Aftermarket battery
 

One of my first mods to this car will be a lightweight battery. I have had good luck with Odyssey batteries in the past, but I haven't bought one in several years. I'm curious what other lightweight batteries people have used that are a good combination of weight savings, reliability, and reasonable cost.

Brailles are pretty light. I've never had a good battery experience from units I purchased, though the original Panasonic in my Miata lasted 8 years in Arizona heat. What if... the stocker's decent?

That would be great. Worth keeping for a while anyway.

I've seen Brailles in several Lotus.

The Brailles are overpriced. You can get the Deka/Magnapower batteries for a lot less and are essentially the equivalent. I remember seeing a thread on the VW and Honda forum about guys using lawnmower/ATV/motorcycle batteries as long as the CC amps were the same and putting them on tenders when parked.

Ghetto fabulous

For guys who own motos with lightweight batteries, it's more common than you think.

My bike is actually connected to one as we speak and here is another Duc on a tender. That's the tradeoff for going with a smaller battery.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/attachme...right-side.jpg

Actually, those alligator clips are ghetto fabulous. Somebody needs to buy that guy a quick disconnect for Christmas.

EDIT:

OP, take a look at Ballistic Performance. They're a bit spendy, but light as hell. Their batteries are intended for motorcycles, but they make one for big displacement, high compression Harleys that has more than enough juice for a 2.0L four cylinder. It weighs 3lbs and has more CC Amps and Amp Hours than a 18lb Braille AGM battery for only $60 more ($270 total). For comparison's sake, the lightest battery Braille makes, with similar capacity, weighs 9 lbs and costs $2000.

Depends on the usage of the car. For a street car I agree, but for a race car it's just fine.

Speed: Since the battery on this car is right against (or basically against) the firewall on the passenger side a light battery will make a much smaller difference compared to a car that has a front mounted (right behind headlights, etc.. in front of the axle) battery.

Same weight difference on both battery locations, but the effects on handling are different. Just as I've done with my Hondas that have a similar placement (except literally against the firewall) I'll be leaving it alone.

The Ballistic is on sale right now..

http://www.solomotoparts.com/product...0&cat=0&page=1

$242.95...for the 3 pound 16 cell EVO 2 lithium battery

:party0030:

They come with a quick connect so it all comes down to personal preference. <Mine is on quick connects.

http://store.valueaccessories.net/Pr...MS017204-1.jpg


Damn 242.95 for 3 lbs!! You can shit out 3 lbs and that won't cost you anything!


Anyone looking at the Braille, it's the same as the Deka and around under a $100.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2353060

http://www.dekabatteries.com/default.aspx?pageid=510

Cayman R battery
http://media.caranddriver.com/images...s-1280x782.jpg

On my previous car, I had a Deka battery that was approx 11lbs. Forgot the model and specs on the battery, but the results surprised me. I did not think changing to a lightweight one would have that much effect on handling. Lost about 35lbs under the hood, but the downside was that I had to switch back to OEM battery for winter. The Deka just didn't do well at temps below 10 degrees celcius and it won't crank the car at anything below 5 degrees celcius.

Overall if you're into making your car handle good, then it's a good modification. Switching batteries wasn't a big hassle for me.

I've been using an Odyssey battery in my Prelude for about 4 years now, never did me wrong. I'll be getting one for the FR-S whenever I buy it.

Wow that is a tight battery! I wonder how much it weighs?

None of these are anywhere close to 3 pounds and they are not lithium...that's why this battery is $240. 3 pounds total bro and not 12 to 15 pounds as the still good deka Etx14 at $60. Remember it looks like deka makes the Braille batteries.

It depends on how crazy you want to go. I like that Porsche cayman r battery
But it's $1700!!!

I get what you're saying but 3 lbs for $242, is it really worth it? In race trim, fully gutted then yes, this would be a must but if you have a street car, how beneficial would that be?

Hey it weighs less than the $1700 Porsche battery. The $1700 lithium ion Porsche battery weighs 13 pounds.

$242 is a bargain!

Bargain, yes, when compared to the Porsche battery but a pointless if you have full interior, ac, radio, stock body panels and that car isn't on the track.

One could say the same thing about the Braille/Deka.

One of the factors the OP mentioned was reasonable cost. I'm not sure if $242 is reasonable but IMO that sounds more like an extreme case. Somewhere in between would be the Dekas.

