okay, so I will be getting a new battery. I have read threads here talking about yellowtop vs redtop, but still don't quite "get" which one would be better, seeing as the yellowtop is only $20 more.

my understanding is the redtop is better for cranking (cold weather, whatever that may mean - I'm assuming it means winter, but who drives their car in winter? so is there really any advantage to the the cca if you are driving in 'regular' 72 degrees weather) and the yellowtop can do 'deep discharges'...

does this mean - if I like to run my air conditioner at full blast with the top down on a hot day - I should go for yellowtop? would the redtop work fine as well?
or under what circumstances would a yellowtop be better (if I understand 'deep discharges' correctly - does this mean its better if say I turned my car off/no alternator running - but put the key in the 'start' position so I could play the radio/turn on lights/etc - and then left the lights running for an hour with the radio blaring?)

i.e., lets say:
- I'm driving at night for an hour, lights on, radio on, air conditioning full blast, on the highway
- then same thing as above, but city driving (so lots of starts/stops/etc and max 35mph, so cooling fans constantly go on/off/on/off, etc., etc.).

since the altnerator is going - I'm "assuming" both redtop/yellow top would be fine... or - is this an example of a 'deep discharge' or serious draw that would make me say want to go with a yellow top?

I just don't quite get the advantage of one over the other, and which one I should choose... (also I'm assuming the yellowtop fits fine in the front just like the redtop?) thanks!

 

Which battery is best? Which exhaust system sounds best? What color is the best on a C5? Buy they battery you want. There are literally like 3 manufactures of batteries in this country. For me, I'm not dropping $200+ for a battery that I've read too many negative stories about, just because they look cool.

 

Neither

1. Buy a Walmart battery for 1/3rd the price
2. Drive car for 5 years
3. Buy another Walmart battery for 1/3rd the price
4. Drive car for 5 years
5. Buy another Walmart battery for 1/3rd the price
6. Drive car for 5 years
7. Laugh at the people who plunked down 3x the price for the their Optimas, bought a special Optima battery charger, and then had problems anyway after a couple years.

*waits for OptimaJim to explain how their batteries are a magical mixture of leprechaun jizz and unicorn tears and thus will last until the apocalypse*

 

Johnson Controls owns Optima by the way.

 

Yep, made in Mexico

And the WalMart Everstarts I mentioned are made by Exide.

 

Sometimes you need more options than most standard batteries have available. In the attached pic: Side terminals for OEM wiring, top terminals for stereo. I'm one of the Optima people (good experiences), but I like other batteries as well for my other applications, and I do own a Walmart battery, as well as a few of the auto chain store batteries. As a matter of fact, my Kubota diesel has a chain store battery in it, sits all winter not on a tender, and cranks first time every time. In my experience, most batteries are good (enough), as long as you get the correct battery for the application, and take care of it. However, if you run a battery down to the point the vehicle won't crank, it's pretty much toast after that, especially if it's more than 2-3 years old. I've never been able to recover an older battery (more than a few years) from dead to where it was reliable again. The Vette lives on an Optima tender, because I like the digital readout that tells me exactly what's occurring at the moment (maybe a bit ****). I have other tenders on a couple of vehicles also, and on some vehicles that rarely get driven, I just disconnect the battery till I need it. I have a 1994 Infiniti that has a chain store battery in it going on 6 years that's never seen a tender, gets driven maybe once every 4-6 months and has never given me a problem, but it stays disconnected till I need it.

Red versus yellow? Think of it like this: the battery is primarily for cranking the vehicle. Once the vehicle is cranked, the alternator is your primary source of energy with the battery being a "buffer." As long as your charging system is up to par (including alternator output wiring), you won't be discharging a battery driving down the road, so deep cycle is not needed for a car. Deep cycles are built to be discharged, then recharged, for certain applications that don't recharge while in use, like a trolling motor on a boat.

 

This

especially considering they're virtually all made by one of just a handful of companies

 

strange, walmart (online) shows 4048 batteries, asks me to enter the car/make/etc - I do (2001 corvette) - then it says "sorry, no batteries available."...?

 

Optima quality control may have gone down but most people are reasonably happy with their red top batteries. Want a yellow top? Sure, go for it, if you think the car is going to sit without a charger for long periods of time. Or buy any other correct AGM battery.

I use the "ACDelco 78AGM Professional AGM Automotive BCI Group 78 Battery" which, while technically not exactly the correct size, is confirmed to fit in the battery tray just fine. Why? Because it's fine and people said it's fine.

Also, can you please stop making new threads on the same subject? This is your fourth thread this week on the same subject.

 

As being in the Industry and supplying Race Cars , Performance Cars and such..... And attending SEMA, and multiple other tradeshow where we are talking about Lithium Batteries to Lead/Acid Customers. I can tell you without any bias.... Optimas are sucking quite hard since they moved to Mexico. I grew up using them and they were solid. But the number of people we meet saying their Optima lasted only 2 years or less is almost all across the board.

As mentioned above there are only a couple companies making all the Batteries and Johnson controls is the biggest... but honestly just go with an Interstate, or the Walmart Platinum Series which is the same as the Auto Zone higher end models, and the same as the Bosch models as well as multiple others...

Again not here to bash Optima... but it is a marketing juggernaut, even when you talk the guys who get the free Optimas for the Optima Street Car Challenge they say they always go through them. Something has really gone wrong over the last years with them, and I had one of their sale staff at SEMA come by our booth and say they are having issues. I remember when I was younger and they would get 8 years... now it nothing....

 

I have had my 2003 since it was new and now have 120k miles. In that time I have installed 2 Red Tops and currently have a Yellow Top. I live in Idaho, so the car is trapped in an insulated garage for 3 months a year. I was hoping that the yellow Top would last at least a month without using a battery maintainer, not so much, after 3 weeks it was as dead as the OEM battery or Red Top. I like the idea of an AGM battery because of the problems a leaking battery can cause, but they need a maintainer if the car sits for more than a couple of weeks.

Bottom line = buy a quality battery and a tender and keep an eye out for leaks.

 

Neither. Get an Interstate AGM.

 

Interesting batteries your company sells. Wireless Re-start? Cool....

 

Any 75 series battery will work in a C5.

I have an Everstart 75-3N in my '02. The Everstart MAXX-75N would also work.

 

Installed Optima Yellow Top in my 2002 convertible in March 2003. Just replaced it last month. 16 years!

 

I put a red top in my 2001 in 2014 and it lasted a little over three years. Will not ever use another Optima battery just my opinion. Went with a Delco for half the price.

 

Bought a red top Optima in 2013 and changed it in 2017 for a new one just for safety reason. Battery was still perfect. I am using the original to use in the garage and it still stay charged at 12.6 after a month of non use.