Interstate. This topic has come up a lot -- you might use the 'search' feature to get a week's worth of reading.
I guess I'm the odd man out. I have an Optima Red Top. Heard of some people using deep cycle marine grade batteries with good results.
No you're not, Doug. I've had dependable service from my Red Top for the past five years without the use of a battery tender. I drive my car regularly, year round. The Optima Red Top is designed for regular use. Barry
Even with a battery tender, my three year old Red Top has a hard time cranking the car. I'm going with Interstate. (But then, I also want to swap out that battery hog recovery system.) So how many people with "trouble free" optimas have recovery systems or alarms (that they use)? I can use just about anything in the Alfa -- it doesn't even have a clock. When it's off, it's *off*.
Slight thread resurrection, but-- I have a yellow top in my 355 with a very hungry alarm, GPS, stereo, etc, etc, and it's been trouble free for over two years now. Same deal with many of my other cars with even higher idle power demands. The issue with the optimas, I find, is that they really don't like being left in a state of discharge for very long. If they're kept above 11v (e.g. drive the car), they're great.
The size is a Group 34R. Some Group 34's will fit if you reverse the battery around, but careful, sometimes the cables will not reach the terminals. The only difference between the 34 and 34R is the terminals are reversed. If you can get a Group 34 to fit, I would highly recommend a Sear Platinum absorbed glass mat battery. It was the highest rated battery in recent Consumer Reports testing. 4 year free replacement warranty, totally sealed, so it can never leak battery acid. 880 cold cranking amps. Maintenance free. Low internal rate of self-discharge, so it can sit for weeks and months and still start. Not cheap, about $189 or so. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850034000P?vName=Automotive&cName=Batteries+%26+Chargers&sName=Automotive+Batteries
Famous last words, I guess. Anyway my >5 year old Red Top died last month. All the posted issues with the current Optimas considered, I replaced it with an Interstate. Barry
I agree with Bullfighter it's good to hear differing viewpoints, I use a redtop w/a tender....BUT the bigger issue is; should we change our belts every time we replace our batteries? Just could not resist
I had the same die hard in the Alfa for 13 years. Two years isn't even the warranty period. Anyway, I had that "alarm" (actually remote kill) system removed -- it was a lot of the cranking problem by itself. I'll see how the red top does with just the stereo memory (1ma) and clock. But there's an Interstate dealer on the corner, so the optima is on probation. (It's three years old, now. )