I guess it is a personal preference. For me I will eat some extra romin noodles and get the $242 3 pound lithium ion battery. The stock battery is going to weigh around 35 to 45 pounds...so you are going to save a lot off the 2711 pounds on a high-spec FRS...and you can say you have a battery better than the one in the cayman r...and you car is deep into the 2600 pound range.

Got to love technology!

Man, that's some serious poser shit! :lol:

My point was based on what the 3 criterias the OP mentioned; lighter, reliabity and reasonable cost. An $80 Deka @ 11lbs seems to fit the bill.

http://www.shoraipower.com/p-209-lfx36a3-bs12.aspx

This is could be the lightest DD battery for the money, open this link then click on the red more information at the bottom of the page for full details.



http://www.ballisticparts.com/produc...ies/16cell.php

This one is actually cheaper and lighter but with less CCA but you still use it as DD battery i guess

For a battery that light, I think $242 is reasonable.

Anyone knows if the motorcycle batteries is a direct fit in cars ?

That's what I am saying! Did people even go the the link and read the specs? It's a real lithium ion battery and it does not need a battery tender. It's definately worth $242 since it is only 3 pounds...

Not bad for the first one..540 cranking amps! But it weights about 5 pounds and is $350.

http://www.shoraipower.com/images/product/lfxspecs.pdf
Notice you can easily get the automotive battery connects...


The second one is still a better deal since it is on sale for $242 and has 500 cca, and weights 3 pounds...

Damn batteries weighing less than some laptops! Crazy!

I got you to laugh! Lol!

The deka is a good deal...11 pounds is good but what is the cca and does it need a battery tender? I found the deka as low as $64......

Whoever is going to the Tokyo auto show..somebody ask how much does the stock battery weigh?

There is also Big Crank which is Deka battery, Big Crank is cheaper in some places online

http://www.bigcrank.com/models.html

You guys got me wondering if I could use one of these motorcycle batteries for my v6 :lol:

I've used Odyssey batteries for rotary engines, which are not easy to crank.

Has anyone installed an aftermarket battery in their BRZ or FR-S yet?

Yup!

Weighs 20.8lbs
Stock weight is 29.6

This battery puts out the same power as the OEM but less reserve.
This is also the size that almost all normal cars in Japan come with.
I had to use post adapters so it fits the terminals.

Ishii

http://www.141motors.com/fr-s/batt.jpg

My thing living in Arizona is not so much the weight savings, but I have had, along with friends, is wet cell batteries leaking from the intense heat an acid blasting your engine bay. A dry cell is what I look for and have always used Optima red tops. never a single problem and they have lasted an average of 4 years in each of my cars in Az. That is West Valley Phoenix...already hit 112 last Friday Phoenix!

My 2 cents...

I would opt for the Braille battery as well. They have the 4-cylinder special-- an 11lb. battery for around $160. I saw one for 6lb. but i don't know how much i'd trust it; not to mention the cost was about $50 more.

I've used Braille batteries for a while. My first one was a 17 lb. It was OK at first but you can't forget to leave your lights on for more than 5 minutes or it will not give you enough cranking power to start the engine. I had to jump start it quite a few times - even asking a stranger for help once. In the winter it struggled a bit but never failed to start. And after about 2 years, it would barely hold a charge at all. So I replaced it with the 21 lb model which should have higher reserve capacity. It's fine so far but it seems to dim and whine more when you do two things at once. That could have to do with something else though...

So yeah, I'm not sure if I would use a lightweight battery for this car since I will be getting a touchscreen navigation system and would like to mess around with it a bit sometimes when the engine is off. But as someone else said, I don't like the idea of wet cell batteries. But the Optima's are even heavier than the wet cell batteries. So... I'll just stick with the stock battery until it dies and go from there.

I have used the Deka 15 pound battery in my WRX for more then 4 years. Everyday I listen to the radio for about an hour or more in my lunch break. The Deka has no messy acid leaks like a wet cell battery and 20 pounds lighter as a big bonus.

If your battery is too light will it throw off the handling?

For the Cayman R battery, it's centre mounted, so it doesn't really matter.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMNMWwDAOY...%2BBATTERY.jpg

The battery is on the right along with the exhaust. So it's already heavier on that side if you don't have a passenger. It will likely improve the balance further (lowers CoG and lessens frontal weight).

Well, my lights are automatic and aren't ever on when the engine isn't running. I could also disconnect the negative every night or something to help it last. I have been doing that with my Celica(non-daily driver). Hopefully i'll have better luck than you had with them. http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ms/43h7r5d.gif If not, i could always upgrade like you did.