Lightweight battery thread

[86TOYO2k17]

At the NA mod stage of lightweight battery mod... looking for some people’s personal experience with different batteries DDing year round in cold weather no tenders and lasting for years.

Thinking about the largest shorai battery but it would be a pricy waste of money if it failed, and I park outside atm so don’t feel like a tender or winter battery swap. Or looking at the 11lbs Braille or Deka (anyone test or know for sure if the Braille is just rebranded Deka despite advertised CCA being roughly half?)

PNW coldest it gets is maybe mid-high 20s late at night for a month or two. I have no accessory/sound system mods draining more power. Rarely drive for less 10mins but sometimes can go up to a week without driving.

[Strife26]

I have an odyssey pc680 since 11/17.
I had it na and turbo. Just as good as any size battery. It's died from me leaving my obd in for days without driving it but a quick charge and it's up and running.
Actually works way better than I expected.
Would I recommend it? Well I'll buy a new one even if it stopped working after a year. I love it.


Sent from my HTC U11 life using Tapatalk

[86TOYO2k17]

Thanks for your feedback. I’ve looked at the 680, it’s on the potential list but still semi heavy. I’m really either looking at Deka etx14 really cheap and pretty light. Or the 5lb shorai but the cost to risk is scaring me. So I’m leaning to the cheap Deka but idk how reliable in cold weather it is. But for the price almost worth the risk.

[RJasonKlein]

Originally Posted by Strife26

It's died from me leaving my obd in for days without driving it but a quick charge and it's up and running.

Just an FYI, your Odyssey PC680 is an AGM battery and letting it die will severely shorten its life - your best bet is to put it on a battery tender whenever the car sits for more than a few days.

[RJasonKlein]

@86TOYO2k17, if you didn’t like @Strife26’s Odyssey PC680 because of weight, you’re definitely not going to like my Odyssey PC925. That said, here are a few photos of how it looks in my car:

[nikitopo]

I changed my battery to a smaller one when the original died. It has similar specs with the one used in the BRZ RA Jdm car. Keep in mind that I don't have heated seats, any stereo or in general high power consumptions. I gained around 9lbs, but I wouldn't do it if the original battery stayed healthy.

[Captain Snooze]

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...postcount=1965
It gave up the ghost after about 4 years of use.

[why?]

aim for a lithium battery, not an agm. If you do not drive a lightweight agm battery every day it will die very quickly. A lot of auto parts stores are starting to sell lithium batteries because they are both light and strong.

Also figure out how you are going to mount it before you buy it. Also note you can buy solar powered trickle chargers for the battery, so you do not need an actual plug to charge the battery when you turn the car off.

[Pond13]

I have the Braille 11 pounder. My car doesn't get used during the week so I usually give it a start or mid week evening drive to keep the battery happy. It unfortunately died once however I think that was due to my aftermarket amplifier (installed by previous owner) draining power while car was off. Since I have fixed that there has been no issues and would recommend. Lithium would be a better option however I believe the cost is significantly higher.

Sent from my ANE-LX2J using Tapatalk

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Pond13

Lithium would be a better option however I believe the cost is significantly higher.

Yeah, I paid about AUD$1200 for the Voltphreaks battery but the nice thing is it has a cut-off switch when the voltage drops below a certain level so there is always enough juice to crank the car.

[churchx]

Can anyone list "relatively" lightweight battery but with capacity as much as of stock's? I'd wish to pay more for lighter, but as capable as stock one, instead of going all way for the very lightest, but which can hold charge only for few days tops in winter without using battery tenders and such.

[mrg666]

Originally Posted by churchx

Can anyone list "relatively" lightweight battery but with capacity as much as of stock's? I'd wish to pay more for lighter, but as capable as stock one, instead of going all way for the very lightest, but which can hold charge only for few days tops in winter without using battery tenders and such.

Optima OPT8020-164 35 RedTop is a Group 35 battery as stock and about 10lbs lighter. But the reviews at Amazon are not very good although it is supposed to be a good brand.

[RFB]

Mini Shorai -
First 2 years of winter use up to 3 days parked and the car would start, but at arctic temps it was on a tender. Now I prefer a normal battery in the winter for peace of mind.
Sixth year tracking and D/D, Shorai 5 lb. battery still going strong !

[churchx]

mrg666: you don't happen to know if mentioned optima battery will also fit size-wise or some mount/tie down modification needed? I'm not well versed into battery "form-factors" and on which size dimensions/shape types/whatever alike i should look for. As for optima .. weren't yellow tops ones to get?