Steve-O

Its finally time to buy a battery for my 08 C6, (i got 7 years on the oem). Optima gets a ton of press on all the tv car shows, magazines, etc., but i want to hear from other vette owners.

#1. Is the red top worth the $200 Autozone charges ?
#2. I have the least expensive Battery Tender. Will the Battery Tender cause any problems to an agm battery ?

I only drive the car 2 times a week on average.

RICH 28

I never had an Optima, but for that price you could get two new AC/Delco batteries. You got a good long life on your oem battery, so why change?

HK770

Red topped Optima in mine and and tender. Just re- plugged less than 10 min ago. been in car about 8 months and on tender for same time. (Off And on)

mcandrew67

I have the yellow top and the battery tender has never been an issue.

dbirdhouse1

been fine (only a few months though) and I got Auto Zone to match a retail competitor (saved about 20 bucks)

Dave S

I've had a Red Top in my '05 for the past 4 years & have been using a battery tender with no problems.

BJB714

I can't comment directly on the Red Top, but I have owned 2 Yellow Top Optima's and both refused to charge after running down while in winter storage.

I gave up on them and switched to the Duralast Gold and have had no regular issues and no issues with charging back up after being run down while in storage. So in my opinion - No, the Optima's are not worth the money.

Steve-O

Thanks to everybody that posted. Its exactly the info I was looking for.

Rich does have a good point, the optima is double the price. Im just thinking the optima may be the last battery i have to buy, (if the oem went 7 yrs.), and with the battery tender maybe i could get 10 years plus on the optima because a dead battery really jams up your day when you're on the way to work, so the fewer times you have to replace the better.

FWIW, Im 62 so this might be my last vette, so im hoping its my last battery.

RJRSW

I stick with the Delco in all my vettes, they last a long time, I never have to use a battery tender to keep them working.

When it came time to finally replace the original Delco in my 2007 convert I bought a Delco professional from the dealer with a 6 year warranty for $85 out the door.

wrh3

Optima has not been great for a while, when they first came out I used them and they were great, after the last one was replaced under warranty 3 times I gave up- this was over 10 years ago.
Take a look at Odyssey (Does require a proprietary charger)- they last forever, I have not been able to kill one yet.

RJRSW

I have bought 3 more vettes since I turned 62 and only had to buy one new Delco battery during that time.

I cannot see why you would want to change brands after getting 7 years out of the original Delco, I have never heard of a Optima lasting that long.

FAUEE

IMO... batteries these days are just about the same. The benefit of the Optimas is you can mount them in all sorts of stupid ways without worrying about them leaking. They advertise about all their high G tolerances during braking acceleration and turning, but I've never heard of anyone having issues with their electrical systems due to a battery sloshing around on the track.

Outside of that... there's only a handful of companies that actually manufacture lead acid batteries left. All the brands you see out there are just relabeling those batteries.

Personally, if I was going to spend more than whatever the battery would cost at my local Sam's/Costco/whatever, it'd be on a light(er) weight battery like a Braille.

voodoochikin04

The dry cell odyssey batteries are amazing... and amazingly expensive. I used for for awhile and it never lost charge even after sitting over winter without a tender. Amazingly expensive as well.

you can spend up to $3000 for one of those super lightweight braille carbon fiber batteries... pricey.

Rocketmanwpb

My original Delco lasted 23 months the second lasted 25 months. Both batteries split and leaked acid into the engine compartment. Got an Optima red top and have not had a problem since. Use a tender if the car will be idle for more than 3 weeks.

RJRSW

Sounds to me like you had a problem that caused those batteries to split and leak such as a charger or the cars charging system. I have owned 25 vettes and been driving them since I was 17 and never have had even one that the battery split and leaked.

Grimlock13

I've had 2 red tops in my previous 2004 GTO, one lasted 5 years, the other only 6 months before it wouldn't take a charge (warrantied) then sold the car. (not due to the battery)

So like any others it will be a crap shoot how long it lasts. They do look pretty in the engine bay though, and can be mounted on it's side if needed.