I've never done research on this as the s2k is basically my first car, before I had motorcycles and I just went with whatever the shop recommended. I’m fortunate enough to have a phenomenal Ducati shop locally />/>/>. Anywho Optima seems to be the fancy-people battery. After doing some research, "fancy" products seem to be worthwhile for our S more often than not, especially in the long term. And yes, I've read that batteries come from like three different people and Optima's are probably made in the same building as walmart/costco, that Kirkland and Auto parts store-brands have lasted 10 years for some, that Optimas have only lasted 3 years for some etc etc.

Anywho, I work in the tire/auto industry so a lot of my automotive product research begins with my many knowledgeable co-workers who are always willing to share their thoughts, when I mentioned Optima this morning, their responses were kind of what I expected, “. . . supposed to be the best” and more than half of them said that’s what they run on their vehicles/toys.

I like putting the best I can afford on my S, and in the case of a battery, I have no problem spending the $200 HOWEVER the OEM battery is what I’m replacing and my car is an 06! I’ve drained the battery at least 5 times and came close to draining it way too many times needless to say it’s performed very well and has never let me down in our Colorado winters. I will update the post later and check what I have in the S when I get home, it’s probably the Panasonic I’ve read about.

What do you guys run? Do your local dealership still carry the Panasonic? Any experiences with non-Panasonic dealership replacements? Optima’s site recommends this part # for our car: 8071-167 D51 which is a yellow top, is this the Optima your running?

Thanks!

 

Odyssey PC 680 Battery

Weighs less than 15 lbs.

I plan to go this route or a custom hybrid LiFePO4 / Gel battery whenever my stock battery decides to die.

 

IMO that would make for a crappy winter/cold weather battery. He's probably not as concerned about the weight of the battery as he is with the ability to start his car reliably at -2F.

To the OP, the OEM Panasonic battery is not (and never was AFAIK) available from your Honda dealer. Any good type 51 battery will work and fit fine. The Optima Yellow top in particular has a pretty poor history in the type 51 size (to the point of Optima pulling the battery from sale for a while). They may have fixed their quality issues, they may not have. Do you really want to take that risk for $200.00?

 

Both of the Optima batteries I've purchased failed WAY before they should have.

 

[/quote]
He's probably not as concerned about the weight of the battery [/quote]

I like loosing weight everywhere I can but in this case I prefer longetivity and cold starting performance. Thanks for the info so far. If I was a bit more anal I'd search for what I have in the car now, even if it meant searching oveseas! haha. It was just an impressive battery, especially considering its size. Hell I'm sure that if I fully charge it and baby it, it would probably last me the rest of the year.

 

I just replaced my 05 OEM battery about 2 months ago. I replaced it with the OEM one. Based on cost and use, it just seemled like the best choice.

 

I have heard alot of negative things about the optima's in recent years plus their price has gone up alot (as have all batteries". I have a napa battery and I am happy with it.

 

Wow, where did you find the OEM battery?????? I've even searched the web for the PANASONIC to no avail. Now, I must admit, the battery sold by my dealer would have been a pretty good deal ($110 installed with a very good warranty). I believe that the battery was built by Exidy. Many if not most auto parts stores will install your battery for free also so......

 

You need someone to install your battery?

 

I run the Odyssey PC925, and have for the last few years (you know I don't drive the S in the winter though).

I will never buy and Optima again....my first yellow top lasted 15 months, the second one only 12 months. After that I switched to Duralast Gold...those worked out well until I relocated the battery to the trunk (that's when I switched to the Odyssey)

Scott-