Historically, battery discussions on this board almost seem endless at times. However, changing technologies sometimes require issues (although heavily discussed) to be re-examined. I ran into this exact scenario when preparing for the race season earlier this year.
To make a long story short, I eventually traced a prolonging and irritating intermittent ignition problem experienced in 2008 to my 32 month old Red Top Optima. I have another Red Top that is five years old and it is still working fine in my truck. Therefore, the younger one in my GN was the last suspect in looking to resolve my problem.
After reading through many other posts on this board about which battery works for whom, the most positive remarks were from those who switched to AGM (Absorbed Gas Mat) batteries. Unfortunately, the drawbacks of these types of batteries were cost, charging requirements and availability. These costs were the major reason I decided to just go out and grab a basic Die Hard from Sears for the season.
As it turns out, Sears has began to carry an AGM battery under their own "Platinum" Die Hard label. The full replacement warranty is 4 years and it is then prorated from there for another 100 months thereafter. Nobody has a warranty even close to that as far as I know of. Not only that, you can go to any Sears in the country no matter where you are and get a replacement if needed. Another plus is that it comes in the correct group size for our cars so that no modifications are necessary to use it. Unlike some other high performance batteries, this Die Hard is designed to work with our engine's charging system. The out the door price is even less than the Yellow Top's shelf price. There are a number of performance factors that would take to long to list here concerning the advertised advantages of using an AGM battery design. There is a wealth of information on the net for that now.
So far this season, it has improved my 1320 performance, cranks faster and seems just as powerful as the day I bought it. It is also noteworthy that my GN is not a daily and only gets out for racing a couple of times a month. Battery drain has not been a problem. Take it for what it is worth; I am impressed so far. This is comming from someone who swore off Die Hards ten years ago.
Link:
DieHard Automotive Battery, Platinum P-3 - Group Size 75/86DT - Model P-3 at Sears.com