Is this a legitimate performance mod??



I mean the Battery starts the car the altenator does the rest so why will a Red top make my car faster??



Am I missing something here???

Who told you that?



If anything you'll be slower, I'm pretty sure they're heavier than your average battery.



Spill free is pretty nice though.



you'll also need a charger that has a setting for deep cycle batteries. I had a yellow top that got fried by a standard charger.

Optima Batteries acctually are a lot better than a standard battery because of the spiral wound technology they incorporate. The Spillproofing comes from the electrolyte of the battery being injected reather than a liquid. Depending on the model you buy they carry a cold cranking amp rating of 800-1050. We use them exclusively in the Air Force because of their adaptability to just about any vehicle, they do not freeze and I have not seen one blow up yet. Due to the vast climates Air Force vehicles are subjected to, such as the -40+ degrees in Minot North Dakota, to the blistering heat of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the middle east, these batteries hold up pretty well. Jims another advantage for you would be their resistance to the constant jarring from autocrossing. A normal lead acid battery would slosh around and the constant jarring of the battery would cause premature failure of the lead plates in the battery which is know as sulfating the plates. Over time as the chemical reaction occurs in a standard lead acid battery the lead plates break down and fall to the bottom of the battery causing the plates to short out over time, otherwise known as a bad cell. With your extreme jarring of the car the sloshing of the battery and the premature sulfation of the plates would be reduced by this style of battery. The weight of the battery is not much different than a standard Die Hard you get from Sears. They are maintenance free so you do not have to worry about a cap coming loose and sloshing acid all over your engien compartment or rear mount if you have one. I have on more than one occasion been able to bring an Optima battery back from the dead (less then 3 volts) by a slow trickle charge over 2-3 days, and used the battery for another 6 months before replacement was finally needed. Understand for fleet use these batteries really get a test. We use them in just about every vehicle in fleet that uses a standard automotive battery. I have to say I love them, the days of jumpstarting a vehicle @ -10 in the middle of a blowing snow and worrying that it may explode beaces it is frozen are over. If anything, the safety factor of these batteries makes them worth the price, especially when mounted in the cabin of the vehicle.



Hope this helps answer your question, and no I am not an Optima retailer or salesman :P

Camel - You make some good points and if this was for my DD I would say yeah I would get one.



I actually drop a 11 lb. Drycel battery in my TII for Autocrosses to save weight. Then put in my run of the mill Sealed battery for DD When that dies I might look into a Optima.



I see people listing the Red Top as a noteworthy mod to their car. Like it is adding HP or something. I was just wondering if I was missing something before I laught at them for thinking a stupid battery is actually making their car faster.

i would feal better with one if i moved the batterey inside the passenger compartment.

the reason i got a red top optima was because i relocated my battery to the cabin. so now i dont need to have a vented battery box. it just has to be secured.

No matter what battery you have you should have a vented battery box. I have my battery no matter what kind in a Moroso box in the extreme rear right corner of my car.

Bling effect?

i have a yellow top, relocated to the passenger bin. I like it because it lasts longer than a conventional battery and they are les prone to explode. And i got it for 100 bucks. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png about the same price as a regular battery.

The Optima does need to vent, the two grey discs on the top of it are the vents. And if you do happen to fry one, which can happen. They smell horrid, the gel that the electrolytes is embedded in really puts off a bad odor.

The main reason I got one was for the stereo--I can run it down real low at car shows,and it will always come back to life unlike a normal battery

i got one. orange top, dont ask. and ill tell u what, after i crashed my FB, the bulk of the impact was on the battery side. it sent the battery back so hard that it bent the ps pullet, took a chunk of the plastic off, one of the terminal wires was literally chopped off and one of the terminals was bent almost flat. took it out put it in another car and it started right up. ill get them from now on.

I bought one because the red top makes my engine bay look cool https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/cool.png, but also for other legitimate reasons stated above. The red top was definately a selling point though https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/happy.png, but would I list it as a legitimate mod? No.



*Double checks sig to makes sure red-top battery isn't there.*

https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...1047683621.gif

Yo Zen, I wish I knew you were in Hershey, I thought I was the only rotorhead in my area!!

Hah, I thought I was the only one around here too! What color is your car? I may have seen it. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/cool.png

Bought the red top optima for excellent starting power, good power for the stereo and all the other electronics in my car. It also shifted weight from the front of my car to dead center and lower (where it should be), cleaned up my engine bay, helped get more air in there for her to run cooler, and prevented a typical battery from leaking any harmful crap into my car from the storage bin right behind me. Performance mod- yes. Safety mod- yes.

Black, no noticeable mods yet though..

Any truth to this? I just got a yellow top for my FC which will be mounted inside the cabin. Any of you guys running the Optima battery having any problems?



I think his car had a short, maybe you need to remove all them wires you hace lying around your engine compartment. LOLOLOLOLOLOL Ooooohhhhh that was funny my stomuch hurts. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

This is no exactly true, if you were to disconnect your battery from the mix your alternator will fry in about a month because the load would be too great. Think about it for a sec, that alternator had to run your ignition system (obviously no simple task), then it would have to run all your acc.. The battery is there to help supply that additional amperage to help the alternator when there is a larger load. And then there was the magnito (and i'm talking about the supervillen).



But I doubt it'll make your car any faster, but they never, ever, ever ,ever die, Red Tops ROCK! https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...1047683329.gif

It makes em go 10mph faster and +6hp on top of that the decals make it get +3hp also.



lol



i'll prolly get em for auto X sakes.

WTF! https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...1047683561.gif

Those batteries are good.. They just take forever to charge if they go dead.. You can moiunt in Any position, even upside down.. and no problem.. I don't have one.. cuz I am cheap.. but My bro has a red top, and I made the guy with the S10 I built a system last year get two yellow tops.. they have lots of benefit over a regular battery.. but more power is a lie.. Having a good electrical system on an old car will fix that..

They do.. and thats when people start bitchin.,,. cuz they try and charge them and they seem to not hold charge... but it is becaue they charge super slow.. Hye They are made by Interstate Batteries too..