I posted this in the 4th gen forum but then thought maybe this would be a better place for it. Bejay I am going to PM you because I believe you have an Odyssey.


I need a battery for the turbo car. I've got a marine battery box located in the trunk, but I can scrap that if needed. I'd like as light a battery as possible, but the turbo car is sometimes difficult to start, so it's gotta be able to crank it over for a little bit if neccessary at least (like 30 seconds of cranking).

I am on Odyssey's website right now. Anyone with opinions on any lightweight batteries.

 

I got the idea from jime and used a jump box battery. I had a jump box laying around which was 400A that i used the battery out of it weighs 13 pounds.I was considering mounting a battery in the trunk but didn't like the fact that i needed a kill switch and the vented box to run at the track.All that and the weight adds up again.You may have to have a kill switch anyway for your times but i'm not sure on how fast you have to be in order to have one.I would look into these since there very cheap and small enough to be tucked anywhere in the engine bay.

 

just mount a regular battery in the trunk. those lightweight batteries are (no offense) a ricer mod.. they do nothing but cause problems, especially when the car is having a rough morning starting.
you'll end up carrying around a jumper battery most of the time as well, which winds up weighing just as much as an Optima red top.... so you just shot yourself in the foot.

 

So you're saying they just don't have the cranking capacity to start a hard starting car? Maybe I will just go with another die hard then. I just figured I'd get a lighter one to save the 40lbs or so. That with my SSRs and the eventual CF hood again would be like a 100-120lb weight reduction. Thanks for the info.

 

well they'll usually crank the car over, but not for very long. they just don't have much reserve power, and especialyl the cranking amps needed to turn an engine that doesn't want to turn over.

I've got some friends around here with SE-Rs that had them and constantly drove around with a jumper battery in the trunk for the 3 minutes they listeend to the radio before starting the car, or the 5 min they had their headlights on when tinkering on something before leaving somewhere..
on a REAL race car where ounces mean thousandths, there are many other ways to lose weight more effectively on a street car.. A car with tons of electronics needs a decent size battery, and there's no way to get around it.
(hell, look at NASCAR.. they still run a full size battery in them even, and they will do anything to save a few ounces!)

 

i have never had any issues with my odyssey PC680MJ. our climate does not get extreme either way though. i had one slow start in winter when it was around 27 out but that the only issue. SR and I picked them up at the same time with no issues for either of use. it weighs close to 15lbs and my stock battery was around 35-40lbs. i got it because my old one was on the way out, the odyssey is drycell, and it dropped 20lbs. as matt stated, i never leave the car with power to any accessories if the engine is not turned over because it has very a small reserve.

 

Mentioning a racing series that requires a minimum vehicle weight is a poor example. Who wouldn't trade in lead weights for some extra battery capacity in that case?

 

i use a walmart lawn and garden battery now cost $18, cranks my 3.5 fast and my alt is underdriven.

havent weighed it its prob 10-13 lbs and it has the lawnmower type posts not car posts. i just use audio terminals to hook it up and if the battery goes bad i trade it in for a new one. but its doing great now no probs

 

I've used odyssey PC680MJ. It worked great until the middle of the second winter when it left my wife stranded a couple of times. I took some advice from my brother who also runs this battery year round in Phoenix, AZ and got myself a Battery Tender. He said this has helped keep the battery 100% reliable for him. I'll see how it works this upcoming winter.

Here's the battery tender I bought.

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=DEL-022-0157-1

These batteries do drain quickly. My first experience with that was washing my car with radio on. 30 minutes later, I couldn't start my car.

 

I use a hawker battery in the race car. Works great but it is not exactly a heavy amp load. Relocating the battery adds more weight to the car and really is no good either. You will need a lot more than moving 45 LBS to the rear of the car to get good balance with a maxima.

 

I don't do it for weight balance with this car so I don't have that excuse. Its relocated because there is a big turbo up front and my IC piping puts my BOV right where the battery would be.

 

Optima makes a small battery thats pretty light weight for Civics and Integras, here are some specs- its 29lbs.
BCI Group: 51
Voltage: 12V
CCA @ 0*F: 500
CA @ 32*F: 625
RC: 70
AH: 41
Factory Warranty: 12 Month Free, 24 Month Total

Westco makes a repleacement battery for a Miata, its specs are -
Voltage 12
Amp Hour 31
CCA* 475
Length 7.5"
Width 5"
Height 7.25"
Weight 25lbs
MSRP $84.95

You can get the Optima D51 or reverse post D51R on Ebay from Remy Battery for around 115 bux- and its got free shipping out of WI, I got my Optima from them and it was at my door in 1 day.

Westco goes for 80 bux plus 10 bux shipping on Ebay- look up Miata Battery.

Like you I was going to get a light weight battery but I was too concerned with starting issues in the winter and my 100K mile old OEM battery was on its last legs so I got the biggest Optima yellow top avalible (that fit), since I got a street car which sees some autoX or road racing weight was a issue but I don't regret my purchase.

 

i was looking to get the PC680MJ for a while but now i'm not so sure after what blackbird said. i'll be moving up to chicago this august so i'm worried about the cold winter starts and i won't be driving my car everyday (maybe 2times a week since i'll be a full time med student).
anybody have those batteries that blackbird mentioned?

 

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