lenticular

I had an Optima Red Top in my '95 993 cab and found that it would drain in no time. Five days without driving the car and I would have to get the battery charger out. No doubt I have some parasitic drain on the electrical system when the car is shut off, but I have not had the battery die once since I installed a Diehard. Also, the Optima form factor was a little big, and I had to push in part of a plastic panel to make it fit (no big deal).

Unless something has changed, the 993 is not on Optima's list of cars that take a Red Top.

-John

FisterD

I have an AC Delco, purchased at NAPA Auto parts. No problems.

Edward

Ya know, I've read these threads and questions on the "best battery" for a long time now, and for the life of me, I don't get it. My experience in the past with many cars and motorcycles of different makes and various "duty" (from daily driver to weekend toy) is that a decent battery with decent cca and warranty is all you need. I've paid for the Optimas, bought other "top of the line" brand batteries, and used the ordinary ones from Delco to Sears to Kirkland (Costco). I've found, in my humble experience anyway, that it just doesn't matter! The expensive ones have died on me in as few as two years. The cheepies have gone as long as four. But there doesn't seem to be any positive correlation between cost and performance (given same cca, of course). The biggest factor affecting longevity is most likely whether it is kept at its full state of charge; keep it trickle charged if you don't use it daily, and that alone will add to its useful life. I feel there is just too much hype associated with "this type" and "that." Again, this is merely my opinion, but one based on lots of battery purchases over many years. So there you go. I don't want to discourage anyone from paying a premium for that fancy battery with the pretty colored top. But if you're interested in saving yourself some dough, just get anything with the cca you need, keep her charged, and use that cash you saved for a down payment for that mod you really want to do.

Edward

Pete Lech

I have had an Optima Red Top with a maintainer for 3 years now, and absolutely no problems other than forgetting to unplug the maintainer once.

Now I have a :Remove before Flight" flag on the drop cord.

Monique

Unmentioned brand: Odyssey.

Ron

I kind of mentioned the Odyssey in post #3. I don't want to say one battery is better than the other since I'm not an expert. But if someone was interested they could search using keyword odyssey and user name ron and find a few posts about the odyssey and the test of sorts that I did to compare it to an Optima.

I use an Odyssey.

177mph

Sounds like we need someone who's got some "battery insider info". Does anyone know more about the reasons why batteries fail or last longer. Maybe that would help?

dhicks

I agree with Edward. I have had several P cars since mid 1980's and have bought the full range of batteries...treated as they should be they all seem to go about 3 yrs on average and usually start to show issues the first sign of cold...therefore replaced...the main difference I see between me and many of you is that I use my cars daily and seldom do they go more than two days without use. IMHO itis down to individuals and their use not the batteries per se....just MHO....and I have never had a battery die on my in under two years.....thats 20 yrs and 5 previous pcars and two bmws.

DarrylH

This is all absolutely true, provided you follow the last three words of the excerpt. One discharge to flat in a non-deep-discharge battery severely compromises its longevity, or may kill it completely. If you never flatten a battery, ever, buy any decent quality battery. If you ever have a parasitic drain, you will bless the day you bought a deep-discharge battery.