Been looking at the small battery kit from AMS as I'm considering buying their cold air intake and I was wondering what the life on these small batteries are like. I frequently goto the drive in theatre and wonder if they'll be dead after watching a movie for an hour and a half to two hours.

 

I sell batteries for a living, and I can tell you these batteries are not designed to draw off the battery. These are ideal for race cars, weekend drivers, etc. If you park your car and listen to a stereo or have aftermarket lights or anything running off the battery don't even think about these.

These batteries have a low reserve capacity and are ment for starting only. It looks like AMS battery is made by Odyssey Battery (PC680) my company is a distributor for Odyssey. I've been to the Odyssey plant in Mo. and they make very good batteries but these are designed primarly for powersport (ATV, Snowmobiles, Go Carts, etc). Odyssey also makes very high quality starting batteries but they will most definately be heavier than the oem group 35.

They put out 680cca as a pulse, for 5 seconds then it goes down to 225cca irrc. So if you live in a cold climate this will be an issue as well.

We sell these batteries for $150 Canadian, and you seem to pay a bit more since it's from AMS, if someone is dead set on these just go to Odyssey's website and find a local supplier.

 

Thanks! What alternatives would you recommend since the battery needs to be moved for installation of the cai.

 

Good info you tought me something

 

There's lots of good batterie on the market, I would avoid Optima for sure, we stock them and I tend to steer people away from them. It's an aged design with a poor build quality (now) as Optima's production has moved to Mexico.

I would look into either Northstar or Odyssey batteries, both companys are extremely similar. My company has the Distribution rights to Northstar so i'm bias

Both Northstar and Oydssey are going to be heavy, so expect to gain some pounds.

I put an Odyssey in my dads 911 which sits in Naples Fl. for a good chuck of the year while we're in Canada. When he goes down south the car fires up no problem aftet sitting for months hooked up, and as lots of you know that car would have a lot of electrical draw while still being turned off.

Watch this video, it'll show how tough a Nortstar is:

 

Thanks for sharing re: Optima.

I had used them for years on a previous vehicle and had no issues, but if their build quality has changed I will pass on using one again.

 

They were at the top of the market for many many years but the '6-pack' design is an aged design the the new 'TPPL' (Thin Plates Pure Lead) creates much more cranking power & reserve. Optima has been sold 3 times and each time it seems quality has been cut, it's unfortunate as it's such a known brand and people buy it based off the marketing and past quality.

 

I have a small battery and it works fine. I hasn't gone dead and I used to daily drive my car. with no problems starting in very cold weather either. Don be scared to go with one. Chitown has been runing one for a couple of years now same brand I shuriken battery.

 

That's right. I've been running a Shuriken BT-20 for over a year now, daily driven, in Chicago. The car has sat for a week in chilly weather (30-40*F) while on vacation and when I came back it was a little slower cranking but still fired on the first try. If that doesn't attest to its longevity I don't know what will. As for reserve while using accessories, it would not fare well in that area, I would think, but have no actual first-hand experience.


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How does the Shuriken BT-20 fair at about 14F (-10C)?

If it still behaves itself, I might be interested in getting one

 

For daily use, I had absolutely 0 issues, even when I didn't drive it all weekend (home from work Friday evening, parked until Monday morning back to work). Longer than 4-5 days below freezing temps I'd put a tender on it, just to be safe.

 

Fair enough. Thanks for the info.

 

You're welcome. Although, in retrospect, I'd like to make sure and mention that I am not saying that the Shuriken battery is the end-all best mini battery, nor that any others (Enersys, Odyssey, etc.) are any better or worse, just giving a testimonial of my personal, satisfied experience with the Shuriken BT20

 

Just figured I'd provide another update while I still remember:

Last week, I went to go start the car after not having driven it for about a week. Ambient temp that morning, was 8*F, according to the display in the cluster (overnight temps were hovering around 0*F), and the car fired on the first try.

No charger was installed and I had gone into the car a couple of times to get some things, without actually starting it, throughout the course of that week.

Yes, it was a slow crank, at first, but it still managed to turn over and fire it up without a jump or booster.

Below 0* temps, on a regular basis, I probably wouldn't want to risk it with this battery and would probably just go with a Civic or Miata battery (sorry Canada )

 

i've been rocking my mini battery for just shy of a year now on the lowermainland of the west coast of canada... temps have ranged anwhere from -5 degrees C to +7 degrees C, also i've taken it up to the mountain for the odd weekend to go snowboarding

i have the base stereo system available for 2010 RAs and the only electronic upgrades i have are 55W HID headlights and 35w foglights none of which i leave on when the cars not running

haven't had any issues to date, though my car doesn't sit for more then 12 hours at a time as its daily driven

but definitly if your winters get below negative single digits or you plan to have the electronics running with out the car running (why?) then a mini battery is def not in your best interest, get a AEM intake, UR short ram or a drop in filter and stick with a regular battery