Optima...Red or Yellow?

[8AV8]

I know the red has been the one to get for a long time. But a buddy told me that the yellows that are out now are better than the reds.

Any one care to share their experiece?

There are several choices,... which red or yellow, did you choose...650 CCA...900 CCA(cold cranking amps)?

TIA...

 

[Grumpy]

we have both here.. red is a little lighter (Melissa's GN) yellow for the DD that stays out all winter.. 40* below 0 and it fires right up

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Ive got a red in the Turbo-T and in my wifes jeep.... Yellow might be a lil' better as far as deep cycling or if it gets drained frequently.... as far as CCA... the more the better IMHO

 

[Blown&Injected]

I have had the red one in a couple of my cars for 5+ years. Often letting it sit in a discharged state and they keep cranking! Totally happy with my red battery!

 

[jasjamz]

Red top in my brothers 2001 Tahoe DD. Had the truck for 3 years and was in there when he bought it. Not a problem out of it yet.

 

[JayC]

Red's are CRAP. Every car we get in the shop with a red in it goes dead. I literally had 6 or 7 of them stacked up in a corner and the Interstate guy finally took them off my hands. The yellow Ive never had a problem with.

 

[Silver Fox]

Red's are CRAP. Every car we get in the shop with a red in it goes dead. I literally had 6 or 7 of them stacked up in a corner and the Interstate guy finally took them off my hands. The yellow Ive never had a problem with.

I'll never buy another red one (after two going bad on me).

Rob

 

[GNAT87]

Ive got a Red and no problems with it yet, I like it

 

[Sam Colalillo]

I am actually having better luck with an Autozone brand battery. The red top would not hold a charge. Went through two this summer and bought a Duralast battery in a pinch, and it is working better than the Red top.

The fuel system uses most of the amps the altenator puts out. You will soon see what I am talking about. I may need to upgrade the charging system. I learned that the red top did not have enough reserve capacity to survive in our car, but the Duralast battery did.

 

[WHEEZER]

Two reds here. One in a Ford truck for six years going strong. The other in wifes 02 Buick for four years going strong.

 

[TurboDave]

I agree, reds are crap. Don't know about yellows, but I've owned my last Optima. It wouldn't hold a charge when just sitting in the garage for 4-6 weeks at time.
Ended up going back to Sears. The car can now sit for couple months or more and will crank just as fast as if it were just run the previous day.

Went through two of those red tops before sears got tired of replacing them and offered me a great deal on a die hard gold (like I have in all my other cars).

 

[Grumpy]

well to me the problem with the Optima battery's is people don't use their cars

 

[TurboDave]

well to me the problem with the Optima battery's is people don't use their cars

Why should I be forced to use my car any more often than "I" choose to keep an inferior battery charged?
Thanks but I'll stick with my Die Hard alternatives. I've even got a couple Auto Zone batteries in my truck that perform better than the Optima.

 

[S2V6RACER]

I use a yellow top in the race car. I have had it for 4 seasons now and it still works great. I charged the batter 100% last winter when I put it away and it was charged 90% when I put the charger back on prior to putting back in the car. I do not leave it in the cold over the winter and fully charge it when it sits and keep it where it is warm. I know this doesn't apply to some but it is my experience with Yellow Optima. I heard Russ Merritt likes the Optimas, maybe he'll chime in with some tips... :biggrin:

 

[Bent6]

I have a red in my street car. Went through 3 with bad cells before I finally got a good one - and it doesn't hold a full charge if left sitting for a few weeks. I'm not sure I'll get another red top - may try the yellow next time.

 

[Eticket]

I felt I needed to post to this.

Red tops are in fact junk. Some close friends are electrical engineers who build mobile power supply systems for our armed forces (uninterruptable power supplies). They have tested them to find that they are in fact junk. Yellow tops that they test are fine though.

I've tried to preach this to alot of local friends here. Just statistically, 8-10 guys I know that have used them - had trouble with them - that is almost everyone I know with one. Compare that to normal batteries - millions of them - rarely being bad withing a few months/years use or even off the shelf.
I worked at a pep boys earlier in my life and it was rare to see a young regular battery on the return pallet.

 

[Silver Fox]

well to me the problem with the Optima battery's is people don't use their cars

OUch, that hurts.

 

[TurboDave]

My most recent Die Hard failure (in my 84 Z28) was only 8 years old.

 

[Grumpy]

OUch, that hurts.

Buicks are to DRIVE not sitting in a garage taking up valuable space where I could store more parts :biggrin:
Russ is now a true believer in these battery's :wink:

 

[miz]

i had 2 red go bad.They seem to be great until they get drained.Then they would only hold charge for a couple of days.Both mine had bad cells.I just dont drive car enough.I got a battery tender and that solved the problem.I have another one in my wifes honda that is a daily driver is fine.