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Mechanical Maintenance (Oil, Fluids, Break-In, Servicing) Everything related to the mechanical maintenance of the FR-S and BRZ


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Old 04-16-2015, 01:00 PM   #1
mokinbird87
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which battery for me?

so... I`m a total noob when it comes to electronics so I have been doing a lot of reading and searching.

to give you some background here is my situation:

I installed the innovate supercharger kit on my car recently (love the kit). However, the weight of the blower makes the front end very heavy and made my rear end really twitchy. I am now looking at every single way to make the front end back to the oem weight or lighter with the kit on the car, and one of the easiest ways is to utilize a lighter battery. My friend makes a lighter battery kit for our cars using the Shorai battery kit (super awesome guy, quality product http://store.kcmachine.com/collectio...ckage-preorder), but the only issue is that I am often gone for about a week and a half on business trips and I do not have time to unhook the battery every time I go to the airport. Hell, I barely make it on the plane most of the times. The battery kit is super light and has more cranking power than the oem battery, but the capacity is too small for me.

so, this lead me to the idea of relocating the battery to the trunk. I know I`m not saving much in terms of overall weight vs the lightweight battery kits in the front (heavy gauge wires running through the entire car, etc), but it`s a great chance for me to move the weight bias more towards the rear to have a similar weight distribution as the way it came from the factory. I also do not need the spare tire thanks to AAA.

After looking at this thread (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83885)
I found out the specs for OEM battery is:
360 CCA
60 Ah
29.5lbs

considering the fact that my OEM battery died after 50k miles and people in general have issues with the battery draining quickly on our cars, I decided that I need something that has more cranking power and capacity. Also, if the battery itself was a bit lighter, it would possibly make up for the weight of the heavy gauge wires that I would need for relocation. same weight as the OEM battery but in the rear minus the spare tire seems like an overall win win to me, especially if the battery performance is similar or better than the OEM.

now, I found this chart on NASIOC (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...php?t=1852892&) which is extremely helpful, except the list does not have CCA and Ah. I have been finding specs online for each of these batteries but have not found an ideal solution yet.

Also, is it true that the battery needs to be ventilated? looks like BMW or Miata just has the battery kind of sitting in the trunk but not necessarily vented to outside...

cliff note:
- need a dry cell battery that is lighter than OEM but has more CCA and Ah

thanks in advance.
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Old 04-16-2015, 01:51 PM   #2
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leaning towards this (http://www.odysseybatteries.com/batteries/pc950.htm)battery with this ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-002843011-Series-Rating-Battery/dp/B0000AYAFE"]http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-002843011-Series-Rating-Battery/dp/B0000AYAFE[/ame]) disconnect switch...
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Old 04-16-2015, 04:17 PM   #3
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Just a FYI, if you move the battery to the trunk, most tracks will require the battery to be in a sealed box that is vented to the outside of the car.
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Old 04-17-2015, 01:36 AM   #4
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Just a FYI, if you move the battery to the trunk, most tracks will require the battery to be in a sealed box that is vented to the outside of the car.


This. It should also be that way for safety since batteries emit hydrogen gas when charging. Vent that to an enclosed space and have a spark...


As the stock battery position is behind the front wheels, I doubt you'd even feel a difference. The twitchy feeling is more likely the extra power (and grunt of a twin screw) and not anything to do with the weight...
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Old 04-17-2015, 02:00 PM   #5
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Just a FYI, if you move the battery to the trunk, most tracks will require the battery to be in a sealed box that is vented to the outside of the car.
how do cars like BMWs and Miatas do it? didnt look vented the last time i looked... race requirement or not sounds like a good idea anyhow. thanks for the heads up.
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Old 04-17-2015, 02:04 PM   #6
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this thing even sits inside the car O.o

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Old 04-17-2015, 02:16 PM   #7
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Shorai makes killer batteries and I would easily do the KC Machine Combo all over again. Saved over 20lbs and this battery does not disappoint!!!
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Old 04-17-2015, 03:06 PM   #8
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The small batteries like you show are AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries, and they are sealed. The batteries still have a built in vent system for if/when the battery is over charged, it can relieve pressure to keep from exploding. They will put off a hydrogen gas which can be dangerous in large amounts, but in most cases they don't expel enough to be really hazardous. Are they supposed to be vented to the outside? Yes. Does it really make a difference in every day use? Probably not.

The way I see it, if you do a nice sealed box and vent it, you will never have to worry about it. If the battery does indeed puff out some smoke, or even rupture, it's not blowing around in your interior. May save you from a fire or lung damage.

Not to mention, you can throw whatever you want in the car and not worry about shorting out the battery.
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Old 04-17-2015, 03:11 PM   #9
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Also, on nasoic, there is a really good thread on aftermarket batteries. I spent probably two days reading about batteries and found the Deka makes batteries for a lot of the aftermarket and performance companies. You can get the Deka batteries for a fraction of the cost of a Braille. They're all typically motorcycle and tractor batteries with different terminals. You can get terminal adapters if needs-be.
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Old 04-17-2015, 07:51 PM   #10
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Shorai makes killer batteries and I would easily do the KC Machine Combo all over again. Saved over 20lbs and this battery does not disappoint!!!
Colin @KC machine is a good friend of mine but he understands why the Shorai is out of the question for me... I need something that will perform like the OEM battery... i know the cranking power is better than the oem battery but the reserve hours is just too short for me to use a shorai. I`m gone for 1.5-2 weeks at a time.
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Old 04-17-2015, 07:54 PM   #11
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how do cars like BMWs and Miatas do it? didnt look vented the last time i looked... race requirement or not sounds like a good idea anyhow. thanks for the heads up.
The batteries are isolated in the rear passenger side well. Usually that area has a cover and a vent that isn't easy to see. A lot of cars have vents in the trunk that you can't see until you remove the bumper.
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Old 04-17-2015, 07:54 PM   #12
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Also, on nasoic, there is a really good thread on aftermarket batteries. I spent probably two days reading about batteries and found the Deka makes batteries for a lot of the aftermarket and performance companies. You can get the Deka batteries for a fraction of the cost of a Braille. They're all typically motorcycle and tractor batteries with different terminals. You can get terminal adapters if needs-be.
yup. I heard that the Odyssey battery that I`m looking at is even a re-branded Deka so I`m trying to find the equivalent, but their website is not so friendly...

need to go look at a bmw or a miata to see what it looks like in their trunk lol.
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Old 04-18-2015, 12:07 AM   #13
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how do cars like BMWs and Miatas do it? didnt look vented the last time i looked... race requirement or not sounds like a good idea anyhow. thanks for the heads up.


Both of those cars 100% have a vent tube to the outside that is attached to the battery. They're also usually under or behind a panel to shield it (electrical shorts are bad, mkay?)


But like I said, I doubt you'd even be able to feel the difference because of where the battery is placed in the car. If it was up in front of the wheels, maybe.
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Old 04-18-2015, 02:19 AM   #14
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the weight of the blower makes the front end very heavy and made my rear end really twitchy.

Are you sure it's the weight and not the huge power/torque difference ? How heavy is the blower?

Make the rear end bite/stick more if you can.
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