Which Optima battery for 2001 360 Modena? | FerrariChat

Which Optima battery for 2001 360 Modena?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by kingsland, Apr 9, 2004.

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  1. kingsland

    kingsland Rookie

    Apr 9, 2004
    1
    Folks,

    At three years and 26,000 miles, I think I'm on borrowed time with the original battery in my 2001 360 F1.

    I'd like to put in an Optima, under the assumption that it's probably a much better battery than the original (Fiamm?). Which "Group #" (i.e., 24F) does a 360 Modena use? My manuals are with the car at Ferrari of Washington at the moment getting its 30,000 mile major or I would happily just RTFM.

    One of you fine folks must know the answer! Any other suggestions for the best battery I can put in the thing would be welcome. Is there a benefit to getting the Optima deep cycle Marine sealed battery over the automotive one? Both are sold by Interstate, which appears to have bought Optima or licensed their spiral cell technology.

    Larry Kingsland
     
  2. Ferrari Battery's arnt bad but the optima are lighter and are very sturdy and good for off-road and other type applications. Since we are talking Ferrari here


    The red top is a starter battery with lots of cranking amps.
    The Yellow top is a battery if you have lots of stuff like on a 4x4 vehical like winch,lights other stuff. It can be decharged and recharged alot more times then regular battery's.
     
  3. Cincy Ken

    Cincy Ken Karting

    Jan 24, 2004
    219
    Cincinnati
    I just put a yellow-top in my '89 328. I selected the yellow-top because it's the "deep-cycle discharge" version, supposedly life-tested to over 350 deep-cycle discharges. I felt this was important because (a) the 328 puts quite a drain on the battery when left sitting for a week or more, and (b) when not driven regularly, normal batteries have a fairly significant self-discharge rate. The Optima batteries are of the AGM (absorbent glass mat) variety, and have a much lower self-discharge rate, on the order of 2% / month, or so. Optima claims that their batteries can sit on the shelf for up to 12 months without requiring a boost. I figured that should be just fine when I put my car into winter storage for 4 months or so, provided I disconnect it. I could leave it on the charger, but I prefer not to do that for extended periods, particularly when unattended.

    Also, all the Optima batteries are more durable in that they are more resistant to shock, and they are suitable for charging with normal 12V chargers.

    I don't see why selection criteria for a 360 should be much different. If you have less of a drain problem, maybe the red top would be okay as well, but it's only about a $50 premium for the yellow-top. How can you go wrong?
     

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