I've had Optima Blue Top for almost 8 years in my Supra,5 of them I was working on it,it was started few times a month,my car has a typical Supra drain and if it's not started once a week, it will drain any brand battery by the end of second week,I must have killed that battery at least a dozen times , I simply jump it off with another car,no trickle chargers or any other mess, and yet for past 3 years it still works fine as I've been driving my Supra everyday,I guess I got a good one:woot:

I also use Yellow top in my other cars,never had any problems and no, Optima never sponsored me or gave me a battery,lol

Its been a little over a year since I got the car on the road so far I haven't put to many miles (about a 1,000) and both my Braille B3121 have decided to call it a day :(

I contacted Braille and i was given instructions on how to possibly bring them back but that didn't work either, both batteries won't hold a charge and unfortunately I lost my proof of purchase so no warranty. Also as a note I always had a C-Tek plugged in if I wasn't driving the car for more than two days but they still went.

So after a week of reading everything I could about what battery to go with and what would fit in the box I made for my Braille's I got the Exide AGM battery (the same as Odyssey from what I understand) 4 year exchange warranty and as usual not available here locally for me so I went over the border to Washington state. Hopefully this time I will have better luck!

As stated previously Braille apparently rebadges DEKA batteries and jacks up the prices (and the specs). Cute.

2 recent reviews on amazon cite this:

http://www.amazon.com/Braille-Batter.../dp/B004DDI1VA

and apparently that battery is really this

http://www.tristatebattery.com/etx30...ery-p-982.html

I was considering this Braille until now. Need to research further.

You are correct sir -- Deka, Big Crank, Duracell and Braille and more are manufactured by East Penn; I dropped into the East Penn location here locally and they told me the same.

The other batteries I found to be the same are:

Odyessey & Sears Platinum amungst others = Exide
Optima, Eveready and a bunch of OEM are = Johnson Controls

Cool, Raj. Curious to see how the new Exide works out for you. Which model did you get?

I got the Exide Group 78 -- I hope this one holds up!

http://www.atbatt.com/product/25083.asp

I'm not en electrical engineer. I don't know alot about the chemical processes involved in these different batteries, I can only speak from an extensive experience thus far with many different types of batteries thanks to years spent in the car stereo scene.

Years ago, Optima's were a great choice of battery. They held a charge, they performed well, etc. but in recent years they have lost their way and become a name that I avoid recommending for all the reasons that have already been listed in this thread.

Seeing as Optima's weren't going to last for what I needed, I turned to a company called "Kinetik" and ran several of their power cells for years. In one truck I had a KHC1800 and two "Cap Killer" KHC600's. These were basically ultra high capacity AGM batteries with a shiny blue case and a reputation for being the best at the time. I also ran a KHC1800 in my GMC Canyon and was happy with it until it died a terrible death.

About 6 months ago I had one of the "Cap Killer" batteries in my Silverado go south and the KHC1800 under the hood followed very closely behind.

It was at this point that I contacted the team at XS Power ( 4xspower.com ) and talked to them about a new battery for my Canyon. I haven't been running the battery more than 2 months now, but thus far, I am VERY impressed with the performance. It uses the same AGM technology we are all familiar with, but packs the case tighter, making for higher energy capacity. In this truck I run a competition level stereo system that draws ALOT of current, and this battery couldn't care less. Additionally, Nathan and the team at XS power have been an absolute joy to deal with.

Yes, the XS Power D3400 that I run is expensive at $450, but you really can't beat the overall performance it delivers.

Just my $.02

The Diehard Platinum I think is another good option. They are basically the Odyssey AGM batteries with a different case and better price. If you wait till one of Sears' "friends and family" discount days you can get these Diehard batteries for a pretty good price. I think my last one was like 160ish.

The only thing I don't like about it is the weight compared to the Optima red top it replaced. That was an older Optima btw but it was awesome. Hearing all recent reports I decided to try something else this time around. Hated to do that since they support our "community" but...

I try not to get so emotionally charged (get it? "charged" :badidea:) about my battery purchase.

At the moment, I'm running an Optima Red Top. It has four posts which works great with my Holley EFI as that system requires dedicated battery posts. It works great and is compact. But more than anything, it was right there at my local Advance Auto Parts store when I needed a 4 post that would slot right into my trunk mount, billet battery hold down. It works fine.

In my opinion, and I am NOT an expert, But "any" right size battery should do, as long as the alternator is up to the task, who I think often is not big enough on older cars. Especially after installing a lot of stuff like Electric fans and modern injection and so on. And overnight drainage is also often the culprit for bad batteries.

And the battery must also be big enough, especially for Winter use too.

After all that is made right, then I Guess you could choose wether you want an modern type mini battery for weight savings, who also would look cleaner and can be tucked more away.

Or else any standard (right size) battery should do it. Of course, some will always be cheaper and some not so good as others -But I dont think thats the MAIN reason for battery failures

I have an Red Optima battery in my car, an old alternator, dont know size, probably 60-70 amp. I "just" bought the car. ;)

I have an Electric waterpump and fan, it just keeps up the voltage until the fan starts, then it falls flat on it face and cant keep voltage up. - Very classic hobby-car mismatched charging/electrical use system..

It has been sitting for a while now, Wonder if it will start, With what People have said about Optima batteries