always1961

I Have a 2000 C5 and was wondering which Optima to buy
Yellow top or Red top? The car has a Pioneer radio with DVD, Bluetooth, Navigation and back up camera.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark

jrose7004

Red Top.

always1961

Thanks jrose

chuckeb84

Agree

dubtrub

I have the same basic setup as the OP and I have the yellow top. As the video suggest, when in doubt go with the yellow top.

DSTURBD

I have read on here that the yellow tops can be recovered from a total discharge more readily and reliably. Don't know from experience, but was glad to see that my car had a yellow top in it when I bought it. That was two years ago.

DSTURBD

4 KRUSIN

Thanks for the post. This seems to explain why some have problems with the Red Top.

I have the Yellow in mine, and it has been totally discharged at least twice. It is now in its 9th year and working perfectly. I will buy another unless it outlives me.

Dave68

With much more robust cases, almost any battery should provide many years of service. In fact, the highly-rated Walmart MAXX battery cost less than $100. The era of leaky batteries in C5s ended in 2000, yet many still believe that this is a major concern. No more!

always1961

Thanks for all the good advice...

Masterofsod

I went with yellow top since my car can sit for a few weeks from time to time. For the small increase in price I thought it was worth it.

tcrote5516

Yellow top is not ment for vehicles with charging systems, its for deep cycle applications. It's not that it won't work, it will; it just won't last as long as the red top will (reason is charging voltage from the car causes damage). Do a search, this answer is in about 100 threads or in the Optima owners manuel. They flat out tell you NOT to use a yellow top in cars with an alternator.

OHHHH, plus the red top matches the red Corvette lettering on the fuel rail covers!

always1961

Thanks for this answer...
And yes, Red would look better

4 KRUSIN

Wow! I totally disagree with this statement. 2 people on this thread have yellow tops >8 years old. I have nothing against red tops, but have never heard anyone with a red make that claim. "Not meant for vehicles with charging systems" - Apparently he didn't watch the video. As for the color, I painted the top of mine to match my blue accents under the hood. Looks great.

Camjamsdad

I bought red to match my car. Yellow is for vehicles with lots of aftermarket electronics and recover well. They sell a blue marine battery and maybe that one doesn't do alternators. Optima Jim posts here on the forum, maybe he'll pop in.

bjones7131

What is the average price of a red top, and do most auto parts stores sell them??

drseth

Did you know Optima Batteries are now made in Mexico. They abandoned a plant in USA for cheap labor south of the border. I have an old Red Top that is 8 years old, but I decided to look elsewhere.

I bought a NAPA Legend AGM battery for $159.00 from the local NAPA store. It is made by East Penn Manufacturing. They also make DEKA batteries, and Duracell batteries, sold by Sams Club.

There are choices in AGM batteries.

Camjamsdad

What does Mexico have to do with it? Using that as a factor means you shouldn't even drive any car since the majority are either made in Mexico, or are made in Canada or the U. S. out of Mexican made parts. Even the corvette is made of parts from Mexico. They still have to meet ISO standards to be able to supply parts to the US auto manufacturers.

drseth

Nothing against Mexico, but I prefer to support the good folks who live here in the USA and produce batteries here. Perot made a comment about a giant sucking sound of jobs leaving the USA to Mexico with the NAFTA passage. I wanted the person posting this thread to know where Optima batteries are made, and to let everyone know there are other sources of AGM batteries, for less money.

I also found that Sears sells an AGM battery, Diehard Advanced Gold AGM, for under $160, with a 3 year warranty.

I paid $50 less for a battery made in the USA, which helps our economy. I chose that. If someone decides differently, more power to them.

LoneStarFRC

Really???? Not according to Optima.

Directly from their website, this is the spec sheet for YELLOW TOP batteries:




http://d26maze4pb6to3.cloudfront.net...pecs_Sheet.pdf

strand rider

Labor cost are seldom the reason to move to Mexico. I would think a battery plant would be more concerned about pollution costs. Dealing with pollution costs money, and in a failed state such as Mexico, you can just pretend it doesn't matter . It's not like the impoverished locals can sue , only the rich matter there. I don't want to transfer my battery waste to areas that can't deal with it, just because I am cheap.

I have no idea how optima runs their business, and readily admit my assumptions are only that, and very unfair to post without facts. My assumptions are just the more common situations. I have always admired the technology in the optima batteries, and have always thought it would be cool to own such a product.

Back to the battery discussions.

I wonder how many of the guys running Optima batteries also require a trickle charger to make the battery work well in a C5 Corvette. I am sure many dig that their car requires special stuff in support the fancy batteries, but it is not the normal deal.

My AC delco battery, part number 78dt7yr has 850 cca, with the RC at 120, it satisfies the factory requirements . I don't know if Optima has a 120 rc battery in the line that would fit the car. I will check again, but last time I looked I didn't find one in the Red top line.

In reality, the Optima works well for a lot of people. It just doesn't fit my needs at this time. When I look towards buying , I don't agree with shifting the costs of pollution to some poor bastard further down the money ladder than me . I don't want some weird deformed stupid kids running around Mexico just because I decided to save a few bucks. The bigger reason, for me, is that I never had a Mexican guy come over here and buy stuff from me. We all need money.