Battery

[JMA -997]

Hey Guys!!! I have a question on the battery, Why does it have to be so huge? Will fitting a small gel cel battery be ok?

[RFM]

997 and others use power when not in use (parked), the standard battery is just sufficient for daily driving. Small gel cell batteries are better suited for track cars.

[therock88]

Hey Guys!!! I have a question on the battery, Why does it have to be so huge? Will fitting a small gel cel battery be ok?

I have replaced the battery in all four of my current P-cars and have gone with regular (much smaller and lighter) aftermarket batteries with no issues. I would recommend a trickle charger (battery maintainer) if you are going to leave them sitting for a while. Will also offer that even in the scenario of sitting for a while, the aftermarket batteries hold up a LOT better than the OEM Porsche batteries. I thought it was comical that on my 997 Turbo there was a lot of information about Porsche making the car lighter by using aluminum door skins and bonnet . I let it sit for over a week in the winter and the OEM went dead! Dealer says it happens all the time in their showroom.....So I went to pull it out and I swear it felt like it weighed 80 lbs and was about 2 feet long ! :) I saved more weight by using a regular battery..

Good luck!

DC

[JMA -997]

Thanks! :thankyou: I was thinking the same thing....

[geoff]

Hey Guys!!! I have a question on the battery, Why does it have to be so huge? Will fitting a small gel cel battery be ok?

I just replaced my original Porsche battery with an Optima 34R red top and saved around 7 pounds (I'm not home, but did weigh both and will report back on the weight difference). The Optima is a bit smaller than the OEM. As long as you have enough power to regularly start your car, you don't need a battery so big it will continuously crank the starter in sub-zero conditions (which doesn't look like a problem for your location)

Depending on how much smaller you go with a replacement battery, you may need some kind of mounting adapter and/or a longer negative cable.

See this topic for pictures of my install. And yes, a battery maintainer is a good idea if you have a smaller battery as the cars do use battery power when just sitting parked

[JMA -997]

My car is a daily driver. No problems with sub zero temps here in the Philippines! Nice install pics!!! THANKS!!! :thankyou:

[JFP in PA]

We have had several customers "experiment" with light weight and gel cell racing batteries in street cars, to date, none have been particularly successful. Common problems include dimming/ignition issues with bi-xenon/lits, stero issues, and brutally hard starting issues at even mildly cool weather. Problem is that small, light weight batteries are short on total cranking current (amps) and have significantly lower current reserves to properly operate the car systems. Think of the battery as a type of gas tank, small and light help handling, but brings other drawbacks. Leave the small gel cells for the race track and buy a decent properly sized battery, you will be much better off in the long run.

The Optima 34R is a good choice, a bit lighter without sacrificing capacity, and as it is a sealed AGM design, it will live about twice as long on average, and there will never be any chance of corrosion in the battery tray area. Only downsides are it costs a bit more, and require fabricating mounting plate, or buying a commercial kit from someone like Yellow Dog Motorsports. I have four Optima's in my personal cars, one over ten years old, and dozens of customers running them as well, with absolutely no issues……

[JMA -997]

Thanks JFP! I had a sealed odysee battery in my '08 STi. It was really small to fit around the intercooler piping for the front mount intercooler. Had no issues and at full load gave out 13.7 volts. It was very light as well. I was never a fan of large batteries and thought I could put a smaller unit in the Porsche. I asked the local dealer here in the Philippines and their reply did not make much sense. Anyway, your suggestion sounds good. I just need to find the local distributor of the optima here in my neck of the woods...

[geoff]

I'm not sure about the Phillipines, but any Interstate distributor in the US can get you an Optima. I've seen them on Amazon as well (buy through renntech Amazon store)

[JMA -997]

I'm not sure about the Phillipines, but any Interstate distributor in the US can get you an Optima. I've seen them on Amazon as well (buy through renntech Amazon store)

Is there a site I can go to to check out the battery sizes???

[geoff]

My original Moll battery weighed 47.2 lbs, my new Optima 34R weighed 40.6 lbs (sorry about not weighing in KG)

Is there a site I can go to to check out the battery sizes???

Optima red top battery specs are at http://www.optimabat...edtop/specs.php Lots of web sites with battery sizes, such as http://www.rtpnet.or...a/bcigroup.html