+1. The reason I chose to not get a mini battery.

 

keep the battery in the trunk!
i put a mini battery and i think it ruined my alternator, as my voltage woudl drop overnight, and in the am, the alternator would over work and tries to compensate.
granted, it might not be related but 2 techs and myself thought of the same thing.

 

I have had my oddysey pc680 in the trunk for 8 months now, no issues. starts up a little more sluggish than stock, but always fires up. I dont think there are any downsides, so long as you dont let the car sit for over a week,especialliy if its winter time. I mostly did it to make room for a custom short route uicp and for the weight savings.

 

I just bought the red top after thinking about the fact that I would be very unhappy if I couldn't start my car to get to work or take my son to school. I guess if my car wasn't a daily driver and I was really concerned about weight, I might go mini.

 

Sounds like you have a current draw issue. Any battery that is good should be able to hold its voltage, especially overnight. The small amount of drop on a normal battery is not an issue for a healthy alternator to charge up. That is the purpose of alternator after all.

 

Well my car is a weekend car, so it will only get driven Fri, Sat, and Sun. I live in SWGA, so it doesn't get really cold down here. While I would love to have the weight savings, I would hate for it to mess up my alternator or something like that.

 

lillev23, if you already have the battery in the trunk, can i ask why you would want a small battery? Are you trying to save weight?

 

Oops, just saw the weight savings post. In my CRX trunk i have an Orbital Gel battery, bit of overkill, but i dont drive it much so i need something that will start when i do drive it.

 

So far he's down to 2600 lbs without driver. That thing is already a gokart from hell!

 

This is the only problem. If you had a booming system, it kills the battery. Other then that, it great!

 

No issues here running a mini battery. Car has handled freezing cold winters and sitting in the garage for weeks on end. I run a Hawker Enersys Genesis EP16 Mini Battery that comes w/ the Nisei kit. In Florida you'll have no issue. Every pound helps

 

lol yall talk about weight saving like the regular battery is 100lbs....I dont see the point unless you are TRUELY Gutting your car or making rooms in the Bay...IMO

 

Was gonna say that mine has been sitting while I am doing work to it and the alarm drained it

 

i use to have one and it was a big mistake. I know use a stock size battery. All Mini batteries have no reserver power. You cannot use any electricty with the car off. You cannot liten to the radio at for more than 10 mins or the battery will die. And i'm not talking about bumping the radio loud. if you dont drive your car for a week the battery will die. If its really cold it will have problems starting.

with a stock battery i can listen to the radio for hours with the car off no problem. i can not drive my car for a month or more and it will start up without issues.

i do not recoment mini batteries for daily drivers

 

The bottom line is that some people are lucky and get away with little or no issues, but the majority don't!
Facts are that the mini battery just doesnt have the reserve power that a regular size one has! As a result the mini cant sit for as long a period as a regular size, plus all the other things that have been mentioned earlier!
Best bet (if weight is not a serious issue) is to go/stay with a regular size high cc amp battery, believe me, you'll have much less to worry about!