Ferrari 458 Italia dry cell racing battery upgrade

Yeah, I think what I would do is disconnect the battery, charge it and then reconnect. The computers in modern cars are probably a bit more sensitive than older cars which can be jumped without evening thinking twice about it.

I basically approach my 458 as though it were a UNIX server when I work on it

Ray

 

Never hurts to have a few hockey pucks around

Ray

 

The main reason I went with the Odyssey 925 battery was because I already had experience with it in my 360 and it had performed well over a number of years.

On my motorcycle, I do run a Lithium Ion battery and have had very good luck with it. I'm currently researching the possibility of using a Lithium Ion battery in the 458. This is the

https://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/braille/product_series/lithium_ion

I'm going to contact them this week and see what different size batteries they offer and what they recommend for my application, but if I an to measure the current setup to see what the actual parasitic current flow is when the car is locked and the alarm is on, etc. Once I have those figures, then I can determine which Lithium ion battery from Braille might function the best.

I'm also installing a battery cut off switch from the 355/360, as well as a small digital panel meter which can monitor the battery's voltage and ongoing current draw. First, I have to go over the wiring diagram for the 458, because a shunt needs to be involved and I want to make sure exactly what the starter draws in the way of amps, etc.

Ray

 

The other battery that looks interesting, but I don't think it's quite as light weight, is this one:

Smart Battery® | 12V Lithium Ion Batteries for RV Marine and Automotive

Here is a video showing how their batteries are constructed, which looks pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEe_F9jY-cM

Ray
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I would be interested to know as well. The Braille batteries certainly look interesting.

Their batteries look very interesting. I'm not sure if they are too much on the "race only" side of things, but as soon as I have a chance I will do some more research. Right now most of my focus is on the Alcantara dashboard project and fixing up my Singer sewing machine, so that I can complete that and check it off the list.

However, today, I did order a few more things that will help me figure out the battery stuff a little better. I picked up a 500 amp DC shunt, which will allow me to throw a meter on the car and see what sort of parasitic current draw there actually is.

I also picked up another ranging multimeter, which has a max and min reading.

http://innova.com/en-US/Product/Detail/3340?r=0.01287714725304099

I'm going to use that to see exactly what the max current draw is when starting the car. This will give me a better picture of the current loads placed on the battery. I'll also be able to monitor the parasitic current draw while the car is sitting. All this will provide a better window into the demands placed on the battery and should help narrow down what Lithium Ion battery might work.

I've also given some thought to building my own from 18650 cells, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth, especially if someone else is out there already doing a nice job if building Lithium Ion batteries for cars and motorcycles, etc.

Anyway, here is a photo of the meter and also a couple of the 500 amp shunt.

Ray
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I spoke with Gary over at Braille Battery, Inc. just now. I mentioned I was using the Odyssey 925 battery in my car currently, but that I was considering using one of their Lithium Ion batteries to save additional weight. Here are his comments regarding which battery might be suitable for use in the Ferrari 458:

"Most of the street/track day guys (Porsche GT3, Corvette Z06, etc) go for our Carbon Intensity I48CE as the 10 pounds is the lightest we would recommend. I know the Porsche guys can go a few weeks on it, but is still recommended to use a charger of sitting for more than a couple weeks due to nearly all the German cars having high parasitic draw when sitting compared to most other cars. We also have those same customers who go with our I48CS at 18 lbs with double the power & capacity, which far exceeds the huge battery in them from the factory. If size is a factor, then Our MicroLite ML30C is the same size as the Odyssey 925 but with double the cranking power, higher voltage and more capacity. It is the battery used in the factory race cars of Corvette, SRT Vipers and the new Ford GT."

and also...

"There is product benefits on our product pages, which is all based on feedback from the factory teams based on what they saw in performance and data logging versus lead batteries. We have less than a 1% failure rate, which is why all the American, German, Japanese and other OEMs use our stuff in their cars along with Most of Formula 1, Indycar and other series."

I'm going to go over the batteries they have available and also touch base with them after I determine the exact milliamp current draw the Ferrari 458 has while sitting. Once I narrow things down a bit further, I may purchase one of their batteries to use in the car. If I end up doing that, I will provide a more detailed review of everything here on Ferrari chat and link off this thread as well.

Ray

 

There's an really good interview with Gary from Braille Battery here on this YouTube video (at about 13 minutes into the program):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIw6wAAsbSA

Ray

 

The Ferrari master cut-off switch just arrived.

I'm happy to report that it's in outstanding condition!

Big shout out to Exotic Auto Recycling of Rancho Cordova for the great part. The one I had originally purchased didn't have cables, but I didn't notice it when I clicked buy-it-now. I emailed them to mention my mistake and they replied saying that they had already selected one with cables to send to me; wow, what great service! Thanks guys!

Here are a few shots of the part. I'm going to incorporate it into version 2.0 of the battery upgrade for the 458. I'm also going to include the 500 amp DC shunt - this will not only provide a convenient location to take readings with my meter (while the system is under load), but also may provide a location for a panel meter later on, which can monitor the battery in real time.

Ray
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The car has been sitting for about a week, so I thought I would check and see the voltage level on the 925 battery. When I checked it with the voltage gauge on the dash, it said 11.8 volts (approximately). Interestingly, when I actually put a meter on it, it read 12.53 volts.

According to your average battery chart, that means the battery had dropped down to about 90% of its fully charged state after a week. I suspect this is due to the alarm being on and also the parasitic current draw (which I plan to measure here pretty soon).

I left the meter attached when I fired up the starter and it dropped down to mid 9 volts from what I could see. Given the smaller size of the battery, that's about what I think you'd expect.

I'm considering switching over to the Braille battery to save more weight and also because I think I may be able to up the size of the battery slightly, while dropping off a few more pounds (although I haven't really had a chance to look at the batteries Braille offers and make comparisons yet). I am going to do that soon, however, because I am going to weld up a T6 aluminum housing to hold the battery and so I want to settle on which battery I want to run in the car before doing that (either that or make the mounting bracket adjustable).

Anyway, that's the latest from over in these parts

Ray
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I'm still debating on trying the Braille battery. I love the idea of saving more weight.

Speaking of Lithium batteries suddenly going dead, I think that's just what happened on my Dyson DC59. One minute it was working, next minute it was flashing a red LED that required a service call. Dyson diagnosed it over the phone and said the battery pack had failed. They are sending a new one.

I'm going to crack open the old one and see if I can maybe upgrade the cells in there (assuming it uses 18650).

I think if you venture into using very exotic car batteries, you definitely need to be sure you are keeping on top of things. I wouldn't have any issues running the Braille battery on the street, but I probably would check it now and then to see what sort of voltage it's holding during periods of non-use.

The Odyssey battery seems to be doing fine. I have noticed that its voltage drops a touch if left sitting for a week or so. Still kicks the starter over fine though. I haven't wired in the meter yet, but if I make a better battery box then I will - and that will allow me to provide some more information on how it withstand the parasitic draw (and exactly how much that is in milliamps).

Ray