Anyone use an Odyssey battery? Are they significantly better than any of the "garden variety" batteries, and worth the extra money?

 

I've used two Odyssey batteries over the years in our C6 Z06. To give a bit of background on my own view of batteries, I think I should say first of all, I do prefer using AGM batteries in most of my vehicles. I've been using them since the early 90's when I first discovered that under normal use, they would last at least twice as long as a typical wet cell battery, regardless of the brand.

One of the first things I did after purchasing a C5 in 2004 was replace the (rather new), name brand wet cell battery for an Exide AGM I had in another vehicle. I did this because back then I was reading almost daily accounts of wet cell batteries leaking in the battery compartment of the C5 and doing significant and costly damage to vacuum lines, the wiring harness and the PCM. That AGM lasted more than 10 years when I replaced it with another AGM, this time an Interstate.

I chose the Odyssey AGM for our C6, because at that time it was the only AGM I could find to replace the (twice replaced) original Delco battery in the C6, Z06. That battery is in a very tight compartment and uses cables that would not accommodate a battery that didn't have the posts in the original positions. Odyssey made an excellent AGM in my view that fit the compartment perfectly and had the terminals in the correct position.

The benefits of using an AGM in the majority of my vehicles, from cars to trucks, Motorcycles and lawn tractors, far outweighs the cost in my personal experience.

The current Interstate battery listed for the C5 Corvette is the MTZ-78. This is the current replacement for the battery in my car, the MT7-75DT (Dual Terminal). I don't know if Interstate offers the dual terminal in the AGM battery any longer. I also have it hardwired with a pigtail to plug in my Battery MINDer.






Good luck... GUSTO

 

Thanks for the info! I'm the original owner of my '01 C-5, and joined this Forum at the time I bought the car. As soon as the "leaking battery panic" set in, around the beginning of '02, out went my perfectly functioning OE battery, and in went an Optima, and the car has had nothing but an Optima, ever since. I get a little antsy with a battery that's over 4 years old, and have been removing the Optimas at that point, and in the past, transferring them to my more frequently driven Camaro. However, I sold the Camaro a few years back, for various reasons, so I don't have a car to "retrofit" the current Optima to.

The present Optima is getting to be close to 5 years old, now, and I recently set a couple of "check engine" lights, that were attributable to a momentary low voltage situation, so I'm thinking that the battery is beginning to fail, therefore I'm thinking of replacing it, and I'm weighing my options. One thing I'm still set on, is an AGM battery....

 

You’re going to get a ton of different opinions but odyssey appears to be highly reviewed regularly. I have a red top right now and have never had an issue although many complain that optima’s quality has gone bad.

 

In all honesty, I haven't had any issues with any of my Red Tops, either, but as I mentioned, I usually replaced them around 3 years of age (the length of their warranty period). I used to have a friend who worked for the local battery distributor, and he'd simply "warranty" them for me, and then put my old one in one of their shop's trucks. My friend left there, so I no longer have that connection.

 

that’s the best way to do it. People always say red top is crap and then I ask them how long they’ve had it and they’ll say like 5-8 years. Lol. That’s pretty good if you ask me.

 

Probably doesn't help the battery's life, when the car sits in the garage, stationary, all winter....but I do put a charger on it every 12-14 days.

 

I have used nothing but Odyssey AGM batteries in all of my vehicles for the past 15 or so years. I also use them in my two ranch gates. For years I tried numerous wet cell and AGM batteries in the gate boxes, but they all die in anywhere from 2 to 3 years. The fact that they sit in black steel boxes in the Texas sun, being charged by a solar panel, probably leads to their short life. Having said that, I put Odyssey batteries in both gate boxes more than two years ago and checked them a few weeks ago. Both are holding their charge like they were new. We'll see how they fare.

Bottom line is I feel that Odyssey batteries are worth the expense.