Audio System Selection
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Hopedale, MA
I'll stir things up a bit... 
I'm up sick...again... so I'm kinda grumpy, and... I feel like it. However I do suppose I may have been a little harsh but the fact is putting a Yellow Top Optima in your car is a good idea.
I just hate when people just toss out information that they clearly haven't researched, and then try to play it off as fact.
I'm up sick...again... so I'm kinda grumpy, and... I feel like it. However I do suppose I may have been a little harsh but the fact is putting a Yellow Top Optima in your car is a good idea. I just hate when people just toss out information that they clearly haven't researched, and then try to play it off as fact.
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
Originally Posted by darkknight1999,Dec 23 2004, 09:31 PM
I just hate when people just toss out information that they clearly haven't researched, and then try to play it off as fact.
bahh... sorry to hear you're sick. i'm just starting to get over the creepy crud. thankfully, i'm off work (vacation+holidays) till the 4th, so hopefully, i'll get some rest in...
still, i'm getting both Halo 2 and HalfLife 2 for Christmas, so who knows how much sleep i'm going to get...
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again, those are the benefits of having an optima yellow top over a "conventional battery".
to quote optima's site:
"In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well, often providing up to two to three times longer life than conventional batteries. If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the [SIZE=14]appropriate choice.[SIZE=14]
Getting information of optima batteries from a site that sells them isn't exactly the most unbiased source. DCbattery tells you all sorts of wonderful thing. It's all try, but do they actually say everything about the battery? Does DCbattery.com also tell you that once you dip down to about 10.5v, the battery's life is decreased greatly? Do they tell you that the term of "deep cycle" is used loosely and that they are not the "true" deep cycle? Do they tell you that the optima stirred in a bit of marketing to pass on the word deep cycle? As a matter of fact, do they even tell you that you cannot recharge the battery to a full state? Of course not. Why would a company that sells their product ever say any cons about it? Wouldn't make sense. Would honda straight out point out in their selling brochure that the s2k lacks low end torque compared to other cars in its class? I doubt it. Would Honda say that people should get the accord DX over the EX-L with navi? Of course not. They want to make more money. If I own a company, I would much rather have someone buy my more expensive product than the cheaper on. Any company that said they don't care about money, despite what they are saying is literally lying. Money is in the eyes of all business.
I would encourage to have people buy optima batteries over another stock battery if they can. of course the yellow top is going to make a difference over a conventional battery. I would bet money on that! But have any of you actually scientifically experiment with the red top vs. yellow top? And i don't mean "hey! i used both and drained the kizzatch out of the yellow top and it's fine!" Don't bother emailing Optima because if you state a con, they will not give you a straight answer..there is always a "well but you see, this battery is so and so and its not so bad when you think about it."
again:
no one is saying optima yellow tops are bad for cars
you guys are mostly pointing out the benefits of having a yellow top over a conventional battery, but having a battery as a starting battery, the red top serves the better purpose. Even optima said so themselves that the red top is more suited for that duty. You guys are bringing up the point as if I said yellow tops should be abandoned from cars.
And also, I may have misunderstood your defintion of "faster response."
to quote optima's site:
"In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well, often providing up to two to three times longer life than conventional batteries. If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the [SIZE=14]appropriate choice.[SIZE=14]
Getting information of optima batteries from a site that sells them isn't exactly the most unbiased source. DCbattery tells you all sorts of wonderful thing. It's all try, but do they actually say everything about the battery? Does DCbattery.com also tell you that once you dip down to about 10.5v, the battery's life is decreased greatly? Do they tell you that the term of "deep cycle" is used loosely and that they are not the "true" deep cycle? Do they tell you that the optima stirred in a bit of marketing to pass on the word deep cycle? As a matter of fact, do they even tell you that you cannot recharge the battery to a full state? Of course not. Why would a company that sells their product ever say any cons about it? Wouldn't make sense. Would honda straight out point out in their selling brochure that the s2k lacks low end torque compared to other cars in its class? I doubt it. Would Honda say that people should get the accord DX over the EX-L with navi? Of course not. They want to make more money. If I own a company, I would much rather have someone buy my more expensive product than the cheaper on. Any company that said they don't care about money, despite what they are saying is literally lying. Money is in the eyes of all business.
I would encourage to have people buy optima batteries over another stock battery if they can. of course the yellow top is going to make a difference over a conventional battery. I would bet money on that! But have any of you actually scientifically experiment with the red top vs. yellow top? And i don't mean "hey! i used both and drained the kizzatch out of the yellow top and it's fine!" Don't bother emailing Optima because if you state a con, they will not give you a straight answer..there is always a "well but you see, this battery is so and so and its not so bad when you think about it."
again:
no one is saying optima yellow tops are bad for cars
you guys are mostly pointing out the benefits of having a yellow top over a conventional battery, but having a battery as a starting battery, the red top serves the better purpose. Even optima said so themselves that the red top is more suited for that duty. You guys are bringing up the point as if I said yellow tops should be abandoned from cars.
