I have seen a bunch of posts about these batteries but im still unsure of which one to get. Im choosing between the red and yellow top. Right now im leaning toward a red top because it a better everyday battery and it will match my engine bay. I plan to replace my bose with Infinity Kappa interior speakers and 12" sub. I was also thinking about building a car computer later on. Will a red top be fine or will I regret not getting the yellow top? Thanks.

 

The YellowTop is an excellent battery for stereo systems when it is used as a second battery, but the RedTop is designed as an all-purpose starting battery. So I'm going to say RedTop, but then again I am biased. :-D
-Cyrus

 

Red top. But you might have to put something under it to make it fit.

Works fine for me, 2 500w amps, 2 12s, 1 farad cap

 

Get the redtop 75/35 or the other way around. Umm...costco, $99, and be sure it has the red tray on top so you can use it to boost it up so your battery clamps can hold it down.

 

Get a yellowtop....you wont regret it !

 

uhh yeah what he said!

Yellow Top........

 

what about the blue top?

 

All Optima batteries are excellent quality. I have a red top. The yellow top would be better if you are planning on running your stereo a lot with the engine off. If you run it mostly when driving, the red top would be fine.

 

yellow .. but you will need a block of wood to put under

 

cliff notes: unless you plan on draining your battery often then red top should be your battery.


http://www.optimabatteries.com/faq.asp#q12

12. What is the difference between your deep cycle and starter battery?
The OPTIMA deep cycle battery utilizes a different chemistry for the active paste material on the plates, and a slightly stronger acid. This chemistry changes allows for a much longer life in cycling applications, with only a slight reduction in power.

13. What does deep cycle mean?
Deep cycle means using the battery in an application that will typically discharge 60% to 70% or more of the batter y capacity. An automotive battery is an SLI (starting, lighting, ignition) battery. It's plates are designed to deliver maximum power for a short duration. Starting a car typically discharges an SLI battery only 1% to 3%. When an SLI battery is used in a deep cycle application, or in a vehicle with heavy accessory loads, the battery life will be shortened proportionally to how deeply it is cycled on a regular basis.

14. When should I consider a deep cycle?
Any time you need the battery to supply all the operating power for a vehicle or other device. Additionally, deep cycle batteries should be used in vehicles that have heavy accessory loads where the alternator cannot maintain the battery in a fully charged condition.

17. When should I use a Deep Cycle OPTIMA as a Starting battery?
"Deep Cycle" batteries are designed for applications that require deep, repetitive amperage drain, like trolling motors, golf carts, and electric wheelchairs, or RV house power sources. However, there are other applications, called "Heavy Cycling" or "High Cycling", when a Deep Cycle OPTIMA can successfully replace a starting battery to provide longer life and better performance.
In heavy cycling or high cycling applications, a vehicle will pull unusually high amperage levels from the starting battery due to extra accessories or limited alternator capacity. Public safety professionals, such as police, fire, and ambulance fleet managers often find that traditional starting batteries cannot provide adequate life and performance due to heavy cycling. This is an excellent opportunity to provide your customer with longer life and better performance by using an OPTIMA Deep Cycle battery in this type of application.

In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well, often providing up to two to three times longer life than conventional batteries. If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice.

Remember, it is possible for the customer to have a completely discharged Yellow Top OPTIMA that will not start their engine; the advantages of the Yellow Top are that it can accept a rapid recharge and it will recover from discharge many more times.

To provide the customer the best OPTIMA solution, it is, necessary to consider both the application and the charging system before recommending the correct OPTIMA. For example, if your customer has a Ford Expedition with an after-market alarm system, which OPTIMA would you recommend? If the customer drives the car every day, the Red Top would be the correct choice, since the amperage drain will be nominal and the battery would be recharged on a daily basis. However, if the customer stores the vehicle for a long period of time with the alarm system engaged, you should recommend the OPTIMA Yellow Top, since the amperage drain over several weeks would damage a Red Top and reduce its life.

 

or thread the battery posts a little more.

 

blue is a marine battery...it's similar to the yellow..but i believe it recharges faster.

 

Thank you, about damn time some1 else posted the differances between them all.

The BT is basically a YT but with diff skin & posts. They are pretty much identical as far as I know. I dont know about it charging faster but Doesnt really matter for me, im getting my YT soon enough.
Personally the only thin im still debating on how many caps I need Ill probably get two and get it over with.

 

I like the red top, but how much better is it than stock? Im sure it is but anyone have the stats on hand?

 

How long has everyone had their red top batteries? My friend said they die a little after the warranty.

 

i know that my yellow top died 1 week after i bought it.. good thing i 1) still had my old battery 2) didn't try to charge it..

took my old battery.. drove down to Autozone.. they tested it and noted it was a bad battery.. replaced it free under warranty and it has been great ever since.

so maybe someone got a bad battery? I know kev has had his RT for a while now and no problems "that i know of"

 

find me a battery company that makes batteries that lasts longer than the warranty.

regular batteries sell at 50 months, 60 months, 72 months, etc..

50 month battery the battery normally will fail at the 51st month.

i believe optima will last longer than 72 months.

 

Another thing to take note of, climate does effect the life of the battery. Im not sure how harshly it effects a dry cell, but a normal battery here in AZ doesnt really last longer then 1.5yrs. My OE battery died 19months after I bought the car. I rarley ever see wet cell batteries go longer then 2yrs here. There arnt many dry cells around that im aware of so I cant really comment on how long they really last.

 

Oh I see.. I saw the redtops w/ the plastic trays at Autozone and I was wondering what they were for.

 

if the tray is on the top of the battery its probably so they can be stacked, like on a shelf for storage or shipping.

 

I didnt get my battery yet but Im going to need it soon. Mine is about to go. Im going with a Redtop. Which model do I need, 75/35?

 

I have the redtop, its fine, and I never had any problems with it. That said, it is a little costly for a battery.

 

will the red top fit on 5th gen without any modifications???

 

From what I heard isn't the correct size 34/78???


JP

 

i just bought the 75/35. the reason i went with this one over the 34/78 is where the posts are located. i heard you have to bend your cables a bit to make them fit on the 34/78 since they are further in than the 75/35. therefore i had no problem putting in the 75/35 and so far so good.

 

That's the same size I got. Plenty of power, but a bit more compact and convenient package...

 

when i got mine last week, it only had 6V on it. had it hooked up to a charger for about 8 hours, let it sit for 12 hours to see if it would hold the charge, then installed. cranked up no problem. let the engine idle for like 30 min and haven't had any problems. put a DMM to a couple of days ago - engine off 12.5V, engine running 14.2V.

for $15 can't beat that.