Capital Driving Club Discussion Forum

My battery died and I have been looking into a lightweight alternative. Especially since they are about the same price as a regular sized battery.

I was wondering what you guys were running. It seems like some SM or SCCA people are running motorcycle or tractor batteries in their miatas with around 130 CCA and 10Ah.

Does anyone here run a battery that small. I could see this small of a battery being an issue for auto-x. Start the car up, pull into the B lane, turn the car off, wait 30 min ... will the car start up again?

Also, what mounting kits or cut-off switches would you guys recommend. I am getting a bit lost in the name-brand vs. non-name brand issues, which terminals and which add on terminals to get and what cut-off switches would actually work with these terminals.

thanks for the help.

The batteries you see in some cars I'm sure aren't lawn mower or tractor batteries. They are special lightweight betteries made for cars. I have an Odyssey PC680 battery that weights around 12lbs IIRC. It's small and I do get a lot of people saying it looks like a motorcycle or lawn mower battery. It's a good, light battery but they aren't very cheap. Odyssey carries some of the cheaper, light weight batteries. I've heard they are the same as Braille batteries but just re-named. Which they do look the same. My battery has worked great, it's never an issue at events, it still cranks the motor over strong. I've had it for about 2 years and this past winter it started to show some wear. When it was cold it wouldn't have enough cranking power to start up. It's working fine now that it's warmed up though. The only thing with these batteries is I wouldn't suggest leaving electronics on(radio, etc) for a while without the motor running.

miata.net had some people that pointed to motorcycle model numbers or tractor batteries from walmart. The motorcycle batteries were smaller than the odysey battery that you talk about. 4.5lbs, but you sacrafice some storage and CCA. The reason I was so excited for these is that I can get one for $59 shipped to my house.

I am assuming that the odysey battery will be a little better for what I want. It looks like I can get the PC570 with terminals for $111 shipped.

Yeah I don't know about the motorcycle batteries. Might work better on a real small car motor or if you don't have a whole lot of electronics to drain it. Even though they might be cheaper initially, it may not last as long which ends up costing you more when replacing it.

Batteries Plus has super small gel batteries. However, cheap is not part of the description. I think they are around $80 to $90 (can't remember the exact amount).

I like the WestCo batteries for a Miata. It's not particularly light (25lbs.) or cheap (~$125), but it doesn't require a vent tube (sealed AGM) and seems to hold up well. They also make motorcycle batteries, so maybe you can find one that is smaller, cheaper, and will still power a Miata.

http://www.westcobattery.com/miata.html

i've heard of braille batteries for super small ultra light batteries.

Braille batteries are super light, 6 or 8 lbs is the lightest, but not cheap by any means. $160 - 220 for something with any CCA that would work as a daily grind

I run a Braille in the Daytona Coupe. 12 lbs. and more than enough cranking power to turn the 347 ci stroker. Mount in any position, too.

I was reading on a couple of the forums where they said that the Brailles did not hold up well to daily driving. For some reason they did not like start, stop key cycling multiple times on short trips or something.

Fred, Ben, and I are all using the Braille (2015?). I think I had mine first..it's going on about 3 years. I've never had a problem with it. They don't have a lot of reserve compared to "normal" batteries, so you might have issue if you have to do multiple starts in a short period of time (more than normal daily driving). The only time mine has complained is on a HOT start on run #6 at cumberland....cranked just a bit slow.

I love mine. All I do it start it over and over, I never drive more than a 20 min track session. It fires right up after sitting all winter, has never been on a charger, and fires up my 347 even when hot..I also run an electric water pump and electric power steering, can't get much better than that.
fred

I drive my coupe to and from all track and autox events, and hot start it all the time. Its been very reliable for two seasons. Hot, cold, wet and dry, its seen it all. Highly recommended

does everyone use the 12lb battery. I was thinking I might be able to get away with the smaller/cheaper one.

I don't want to have to jump my car before auto-x. I could install a cut-off switch.

I guess if everyone is running the 12lb battery I will just get that one. Why make my car annoying to start up.

Thanks for the help.

The one we use is the 15lb. 425 CC one.
Fred

ferris wrote:does everyone use the 12lb battery. I was thinking I might be able to get away with the smaller/cheaper one.

I don't want to have to jump my car before auto-x. I could install a cut-off switch.

I guess if everyone is running the 12lb battery I will just get that one. Why make my car annoying to start up.

Thanks for the help.

I've been looking into this too.

the B129 looks pretty good. 323 CCA @ 9.5 lbs. and there is also the B106 which is 210 CCA @ 6.6 lbs which my or may not be enough for our smaller engines.

there was an article saying they were running a 130 CCA battery for a SM. They did say that it wouldn't start in freezing temps but had no other issues during the three years they had it.

So, 130 CCA might be enough for me because I never DD my car, but if you want to drive your car in the winter at all, you might want a larger battery