Battery decision
Duralast Gold
Interstate
Or
Optima Red Top

 

I have always used Duralast in my vehicles, Interstate is a pretty good brand as well. But needles to say, out of all my vehicles (They all have duralast) And I have to say Duralast is a great battery.

 

I currently have the Duralast Gold, 5+ yrs old. Been on the charger all day & still not charged enough to crank. Its seen its glory days.
Im sure any battery going thru its life would have a rough time going on 6 or 7 yrs,
however, I would like it to charge in 4-6 hours instead of 10-12 : (
I know sitting all winter doesn't do it any good.
Battery Tender is on the list for the week too : )
Or am I expecting too much too soon?

 

I'm going to install a Duralasgt battery in my TA here soon. All the batteries the OP listed are good, but for the money Duralast is just fine.

 

Best battery would be the Red Top. I love my Optima battery in my IROC. I bought it back when it was affordable though, they are getting really expensive. I've had the car sitting for a month at times without running it and turned the key and it starts right up.

If you are shopping for a conventional lead acid, all you really need is a battery from Wal-mart. Last time I checked they were manufactured by Johnson Controls who also makes Optima batteries. Johnson Controls also manufactures batteries that are rebranded as Interstate, Diehard, Duralast etc. So you really are paying for the name in some cases.

I have Wal-mart batteries in my 86 Z28 and my gf's Rendezvous. When they go bad, Wal-mart exchanges them as long as they have the date sticker and they are still under warranty.

BTW: A lot of chargers now have a voltage sensing circuit to detect if there is 12volts, if its under that the battery charger wont kick on. I have had to hook up the battery charger, plug it in and then attach a portable jump starter on it to have it kick on. Then I remove the jump starter leads and let it do its thing. 5+ years is a long time for a lead acid battery./

 

Thanks for the info!