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Is an OPTIMA battery worth it? First post on this forum.

B

boss351

Member
I was a long time member of that "other" forum and had been in hiatus for awhile. I come back and it is nothing like I remember... then I found this site, and its what I have been missing. My question is this, I am doing an efi conversion, with a one wire 150 amp alternator. I have the battery relocated to the trunk. I already have a marine battery box. I want to know if you guys think that the optima battery is worth the price? I know you can cut it in half and all that jazz, but as far as cranking a car over, Cold cranking amps, longevity and so forth, is the optima any better then say a auto zone gold battery? I don't have any experience with them and I don't mind spending the money if I'm going to have a noticeable difference.

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David Flak
 
First off, welcome aboard David!! Check yer sanity at the reception desk.

I've had an Optima red top in my 66 since 2004. I usually put the battery tender on it a couple weeks before track season starts in April and then leave it alone the rest of the year. It has no problem cranking my 10.5:1 compression, 289. For me, it's been the best battery I've ever bought.
 
My 67 had a dead short and destroyed an optima. I love them, but don't use them because I get a deal on another brand. If I didn't get the deal I do, I would use Optima.

Mel
 
Welcome David.
I have one in my car. I cant say its noticeable, but I havent had any problems with it either.

And Mark,
"silverblueBP" said:
it's been the battery I've ever bought.
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:wtf
 
I'm running the red optima battery and have had no problems with it. Probably won't put anything else in the car but optimas.

-rob
 
Put a Motorcraft in my Mach 4 years ago. I start and run the car probably once every three months...I hit the key and it cranks like crazy..never had a problem and no I don't use a battery tender
 
Thanks for all the nice posts guys. I have had my car since I was 14 years old. I am now 25. I have replaced every body panel on the car, had multiple induction systems, did some stupid stuff hacking it up, repaired it, now I just want to drive it. I think in 11 years I have only driven it less then 50 miles. SAD. I have limited funds due to a growing family, so I am trying to be wise with the money I do have.... sooo.. If it were you, optima or not?
 
I purchased an Interstate battery. I've used it for a few years and have never had a problem. It has 1000 cranking amps, an 85 month warranty, and was less than $100.

Optima batteries are good. They handle some extreme environments. For general use, I believe you are fine with a standard battery. If it were me, I would buy an Interstate battery.
 
"67TXStang" said:
I purchased an Interstate battery. I've used it for a few years and have never had a problem. It has 1000 cranking amps, an 85 month warranty, and was less than $100.

Optima batteries are good. They handle some extreme environments. For general use, I believe you are fine with a standard battery. If it were me, I would buy an Interstate battery.
Click to expand...

Thats the way i looked at it, plus you can buy almost 2 for the price on one optima. Even without the warranty, i think two batteries will last longer then 1.
 
"boss351" said:
Thanks for all the nice posts guys. I have had my car since I was 14 years old. I am now 25. I have replaced every body panel on the car, had multiple induction systems, did some stupid stuff hacking it up, repaired it, now I just want to drive it. I think in 11 years I have only driven it less then 50 miles. SAD. I have limited funds due to a growing family, so I am trying to be wise with the money I do have.... sooo.. If it were you, optima or not?
Click to expand...


in that case, buy an inexpensive battery!
 
Optimas are good batteries, but the expense is a little hard to swallow; particularly so when the two major technical advantages are of very little use for a Mustang:

1) ability to mount in any position
2) resistance to vibration damage

Don't get me wrong - I've got nothing bad to say about them - but as others have stated you can get two or three batteries at WalMart (<=I hate that place!) for the price of an Optima.

Good luck,
-Rory
 
On a budget go to Wally world and get their $65 battery. You can spring for the $75 one but you will probably only get an extra year or two out of that $10. In a Mustang with a good Alt, you should get several years from the budget one. Remember more cranking amps is better!

Mel

PS, I forgot my manners, Welcome to the insane asylum.
 
Optimas have advantages and disadvantages, and they vary between battery lines. Depending on how it's getting used, there are different types of optimas that will provide the best performance.

Red tops are fantastic starting batteries. In a daily driver with a front-mounted battery, they're overkill. In something that sits for a month or two at a time (but has no significant current draw) or sees severe cold-weather conditions, they're a great choice. They'll hold a charge for longer and put out more cold cranking power than a standard lead-acid battery. I've had my red-top in my '67 for about 5 years now, and it was 2 or 3 years old when I got it. It's still running strong.

