So maybe this should be in the "Beneath the Boot" forum.

Anyways, I installed an Optima Red Top 75/25 (BCI 75/35) in the MCS this morning. Piece of cake. Fits right in. I took my time so it was a 10 minute job instead of five.

Was going to buy one from Costco 'cause they had them for 119.00. Went back to pick one up and they are now 129.00.

So I looked on eBay and there's a shop down in Mansfield that has them for 94.00 plus 30.00 shipping. So I called and spoke to Peter and he says if I want to pick one up, just come on down and he'll waive the shipping charge. Made sense to me.

'Tis a beautiful day for a drive in the MINI. An hour and fifteen minutes and $101.40 later, which included the tax, and I was on my way back home.

Three year replacement warranty at any Optima dealer.

Here's the LINK to the Optima Technical Specs page.

.....Les

 

Three year replacement warranty followed by a pro-rated warranty thereafter. But, the free replacement for the first three years of ownership is definitely the most attractive part of the bargain. Kind of shows what the manufacturer thinks of their product....

 

sounds great. but you do know that for a daily driver you can use a cheap
Sears DieHard $60 battery and still get the same results? just
teasing (although true). if yours is a weekend car like mine that hibernates
in the winter, Yellow Top is the one you want to get.

 

Good job moreorless. That's the same battery I chose this summer when my stock one died. It's been working like a champ so far.

 

Les, I have one of those in my sons Forester. Great battery & what I'll do when the time comes for a replacement in me MINI. I'm guessing your OEM battery bit the dust.

 

yes, but you cant turn a die hard upside down and still use it.

i mounted my optima upside down just to prove a point.

 

kenchan, mine is not a weekend driver. I put about 160 miles a week on the poor MINI.

Chuck, my oem didn't die. I'm just being a bit pro-active.

I chose the Optima cuz with the battery riding between the rear wheels I'm sure it gets jounced around more than normal and the Optima advertises vibration resistance.

Besides, it's got this really cool red top!

....Les

 

Shiiiiiit man, I put that on in a day!

 

Were the cable posts in the appropriate places? I thought the 34R was the direct replacement with the connectors reversed to be int he right place. Do you have a picture of the install?

Rich (the confused as always)

 

useless point useless...

see, now there's the actual reason why most people buy it!

 

The 34R is a direct replacement (as is my 35). It looks like any other will have to be reversed for the right + - placement.

 

When I installed the a/v system in my MCS Cabrio I updated the oem battery to the YellowTop. No problem with cranking or running the sytem. The oem battery would last about 10 minutes and be gone.

KK (Call)

 

I've got the 34 R in my sons Forester. I'm guessing the R is for red. Well maybe it's for reversed terminals. We all know all the hot Honda's have red badges.

Les, it's no fun when your car won't start, a pro-active battery replacement makes lots of sense on 2002.

 

Here ya are Rich....

 

Sweet.....thanks for posting a photo as well.

 

And it's really sealed. No little vent line... The vibration resistance is great due to construction. And the OEM replacement isn't cheap either!

Matt

 

Does the Optima weigh less than the OEM battery? When I owned a my SR20 powered Nissan Sentra the Optima was very popular b/c of the weight savings, especially b/c the battery was right above the left front tire.

 

I don't think there's much weight savings. It might be a couple lbs lighter but not much.

 

The optima is 3 lbs heavier than my oem battery.

 

pretty much from any manufacturer to lower weight.....

Matt

 

yeah, i got the beastly optima, because of my stereo.

900 ca 810cca

 

Well, my H-Sport comp makes up the difference .

 

my ~200 whp makes up my difference, lol.

 

that red is very striking to look at.

 

I agree.. I had optima red tops in my vettes.. Had to use them because the side posts batteries would leak and kill the cpu and wiring under the battery.. Anyways.. the optima batteries just didn't last as long as the normal battery.. they also didn't put out as much voltage ! They finally did away with side posts and went with top posts.. so I went with a normal battery with better results..