Are Optima's still the best?

Havnt used them in a bronco yet, but I have 2 NorthStar AGM batteries I got from batteriesplus.com which rebrands them as X2 Power batteries, they always seem to have a 10% off coupon. I use them as RV house batteries and they have lasted far longer than any other battery I've used for this purpose. They were much cheaper than Optimas, and they came with a 5 year warranty. I definitely am going to use them in my bronco after my current Optima dies. I have seen great results with Odyssey batteries as well.

hyghlndr said:

I've had good luck with optima recently and also Bosch AGM.

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I am using the Bosch as well. Very happy with it.

Only Optima for me and l sell batterys about 200 a month

I've been happy with the Optima D34M blue top in my 77 so far.

Optima used to be a great battery, that's old news now. I talked up my Optima for years , then replaced it and found out everybody was having the same problem with the "new" company's product.

Good luck

Dekka and Odessey are hands down two of the best now-and have been for years.

Lithium batteries are getting cheaper, I will switch all vehicles over soon. As charge goes down the amps and volts don't. Which is pretty amazing. My buddy has them in his sprinter. Amazing technology.

I have optimas in my boat and bronco. So far so good.

I did a LiPFeO (lithium Iron) battery in the Motorcycle a few years back. Doing a ton of research on it they are pretty amazing batteries. But they are not the traditional lead acid battery in how they behave.
They hate cold. The well known trick to start the bike cold is to turn on the headlight for a few minutes before trying to start. The resistance goes up in the battery when cold. You need that initial load on the battery so it can self heat to lower the resistance so that it can handle that large amp load.
Another factor is they have very limited amp/hour capacity. But motorcycle batteries are sold on amp/hour ratings and not CCA ratings. So marketing has come up with "equilivent" amp/hour ratings and that is what they sell them by. Makes for a poor choice for winching or even just listening to the radio with the engine off.
Also heard issues with charging systems charging too fast. The battery will take a charge very well. Sometimes too good to the point of damage. Heard about this when running very small batteries on motorcycles. The bigger ones spread the charge across more cells so the charge per cell isn't as great.

But they are light batteries. You pull one out and it feels like an empty case. My first thought when I opened mine was I got ripped off with an empty case. But it had voltage across the terminals. Put that "empty case" in the bike and it started with some serious force. Impressive. Another nice thing is that it was dropped in as a direct replacement. No changes to the charging system were made. And it ran this way for years.

There are warnings about letting the battery run too low. Manufacturer says that is a death sentence. Field reports show that they usually survive.

I never tried the cold start performance. By the time I put it in I had converted from a daily rider to a perfect weather rider.

The Lithium Iron is also good in that it rarely catches fire.

In reality a good lead acid battery is still the best battery for most applications. Only where you really need to watch the weight and can live with the limitations of Lithium should it be considered.

Now I have been hearing that there are some large storage batteries on the market now. Used in off-grid solar homes. They require some special charging.

Odyssey and Deka are the only batteries I use in my rigs.

Regardless, this walmart battery bought in March of 2012, starts right up.

The thing with batteries is that you can get a good one from a company that we all say to avoid, but you are just as likely to get a bad one if you try to replace it with the same make next time. On the Odyssey battery, it is rare to get a bad one. So yes, you can have a good Optima, but I would not put my money on that happening next time. You are paying for quality control. If you don't mind getting stranded in the back of beyond, then the bad ones could work for you!

I've decided to get the Odyssey. I just haven't pulled the trigger and ordered it yet because I'm in the middle of a big drive train project right now. When that is nearing completion, the battery will be the next thing.... before the November ride at Windrock!

NicksTrix said:

have had good luck with the Napa Legend line that is made by Dekka

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had two of those fail in the last two weeks, both were less than 3 years old. warranty was easy and the credit i received was also good.

SC74 said:

I've decided to get the Odyssey. I just haven't pulled the trigger and ordered it yet because I'm in the middle of a big drive train project right now. When that is nearing completion, the battery will be the next thing.... before the November ride at Windrock!

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You'll be happy w/that one I'm certain sir...

Never had a Optima, always thought they looked cool, I'm running dual Interstate batteries, we have a distribution warehouse here close to me, very happy with price and quality, just my .02.

I went from an optima to a deka intimidator and now run a northstar, hands down the northstar is the better battery. winds up my motor like the spark plugs aren't in.

Recently put an Odyssey in mine as well with the dual terminals! Happy with it so far! Went with a battery box from Ruff Stuff and very happy with it! Built like a Tank and very affordable!

I've been happy with Motorcraft batteries.


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