Yes, I have some additional drain on my battery when the car is off. However, I'm aware of this and disconnect the items when it sits for more than one night. They are an amp for my sub and a maxq datalogger. Other than these which get disconnect, I have normal drain.

The batteries were not just dead, I was told by pepboys that they were internal shorts.

Just becasue you got lucky, does not mean that everyone will get lucky.

 

Actually it's the other way around. Just because you got unlucky doesn't mean everyone will get unlucky.
There's a number of people just on this board alone that have had good service with Optimas.

 

All of my cars have had OPTIMA batteries...in fact, I've been using them prior to them even been available to the general public.
I've never had one fail. Common sense might suggest you buy one from a source that sells lots of batteries so you get a "fresh" one, but that's not really necessary.
Longest OPTIMA battery I had was 7 years and when I sold that car, the new owner was still using it two years later. I do keep them on a BATTERY TENDER PLUS when in storage.
Dang, we haven't had one of these beat up on OPTIMA discussions for a few weeks now...

 

My car has some damage that is the result of a leaking lead-acid battery. Fortunately it was caught in time and the PCM and wiring were not compromised. I would never put another one of those in my car. Whether Optimas are good or not is apparently up for debate, but I wouldn't put anything other than an AGM battery in a Vette.

 

 

Personally...will pay the extra money....

http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

Since all the electrolyte (acid) is contained in the glass mats, they cannot spill, even if broken. This also means that since they are non-hazardous, the shipping costs are lower. In addition, since there is no liquid to freeze and expand, they are practically immune from freezing damage.

Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.

The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.

AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.

AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.

Even with all the advantages listed above, there is still a place for the standard flooded deep cycle battery. AGM's will cost 2 to 3 times as much as flooded batteries of the same capacity. In many installations, where the batteries are set in an area where you don't have to worry about fumes or leakage, a standard or industrial deep cycle is a better economic choice. AGM batteries main advantages are no maintenance, completely sealed against fumes, Hydrogen, or leakage, non-spilling even if they are broken, and can survive most freezes. Not everyone needs these features.

 

I'm having good performance with my red top, but will say that all of our cars live on float chargers when in the garage. I'm very sure that this is why I have no battery issues.

 

This one fits:


the yellow top will look the same but with a different color. If you're near a Sams club or Costco, they're prices are the best I've seen, even online. Your other option is to see if auto zone or Orielly's will match an online price.

Reguarding Spark plugs, I tried the NGK TR-55 copper plugs, but my car didn't like them. I have a set of AC DELCO iridium # 41-985 on order. (highly reccomended by a fellow CF member) I believe the iridium plugs have a more concentrated spark due to the smaller electrode. If you want to try the NGK, get the iridium plugs.

 

They are not dry, and they are not gel. They are AGM (as has also been stated above), which means that there are fiberglass mats (think dishtowels) wrapped around the plates that absorb the liquid. AGM and gel are different types of VRLA (valve-regulated lead-acid) "maintenance-free" batteries which do not normally off-gas hydrogen and do not need water added, which are different from the older style flooded batteries which require periodic addition of water and off-gas hydrogen during charging. A nice white paper describing the various battery technologies is available here: http://www.cdtechno.com/custserv/pdf/batt_analysis.pdf

The ACDelco battery that came with my car was also an AGM. But apparently not all C5 stock ACDelco's were AGM's -- I can't say for sure about that.

When I replaced the ACDelco AGM a few months ago, I bought the Optima Red Top based on recommendations here. Based on subsequent complaints about the Red Top which I also read here, if I were buying now I probably would have saved myself about $100 and bought another ACDelco.

But maybe that's just buyer's remorse. Who knows, if I'd bought the ACDelco then I'd probably be kicking myself for being so cheap and not springing for the Red Top.

Anyway, I do like the way it looks. Not sure that red square in the corner of my engine compartment was worth an extra $100, but I do like it.

No matter what battery you go with, I recommend a battery tender unless your car is a daily driver. That's probably more important than the decision to get a Red Top or something else.