How long does your battery last?
 

My battery just died last week 42000 miles.
Changed to Duralast
http://www.autozone.com/batteries-st.../4474_929283_0

What about you guys?

My battery died after approximately 4,500miles. The new one replaced under warranty is now about 2,500miles in, and seems to be stronger, holding its charge longer.

My battery died after 2500 miles, but it was my fault. I left a device on the car that drained it and afterwards it was completely dead. I am using now a Yuasa battery which is based on a more advanced Ca/Ca VRLA (deep cycle) technology. Additionally, it is 30% lighter. A month ago I forgot the car's internal light on and saw it the next day! The battery could crank up the engine without issues and could be recharged full.

Car batteries don't care how many miles are on them. Time, vibration, heat and cycling kill batteries.

-In the north I'd change out batteries regularly that were 6+ years old. Here in FL, 3+ is normal. Heat kills batteries.

-if you have vibrations in your car or drive regularly on a rough road or don't have the battery properly tied down, you'll get less life from your battery. So if you have modified your car and have more NVH, you're reducing the life span of your battery. Catless exhaust, solid engine mounts, hard trnsmission bushings etc all lead to shorter battery life. If you have modified your car and have more NVH, use an AGM battery. They also deal with cycling a lot better.

-cycling is when you run the battery voltage down (like for ex leaving a light on too long) and have to recharge it. If you don't recharge properly- on a dedicated battery charger and disconnected from the car- you'll kill the battery that much faster. If you just run the car and recharge the battery with the alternator not only is it bad for the battery but it's bad for the alternator too. Abuse is the #2 battery killer. Time is #1.

Exactly! A dedicated battery charger is needed in such cases. :thumbsup:

It's been 4 years for the OEM battery in my FR-S, and it still starts the car just fine.


humfrz

You need to start a separate thread :)

My OEM Panasonic battery lasted a little over 3 years. Near the end of the life cycle, the car sounded like it struggled to start (extra second to turn over). It's pretty scary to hear in a push to start car because you can't really force a car to keep cranking like with a key.

I switched to a O'Reilly Super Start Extreme. I was debating against the Duralast Gold, but the Super Start Extreme had a 20 dollar rebate. Though, the next time I need a battery I'll go to Costco and get an Interstate. 42 Month free replacement compared to Duralast Gold or Super Start Extreme with both Max out at 36 months.

Plus, the Interstates at Costco are about 80 bucks each, compared to 140.

Subaru specs an undersized battery in the manual shift cars.

Always fit the automatic transmission version as a replacement, it's bigger.

And yes, cold does not kill batteries, heat cycling kills batteries. Deep discharging is very bad for car batteries because it increases heat stress.

Do you happen to the size groups for both manual and auto cars? If we want to upgrade to AGM batteries, which one is the best choice? Thanks.

Echoing this. Got my car in the first week of December, 2012 - battery still cranking the car nice and strong middle of June 2017 @ 19k miles.

Yea, I was debating too. The guy offered me duralast gold for 5 years warrenty. But I didnt think I needed that haha.

This thread is about battery specs:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5990

Manual transmission, battery lasted until about 37k and about 3 years. Down in a hot climate. Didn't expect much better.

Replaced with a costco interstate brand. Their batteries have always done fine for me. Good price, good specs, with easy 3 year free replacement.