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Optima Battery?

33K views 170 replies 85 participants last post by  silx29 
#1 ·
Optima Yellow Top

Is anybody useing a yellow top? If so what model and how much did you pay?
 
#8 ·
As long as it's 12V and can deliver at least the current that the stock battery can, it should be good. (A battery is a battery, right?). I'm planning on picking up the 850CCA Red Top pretty soon.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
Hmm i know that yellow top D34 fits our car... only a bit higher than the stock, but it will fit fine.... 1 of the members comfirms that actually.... i asked him, cz 1 of his mods includes yellow top optima....

Btw, i heard that after you use optima, you wont notice significant light dimming with your bass on, and your amps will run at optimum 14.4v.... just my $0.02
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
I have an Optima yellow top D34. All my aux. stuff including my amps are run off the side posts while I kept the factory connections up top. You can also go to numerous car stereo websites and find new battery post attachments to add places to connect wires. I have a + and - terminal in the garage that I didn't connect as it would have been too tall.
 
#16 ·
I was pretty close to buying a Red Top formyself on eBay for about $130 shipped...

Went to Discount Auto to buy some brake cleaner, and saw the Red Top there for only $109... so I took it!

I bought some terminals and this special "thing" (don't remmeber what it's called) to connect an additional terminal on the side for all my aux equipment (amp, inside/outside neons, 3 TV's, etc.).

It's pretty nice, and I can tell my car starts a bit faster, not that there was a problem before, but it's much better now. I plan on getting a cap for my subs in the trunk too. I'll take and post pics soon!
 
#17 ·
since my redtop was removed my car takes like 3 seonds to start. I have the non vehicle specific battery. I'm gonna rig something up for it when I get a chance next day off.
 
#19 ·
Actually the Yellowtop has a lower CCA rating than a red top (both are still much higher than the stock battery). The difference between the two is that the yellow top is meant to be a deep cycle/starting battery so it can handle be drained over and over again without dying like most batteries do. Where as the red top is more like an improved conventional car battery.
 
#20 ·
So...

1) Did I pay a good price for my Red Top? ($109)
2) Did I make a good chose, buying the Red Top, since I use it to hook up many electronics?
 
#21 ·
Well as long as you don't play your stereo for hours on end and drain your red top I think you made a fine decision and that price is what you'd normally pay for a good Interstate lead/acid battery, so that is a good price. I also use a red top since when I bought it I had no intention of using the battery to play my stereo system. Although its amazing what happens when you go out to start your car and it's -10 outside... even the redtop took a little extra time to crank the engine over but it got it started much faster compared to my other cars that day.
 
#22 ·
Originally posted by Pulszar@Apr 9 2005, 10:03 PM
So I take it the yellow d34 is a little more powerful than the red 34r? Considering the yellow top is about $40 more?
[snapback]390529[/snapback]​

i had both on my last car red top for the car and yellow top for the audio system . i used to run my stereo system with just the yellowtop battery power when the car was off , that way i still had juice to turn the car over , and the yellow top last a long time without a charge , you can drain the yellow top and it will charge to normal levels over and over , conventional batteries cannot do this to many times before being ruined

be advised that if you run a dual battery set up you should have a battery isolater , as connecting them together they wear eachother out and then you will have 2 dead batteries . the isolater seperates the batteries when the car is off , ond connects them when the car is running and the charging system is working , Stinger makes a nice one SR-200 .
 
#23 ·
Yellow top = better discharge/charge life than red, and also works the best on flowing current for electrical systems.

Red top = better at turning over an engine, but not as good for a stereo system enviornment as its a bit slower on the charge/discharge rates.

Whats all this mean? If you have any kind of electrical device that has continous spikes in voltage (stereo systems, flashing neons), the yellow top will be best suited for you. I have worked alongside a friend building a crazy little Honda CRX with a custom electrical setup consisting of 2 alternators, and 12 yellow top batteries. We actually found out that the yellow tops recovered faster than a 15 farad cap. This was also at a voltage level of 16.7v and was only feeding the 8 amps and 32 subs. :D No accesory would have lived to see the 16+ volts. Anyone in the NH area that has been to a car audio show might remember seeing an '84 CRX primer grey. That is the car that showed us alot on how important the electrical system was and what worked and what didnt.
 
#24 ·
I'm interested in getting an Optima Red Top. Which "version" does the 6 use? I looked up Optima Red Tops on Ebay and several different kinds came up.

Thanks for the help in advance.
 
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