GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Does anybody have any recommendations for a battery that is reliable at temperatures as low as -35F? I am looking into the optima red top, but I wanted to know if anybody has any less expensive recommendations. I still has my stock battery and it isn't great for our winters as a lot of you can imagine. I have a 2003 GT. Thanks.-DarkSpork

just about anything will be better than your 2003 Stock battery!I'm surprised it has lasted this long!!I have a redtop and it works great but now that I'm here in Texas we dont see those temps.

My car has low miles on it. Anybody else have other suggestions? $180 is a lot for a battery..

Any parts store should have one.Optima's are great but pricey.Just make sure you get the reversed post configuration.

At -35 you should consider a battery warmer to and plug that sucker in..

Amazingly my stock battery did work at -25 (I bought the car in February), just didn't work well. I think plugging in my block heater and a better battery should do the trick. I'm just looking for suggestions on batteries besides the Optima. If that's the only suggestion I get I'll go with it.

Quote, originally posted by DarkSpork »Amazingly my stock battery did work at -25 (I bought the car in February), just didn't work well. I think plugging in my block heater and a better battery should do the trick. I'm just looking for suggestions on batteries besides the Optima. If that's the only suggestion I get I'll go with it.The block heater will help, but not the battery, it helps the oil flow quicker, but it doesn't stop the reactions in the battery from slowing down... that be the purpose of the batt heater... up to you though...

a dry cell battery will be a good choice for your weather conditions.If you decide to stick with a stock liquid battery then yea i would consider a battery heater or quick disconnects so you can pull it out on those cold nights

Yes, I understand the purpose of the battery heater and appreciate the suggestion. I just figure a 570CCA or higher battery will do the job.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »a dry cell battery will be a good choice for your weather conditions.If you decide to stick with a stock liquid battery then yea i would consider a battery heater or quick disconnects so you can pull it out on those cold nightsDry cell battery is what I'm looking for then. Thanks, that is helpful.

dry cell batteries aren't cheap either... a deep cell like an optima batterys are a very good choice.I picked up a new battery for my wifes cavy for less than a 100bucks but her car is garaged LOLIt's all in the cold cranking amps.and if the battery freezes in those temps.for instance :http://www.hifisoundconnection...23284

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »dry cell batteries aren't cheap either... a deep cell like an optima batterys are a very good choice.I picked up a new battery for my wifes cavy for less than a 100bucks but her car is garaged LOLIt's all in the cold cranking amps.and if the battery freezes in those temps.for instance :http://www.hifisoundconnection...23284In contrast the redtop is way cheaper. I'm sold. Thanks.

dry or wet cell, same difference, it's all about the reactions that take place... A dry cell is going to give you no more performance than a wet cell... I'd do the Sears Diehard Platinum myself and will as soon as I have the money together...

just measure your stock battery before buying... i didn't measure the battery and posted just an option. I do not know for sure it that link i posted will drop in and fit in the battery location in the car.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »just measure your stock battery before buying... i didn't measure the battery and posted just an option. I do not know for sure it that link i posted will drop in and fit in the battery location in the car. I meant I was sold on the redtop.

lol gotcha.

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »dry or wet cell, same difference, it's all about the reactions that take place... A dry cell is going to give you no more performance than a wet cell... I'd do the Sears Diehard Platinum myself and will as soon as I have the money together... Thats useful. I had never even heard of a dry cell battery until it was brought up in this forum. I will probably stop by Wal-Mart to see if they have anything interesting. I've tried O'Reilly Autoparts, Checkers Autoparts, Carquest, and the on base "auto hobby" store. I think I can save a little money buying on base but I'll try Wal-Mart. Thanks for your input.