The downside with the red tops is that they absolutely do not like to be discharged all the way, as would happen if you had a short and left the car sitting for a few weeks, or tried to use it as a deep-cycle battery. In my experience (in 6 years of selling them), this is the number one killer of red tops. Occasionally you can bring them back with an overnight 1A charge, but not always.

Yellow tops are great for vehicles that have heavy intermittent current draws (ie. large stereo systems or winches) or see extended storage periods. They're designed as a partial deep cycle, but do great as a starting battery as well. They'll hold a good charge for almost a full year without any current draw.

Like red tops, yellow tops don't really like to be discharged completely. And when they are discharged, trying to quick charge them will kill them. A high-amp quick charge tends to boil the electrolyte out of the battery, which can't be replaced. Keeping them fully charged as often as possible, either by driving the car or using a trickle charger, is the best way to keep them in good operating condition.

Blue tops are deep cycle/marine batteries and don't really have any place in a car unless you need an auxiliary battery to power big amps, winches, etc.

The one big advantage to an Optima that nobody has mentioned so far is the absence of corrosive/explosive gases while in use. A lead acid battery vents hydrogen and sulfuric acid fumes during operation, neither of which you want in your trunk. ALL vehicles that come from the factory with trunk-mounted lead acid batteries are required to have vent tubing to the outside of the vehicle, both to control rust and to prevent accidental explosion. The best option is to use a sealed gel-cell battery that reabsorbs the vent gases into the electrolyte.

Since you have a trunk-mounted battery setup, I'd recommend a Red Top or Yellow Top, depending on the planned use for the vehicle. Used properly, they'll last longer than most lead-acid batteries (which rarely last more than 5 years), put out more power, and usually be less hassle.
 
First , welcome on board.
Second , i would buy a regular brand battery ( bosch , motorcraft ect ) and a battery tender rather then an Optima batt.I hate to throw money away so i would buy a battery tender with the extra money you spent on an Optima.IMHO.
 
Since you're mounting the battery in the trunk.... if it's NOT an Optima gel cell battery it will need to be in a sealed battery box and vented (via a plastic tube) to the outside of the vehicle.

I assume your existing battery box to be installed on the passenger side of the trunk? If you can get the box to seal, it should be prretty easy to install a small (3/8ths diameter) tube from the outside of the box down to the existing vent at the front corner of the trunk drop off.
 
welcome over to the Darky side. :coo

Very good advice on the batteries. As stated the cost may sway you for the Optima but the old addage I think applies...you get what you pay for.

I have a yellow yop in my '67. Got it in the mail...free. I wrote Johnson Controls which makes most batteries about a Sears Diehard security battery they once made. It could be switched on/off with a code and I wanted another one. well since they no longer made it they sent me a yellow top free.

I have a Red top in my '87 Fiero...as was stated it needed a recharge (wouldn't start) because it sits for extended periods. The Yellow Top sits and always fires up.
 
Welcome aboard.

I have two optima red tops. One in my vw that i've had for years and one I picked up for the mustang project.

My vw sat for long periods of time and had gauges on a switch that I would sometimes would forget to turn off. I warrantied the battery out twice because it wouldn't charge. I emailed optima and I found out why. :

Hello and thank you for contacting Optima Batteries.

The only changes to the Optima product line have been to improve the product. Your situation is very unusual. Most all of the returns we get back are merely discharged batteries. How are you using the batteries? the most common technical question we get is around charging batteries that have very low voltage. If your batteries were experiencing difficulty with recharging, here is some good charging advice:

One of the best performance benefits to using an AGM battery is the fact that they have low internal resistance. Since this low internal resistance will allow AGM batteries to discharge to a lower voltage than conventional batteries, they can have compatibility issues with many of the older but common battery chargers. In addition, If any battery has rested in a discharged condition, sulfation has occurred and we need to convert this back into electrolyte. We need to “trick� the charger into thinking it is a recoverable battery. The solution is actually quite simple. Before hooking up your traditional automatic battery charger to the AGM battery, take a regular conventional automotive battery (anyone will do that has decent voltage like 12 or above) and wire it in parallel with the discharged AGM. Now hook up the charger to the conventional battery. The charger will now “see� the resistance and voltage of the conventional battery and it will start providing a charge. Leave the two batteries hooked up for an hour or so. Check the AGM each hour to see when it reaches 10.5 volts or above and then you can remove the traditional battery. Continue charging the AGM until it reaches a full charge or until the automatic charger completes the charge process. In most cases the AGM battery will be recovered. During the charging process if the AGM battery gets slightly warm that's OK. Hot to the touch is not OK and this method should be discontinued.

Hope this answers your questions. I love my optima's. No mess and have been a strong battery every which way I have used them.
 
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