Battery choices

[threpwood]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

The small batteries are nice if your racing and looking for quicker times. But is the trade off worth it? Can you quantify the benefits? Our cars didn't come the size battery it has for no reason.

Think of your battery as a bucket of water and the alternator as a small facet. Now all of electrical components all take some "water" out of that bucket and the facet tries to keep it full. I don't know about your car but I have heated seats, Bose amp, electric windows/mirrors and seats, deployable spoiler, all the electronic hardware (ECU, ABS, PSM, fuel pump) and the convertible top. I'm sure I missed a few things but thats allot of drain on a battery. It's all about electrical capacity. Don't forget your putting a strain on the alternator trying to keep up...if you have a small battery.

I feel if you want to save some weight in your Boxster, go on a diet. Don't sacrifice you car.

No need to go on diet...I bought midtronics PBT-300 to test the battery just to avoid having to go through a diet. That way you'll know for sure how much electricity that your system eats and how much power that the battery has.

Porsche Tequipment charger also seem to do its job everytime I leave the car in the garage for more than 3 days. It gives me a peace of mind and I don't think I can live without it!

[vath2001]

Amazing! People want to install a light weight battery, then they install 200 pounds of stereo upgrades: amps, speakers, head units. Probably drive with the golf clubs in the trunk too.

Hey, go ultra light weight and Sears will sell you a lawn mower battery. It will start the car, but will be fried in 6 months... but you'll save weight.

[stephen wilson]

I agree, you'll never notice the weight difference. I didn't notice any change in lap times in my Formula Ford racer after losing 10 pounds. This car only weighs 1100# with driver, so that's equivilent to a 25# change on a Boxster. (And yes, I run competitive lap times, so it's not because I'm slow!)
Steve