or with some "lingering" with key on. lots of guys do this to collect data, run multiple short bursts, wife in the car an so on. So the extra power and reserve can come in handy depending. The .1 factory battery is even larger and heavier! about 65lbs!

Sam, can you tell us more about how many of these you have done, and any other thoughts or concerns? Saving 40 pounds on a car is really staggering, and I think it's gotta be high up the list of upgrades to be done. Hell, Porsche would probably charge $25,000 for a 40 pound savings!

excellent idea for weight loss! Did you buy the charger separately or it comes with the battery? Do you have a model?

So I am assuming that the Porsche battery tender is a no go with this one?

Right, I bought a bundle that included the battery and the 1236L charger, both Braille. I'm still working my way through the routine, but it does say it require the Braille charger.

Here's the Porsche lithium battery at Suncoast @ $4150: https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/SKURSLITHIUM.html It says dealer programming is required, but I don't see why. I had no issues. Even the clock reset as soon as I got satellite reception outside, and my other settings all stayed intact. The Porsche "Battery Maintainer Pro" is also offered: https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/CHARGER2.html It says "An additional charge mode for Porsche lightweight batteries (lithium-ion) facilitates their use in motor sports, ideal for GT3, GT3 RS, GT2 RS, & other models with factory race batteries." I guess it would also work with the Braille. Is this the charger you have?

No I actually have the regular model, not the Pro. But according to the website, the Pro has a lithium ion mode for the racing batteries as you noted. Good to know.

All I am thinking is that between the Kline Inconel exhaust that I have on order and this battery I would probably remove 70 lbs or so from the car! this is a LOT of weight! Definitely on my to-buy list!

Maybe Sam could set up a group buy ?

Yeah, I should mention that the air tight resealable bucket is truly badass on it's own! Sam, which 49 battery are you suggesting, exactly?

I am very interested in a group buy. How is this different than the OEM lithium ion battery?

$4,150 for a battery WOW!

I see you can get the others for a lot less...

Here's the only article I could find about the Porsche OEM battery: http://press.porsche.com/news/release.php?id=510 ,but it's from 2009. The press release says it saves 22 pounds, but that's clearly not the case for my battery and this Braille solution.