And also, I may have misunderstood your defintion of "faster response."
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements
which is exactly what the yellow top is marketed/targeted for... cars which have extra accessories. and sure, marketing is marketing... and it always will be. but generally, behind the marketing of most serious companies there exists some engineering or evidence... it may be exaggerated or stretched, but in this case, the stretching is minimal as they just market the yellow top over the red top for people who have more non-OEM power draw.
straight answer - have i tested a yellow vs red top? no.
also -- my intentions w/ the statement of 'faster response' were regarding the yellow top's ability to both discharge and recharge at higher rates than a typical lead acid battery due to the increased efficiency of the chemistry in the battery and thus maintain a more constant voltage as loads change.
finally -- any auto battery (lead acid based) is going to die below 10.5 volts. it's the nature of the design. but my yellow top hasn't even come close to dipping that low. even when i'm running my stereo solo for short periods of time and especially not when the alternator is running. so your constant point of dropping below 10.5 volts is accurate, but i still don't see why you're making it such an issue.
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Hopedale, MA
I'm going to fill you in a little here...
Do you see were it says Amp-hrs... here in this forum I would "bet" 95% of people here don't care about starting amps... its a 4-cyl ya know... They car about how long the battery will last while not being charged with the car running.
"again, those are the benefits of having an optima yellow top over a "conventional battery"."
The chart above shows actually shows the numbers we care about...
"If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice."
If people are here, it would mostly likely mean they are upgrading their sound system so again... the Red top is fine with replacing a stock battery in a vehicle with no mods.
"But have any of you actually scientifically experiment with the red top vs. yellow top? And i don't mean "hey! i used both and drained the kizzatch out of the yellow top and it's fine!" "
Just for reference, I drain the crap out of mine every winter while testing and tuning the system and so far the thing charges like a champ.
"you guys are mostly pointing out the benefits of having a yellow top over a conventional battery, but having a battery as a starting battery, the red top serves the better purpose. Even optima said so themselves that the red top is more suited for that duty."
Once again in this forum people come here to upgrade their sound system... so once again the Yellow top is the right choice!
Well I think I said enough on this matter. Have fun with your Red top
Do you see were it says Amp-hrs... here in this forum I would "bet" 95% of people here don't care about starting amps... its a 4-cyl ya know... They car about how long the battery will last while not being charged with the car running.
"again, those are the benefits of having an optima yellow top over a "conventional battery"."
The chart above shows actually shows the numbers we care about...
"If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice."
If people are here, it would mostly likely mean they are upgrading their sound system
so again... the Red top is fine with replacing a stock battery in a vehicle with no mods. "But have any of you actually scientifically experiment with the red top vs. yellow top? And i don't mean "hey! i used both and drained the kizzatch out of the yellow top and it's fine!" "
Just for reference, I drain the crap out of mine every winter while testing and tuning the system and so far the thing charges like a champ.
"you guys are mostly pointing out the benefits of having a yellow top over a conventional battery, but having a battery as a starting battery, the red top serves the better purpose. Even optima said so themselves that the red top is more suited for that duty."
Once again in this forum people come here to upgrade their sound system... so once again the Yellow top is the right choice!
Well I think I said enough on this matter. Have fun with your Red top
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i'm making it an issue because people just saying the yellow top are better because of so and so. Deep Cycle is a marketing tool if you agree that it's the nature of the battery to do so. I'm also making it an issue because Optima does not state that even though the battery is able to rebound into usable charge, the capacity of the battery is greatly decreased. People will often say "yellow tops are deep cycle batteries and are able to get drained completely and then recharge to full state." Which is not true unless they have one of those industrial sized real deep cycle batteries.
Supposedly it is said that the yellow top is better for system that is much bigger and bigger systems will benefit from having the yellow top because it is "deep cycle". I can introduce you to people who are in Team Gates that ran both yellow tops and red tops with lots of power and will tell you that the red top did a better job than the yellow top. If the yellow top failed on them while the red top stays intact, chances are, the red top will serve a better purpose with less than 500wrms in an s2000.
oh yea, yellow top batteries will discharge at the same rate as conventional batteries. Only difference is that the optima batteries have more available current at start up.
Supposedly it is said that the yellow top is better for system that is much bigger and bigger systems will benefit from having the yellow top because it is "deep cycle". I can introduce you to people who are in Team Gates that ran both yellow tops and red tops with lots of power and will tell you that the red top did a better job than the yellow top. If the yellow top failed on them while the red top stays intact, chances are, the red top will serve a better purpose with less than 500wrms in an s2000.
oh yea, yellow top batteries will discharge at the same rate as conventional batteries. Only difference is that the optima batteries have more available current at start up.