inyquest

Is one car battery better then another?

2008G-Man

Yes .......

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Had good luck w/ Interstate batteries FWIW.

Gio37

iTrader: (1)

2008G-Man

Sorry, I had to answer his question the way it was asked .... I like my Red Tops. Have heard good things about Interstates as well. I always used to go with top of the line Die Hards but looking back, they didn't last as long as they should have given the cost factor.

monytx

iTrader: (2)

I'd opt for Optima batteries like g-man. Had a yellow top in my maxima and I loved it.

inyquest

Optima batteries seem like a good choice.
Maintenance-free:

Is there really a difference between the Red and Yellow?
Would the car really know the difference?

Is replacing one quick and easy pop in and pop out with all the tech in the car

rmfnla

What was good about Die Hards was Sears backed them up "no questions asked" and there was a Sears in every town, so you were always covered.

Not so anymore...

Absinthe

Red tops are standard maintenance free.

Yellow tops - Provides better return from deep cycle discharge and respond better to repetitive discharge charge cycles. Used in vehicles with large stereo installs or aftermarket electronic equipment

Blue Tops - Provides longer discharge times for marine use

Will the car know the difference? Not at all, unless the battery is dead

Absinthe

The short answer is yes but before investing money in a new battery, ask yourself what you expect and what you need. For standard start your car in hot/cold/humid weather, Interstate is hard to beat. Maintenance free is another choice. I've had excellent experience with Optima yellow tops.

If you want to get to the nitty gritty, the three figures to look at are CCA, reserve capacity and the ampere-hour rating.

CCA tells you how much umph the battery will provide on cold starting. Large high compression engines starting in sub-zero weather require high CCA ratings; whereas your G sitting next to the beach does not.

Reserve capacity will give you an idea how long the battery will last on a continuous drain. This tells you how long you can leave those accessories turned on without the engine running and still have a prayer of starting the car again

The ampere-hour rating tells you how much energy the battery can store. More is better but it comes at a price, Generally speaking, emergency vehicles, police cars and motor homes go for the high ampere-hour batteries