4Mogger

Comparing an Odyssey to an Optima is hard. The Odyssey will be about half the size of the Optima for equal performance. In other words, two Odyssey batts taking up the same space as one Optima and will have roughly 4 X's the power.

And roughly 4X's the cost!

Knuckles

did you leave all your lights on? if so then that must be one great battery!

i have a red top, best battery i ever bought. i do feel the extra money i spent on my redtop was worth it.

4Mogger

Naked is good. But you do buy your girl lingerie, right?

Same thing...sort of...

AxleIke

I didn't "hear" it.

Got one. 97 4Runner.

And you described exactly what I was talking about. Too tall, needed some custom working with a 2x4 to work. A custom welded bracket would be better.

Texas_Ace

Yeah, they cost a little bit but you just can?t beat the power they have. I know compared to the Optima in my friends taco mine cranks much faster. And it running all of my lights fine should say something.

LOL, man everyone is a comedian tonight! Lol

No it was just the headlights.

To tall? Don?t you mean to short? Thus making it to small?

breknraj

I've been using Optimas since the late '80s, and I have had excellent luck with them. They are incredible batteries when that weather gets cold (as it can at 10,000 + feet)

Running the Optimas plus Mobil 1 0W30 Oil has worked for cold weather starting for years - parked outside, with no engine heaters.

The only down side that I have seen has been the fact that when they do decide it is time to die (usually around the 7 year mark), they don't give very much warning. When I hit about 6 years on one, I start paying close attention to the starting. The first time I have a rough start, I get a new Optima ASAP.

In short, I do believe that they are worth the extra money.

Midget96

Odysseys are a much higher quality battery, but you do pay a premium for it. The PC1500 that fits the 4Runner battery slot is ~$225+ridiculous shipping.

I used an Odyssey aircraft battery in my old Integra. I must have drained it completely 4-5 times when I would leave the dome light on all night, but once I juiced it up, you'd never know it had been severely deep cycled. That and it stood up to numerous track events mounted next to a glowing hot header as well as the under hood inferno of Arizona summers.

Several of my friends have had Optimas die for no reason in both cars and trucks. Either they can't take the heat or they just aren't built all that well. I don't trust them.

I use the "Jimi Hendrix" Exide Orbital XCD. Cost me $150 shipped and has yet to falter, even when I leave the lights on for 2+ hours.

BajaRunner

OH. MY. GOD... that one was just below the belt. Ouch. Now I have internal bleeding in my intestines. Thanks a lot.

No seriously, I think Tecate > Budweiser. But, we're talking cans here. I love canned beer. The similarities between urine and beer, it just makes you feel like a man... man.

RacerX

I have a red top in the M3 b/c I drive the car about 3 times a month... its 4 years old and always starts even if I don't drive it for a month.

The same goes for my NX when I'm not tracking it I can rely on the optima every month to annoy my neighborhood and scare most parents as I drive it around. I don't trailer the car yet so its a great back up and worked really well on the margarita machine until somebody converted it to a 2-stroke (bad idea)

I might put one in the Runner when the diehard it came with goes out, so far if anything the red tops have lasted a decent bit in the heat... no complaints, but these are different appilications

as for the Tecate, that what you keep around when you are afraid that someone's going to drink the good stuff... you add the lime and salt when its the only thing left or you happen to be the above person :-)

stormin94

My blue top in my boat was a champ, for many years. I think that the batteries are actually pretty close to the same as regular batterys because of how much longer the Optima's last. I did have a Red Top that was TOTAL JUNK, and I'm not afraid to tell you about it. I did let it go dead, and it never worked right again. Great customer service, I got a blue top instead...Free of charge.

As for Tecate, I will say that it is better than Budweiser. But that's not saying much. I can only stand Budweiser if I am completely smashed, and the good beer ran out. In otherwords, Tecate is not my 1st choice, but I will chose it over Budweiser ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!!! I would much rather drink Keystone Light than either of those two. It's smooth, and the price is right. There's not much that will beat $10 for a 30 pack..... at least nothing that I'll drink.

hross14

Just got Texas Ace PC 1700 and i am a little bit anal so i will fab a nice place to park my odyssey. So i would say it is not a direct bolt in but i dont see much of a problem making it fit nice and snug. Another thought is the Orbital. I have one in truck and run my winch off of it and it hasnt let me down yet (but that is only a couple two or three pulls an outing).

I got the Odyssey because i will be taking longer trips and want the added reliability. Dont mind people breaking down--just dont want to be the one HAH

Young's Double Chocolate Stout--best beer ever. But it is thick and usually best consumed in cold climates

CJM

Personally selling batteries for AAA for a living doing rodeside I can tell you the number one cause of battery failure is improper maintenance. Once you see your terminals starting to look like a cake even a little the battery is on its way out, the gases have leaked out.

If the car drains down for no reason and you jump it you have decreased its life, if you run a highpowered stereo system, lights, etc same deal.

However properly cared for and paid attention to it will last. My work van has a dual terminal battery in it and it was made in 00 yet it keeps on going b/c the van is constantly used and such. However I can tell you right now its on its way out b/c yesterday I had been off since friday and it was almost dead. Hooked my jumper pack to it and voila it worked and I let it run for 2 hours idling at my shop and such and its fine. It will die again, only time will tell but I dont worry b/cI carry batteries so it doesnt matter.

BajaRunner

Hmm interesting posts. Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I might not need one since I am not really drawing too much power as my truck stands at the moment. I'll tell you what, the truestart from Toyota has been a great battery. Its been 3+ years, and still working great. I just wanted a new battery before I go on a road trip in January.

Also, Tecate, is by far the best beer in the world. you guys don't know what you're talking about!

hross14

The reason that smiley face is drinking a DARK beer is because it is Y.D.C.S.--they figured--what would be the best beer i could make him drink!!...

MSR

One word acid not the good kind you ingest but the boiling over eat up your fine ride acid. When a lead acid battery gets drained down and you have to jump start your vehicle the rapid charging of your alternator kicks in the hydrogen and sulphur that the battery releases and carries acid to the top of the battery pushing small amounts out the vents. Add steep angles now it runs out the batt tray all over your sweet ride. Optima had a rash of red top failures 12 mon. ago but now are much better i install them every day. Even without a yellow top warranty I would have replaced any failure on any optima before three years old. As for batt chargers also think about one with a 1 or 2 amp setting this will help bring back almost all dead batteries to full capacity

linuxrunner

Many groups around here require that you have a gel battery to wheel with them, this means optima or the like they will usually say gel on the battery. May want to keep this in mind of you need a new battery.

spindleshanks

Gates Rubber Co. invented the Optima. They sold the design pretty quickly. The original point of sale display for Optima batteries said Gates all over it.

rearviewmirror

All the stuff listed above that people are raving about the Optima could be achieved by any mid-grade battery. Just like everything this planet if they build it someone will buy it. It usually comes down to good marketing. Other than a sanctioned rock crawling competition their ain't nobody checking batteries to go wheelin'. It'd be some extreme to cause a battery to leak. Running radios and accessories, I'd venture to say that any $60 battery would be up to those tasks as well. There was someone who said he only starts his M3 monthly and thanks to an Optima it always starts. I call BS that it's the Optima, I've got an M3 and another car that I don't start or drive for 1-2 months at a time, the BMW has a Bosch and the other car a no name brand. They always fire up when I need them. Hell my Ducati has a Yuasa in it, sometimes it sits for 3+ months and still starts. Just do your homework before spending any real money on something that has no facts behind the marketing and only a 12 month warranty.