key diff between a dry and wet... the dry won't freeze in -35deg temps HAHAHA

We don't see -35 degrees F in Ohio. I think about -20 degrees is the lowest I have seen here in the past 35 years. My furnace was only able to keep the house at about 65 degrees running full time. Last fall after a lot of lookign ariound I got a Coscto Kirkland battery #35-640 for $54.99. 100 month warranty - 36 month full warranty. CCA's were 640. There are some battery threads here - as I remember there are only about 3 companies making batteries.Charged batteries have a very low freezing point - don't know if it is as low as -35 degrees. Might be.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »key diff between a dry and wet... the dry won't freeze in -35deg temps HAHAHANeither will a wet cell.... Acid changes the freeze point of the water... much like coolant.. they use wet cells in ARCTIC vehicals, so -35 isn't a biggee... The heater is though, for either... Like I said, dry/wet, it doesn't matter, it's all about how fast the reactions occour.. Like I said, i'll be using a DH Platinum most likely for my car and audio system.. it's made in the same plant as Oydessy batteries, same battery in fact.. but it's a bit of overkill, which is just right for me.. Optima's are old tech now... there has been numourious accounts of failures with them as well... Heck, the guy I talked to at my local Sears, a Jeep wheeler, went from Optima to the DHP, and hasen't looked back... He made the switch after killing 2-3 in a year (runs 2 in the trail rig)Just passin info..

i have had two liquid cell "non serviceable" batterys freeze on me. nothing 1hr in a house couldn't cure thoughlolSo i speak from experience. They do freeze

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »i have had two liquid cell "non serviceable" batterys freeze on me. nothing 1hr in a house couldn't cure thoughlolSo i speak from experience. They do freeze Did they freeze, or was there just not enough juice to start the car??

Sorry to come back to a dead topic but I have read in the forums that for the Red Top to fit I need to get "35R" (reversed post) but I can't seem to find any batteries with reversed posts. Is it possible that 75 is the same size but 35 but the 35 has the reversed posts? If anybody has info or insight I'd appreciate your input.

I had a red top and would not buy another. Next time, will be a die hard from Sears. less money and just as good imo

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Neither will a wet cell.... Acid changes the freeze point of the water... much like coolant.. they use wet cells in ARCTIC vehicals, so -35 isn't a biggee... The heater is though, for either... Like I said, dry/wet, it doesn't matter, it's all about how fast the reactions occour.. Like I said, i'll be using a DH Platinum most likely for my car and audio system.. it's made in the same plant as Oydessy batteries, same battery in fact.. but it's a bit of overkill, which is just right for me.. Optima's are old tech now... there has been numourious accounts of failures with them as well... Heck, the guy I talked to at my local Sears, a Jeep wheeler, went from Optima to the DHP, and hasen't looked back... He made the switch after killing 2-3 in a year (runs 2 in the trail rig)Just passin info.. up here, vehicles in those temps are plugged in at night and usually left running. I know on my trip to Barrow a few years ago, it got down to -50F and below, they just idled and plugged in. if you turned the car off, it wouldn't start back up after a couple hours because it was so cold. that's with as much winter precautions as possible. Fbx same thing:

Chilly. Where did you get that -55 picture? Plug it in and leave it idling? The block heater won't do the trick at that temp? I've only had experience with -37. When you go to start and engine, even using syn oil, it sounds like you are destroying all the metal parts. It's brutal. The seats are like rocks and so are the tires and springs. Can't imagine -55!!! Even at -35, I never had much trouble with Diehard. Didn't usually plug in. (no way to do it at work) and didn't use a battery blanket. So maybe I was lucky.

read the post :FAIRBANKS, ALASKA

Walmart!!!! place to go myself & bf have Energizers in our cars here in Edmonton we saw -40 to -50 & he didn't plug his car in once last winter. I replaced mine and haven't have a hard winter start yet.. we both have car starters & never had a "no start" come back to our 2way systems since we put them in. My battery is not even a year & his is 3 years old and they work like brand new.They were only $80.00 CDN up here, hope that helps good luck on your battery hunt.PS. We both have aftermarket audio systems in our cars with no problems

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT »I had a red top and would not buy another. Next time, will be a die hard from Sears. less money and just as good imoWell, I couldn't find the optima with reversed terminals so I got O'reillys house brand (super start extreme). 690CCA (as opposed to optima's 710) and half the price. The o'reilly battery had posts in the center and the cables were just long enough to make it work. I'm happy so far, but we'll see how it performs when winter hits, the guy at the store was surprised that the old 310CCA battery worked at all last winter. Thanks, everybody for your input.