Optima Battery

[XLRATING]

I went with a yellow top Optima and am very pleased. There was no issues at all installing it. Cables, mounts everything was very easy.

I chose the yellow top because I never have the need of high CCA, I never start in cool/cold weather and the accessory load is more of the issue with our cars. IMHO the yellow top is a better electrical fit.

There has not been a single battery issue since installing it.

We had a battery go in one of our "other" cars & switched out the red top Optima from the XLR-V to the car with the dead battery, then got a yellow top for the V since it runs batteries down so quickly. Like Phrede we don't start the car in cool/cold weather. So far the biggest thing we've noticed is the V seems to start up a bit faster, with less of a pause between initial ignition & actual start up (and the red top we took out was pretty new).

Seems the yellow top is probably better for V's. Red top has been perfectly fine for the base.

Plus the yellow matches the V's calipers better!

 

[Jerry11j]

34R-PC1500T fits perfect

I read a lot of threads about the Odyssey 34R-PC1500T not fitting. My old battery went dead. It was 4 years old and I didn't start it for 2 weeks. I ordered the Odyssey online. It fit perfect in the original tray. It has a ridge that fits beneath the tray ridge on the firewall side. The factory clamp fit perfect. The positive and negative cables had plenty of slack, no need to change the bend.

Their website calls for a 1200 battery, but that is wrong. The ridges for clamping are on the short sides of the battery instead of the front and back like the factory tray. The tray is 10" long and the Odyssey website says the 1500 is 10.86". As I looked at the picture I could see it is tapered. I emailed Odyssey and the length at the bottom of the battery is 10". It starts tapering longer 3" up from the bottom.

My car is an '06. I was nervous about it waking up. But it did immediately and started right up. I had to index the windows, but everything was back including the garage door opener...which really surprised me.

So bottom line, the 1500 fits a '06 perfect with the factory tray and clamp.

 

[rexster314]

I read a lot of threads about the Odyssey 34R-PC1500T not fitting. My old battery went dead. It was 4 years old and I didn't start it for 2 weeks. I ordered the Odyssey online. It fit perfect in the original tray. It has a ridge that fits beneath the tray ridge on the firewall side. The factory clamp fit perfect. The positive and negative cables had plenty of slack, no need to change the bend.

Their website calls for a 1200 battery, but that is wrong. The ridges for clamping are on the short sides of the battery instead of the front and back like the factory tray. The tray is 10" long and the Odyssey website says the 1500 is 10.86". As I looked at the picture I could see it is tapered. I emailed Odyssey and the length at the bottom of the battery is 10". It starts tapering longer 3" up from the bottom.

My car is an '06. I was nervous about it waking up. But it did immediately and started right up. I had to index the windows, but everything was back including the garage door opener...which really surprised me.

So bottom line, the 1500 fits a '06 perfect with the factory tray and clamp.

Yep, I did the same thing December '15. This battery fits perfectly

 

[XLRATING]

If anyone is interested, the Nov. 2017 (yep, I said NOVEMBER) edition of Vette magazine has an interview with "Optima Jim" McIlvaine on p. 36. He discusses battery tenders, battery chargers, yellow vs. red vs. blue Optima batteries, etc. Fairly interesting read. He also noted Ken Lingenfelter's collection has a lot of modern cars with so much technology "their key-off load would completely discharge their batteries in a couple of weeks." Sounds familiar... And he noted that even with a battery maintainer (instead of charger), the batteries will get so discharged that it could cause early alternator failure when the car does get driven.

 

[sschooley]

2008 XLR, Odyssey 34R-PC1500T BATTERY

This thread is a bit dated but contains a wealth of useful information.
This week brought the time for replacing the 2nd battery in my 2008 white XLR. I had used original
Delco batteries the past 9 years but opted for an Odyssey this time around.

The ODYSSEY 34R-PC1500T fit perfectly and appears to be an awesome upgrade. My 2 previous Delco batteries fit into a foam insulating
sleeve that came with the XLR that the Odyssey didn't fit into. However, this feature doesn't appear necessary at all.

My vendor preferred the Odyssey over the OPTIMA (they sold both brands) candidly reporting that production of the OPTIMA in Mexico
appeared to negatively impact quality of the OPTIMA brand.

Any of these brands (Delco, Odyssey, or Optima) are probably fine but but I'm going with Odyssey
and hope to have made a wise choice.

Steve

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Now your all CHARGED UP.......LOL


Sent from Grand Daddy iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rexster314]

This thread is a bit dated but contains a wealth of useful information.
This week brought the time for replacing the 2nd battery in my 2008 white XLR. I had used original
Delco batteries the past 9 years but opted for an Odyssey this time around.

The ODYSSEY 34R-PC1500T fit perfectly and appears to be an awesome upgrade. My 2 previous Delco batteries fit into a foam insulating
sleeve that came with the XLR that the Odyssey didn't fit into. However, this feature doesn't appear necessary at all.

My vendor preferred the Odyssey over the OPTIMA (they sold both brands) candidly reporting that production of the OPTIMA in Mexico
appeared to negatively impact quality of the OPTIMA brand.

Any of these brands (Delco, Odyssey, or Optima) are probably fine but but I'm going with Odyssey
and hope to have made a wise choice.

Steve

In December, I will have had my Odyssey battery for 2 years. Best choice ever. It's always hot, even after 2 weeks of sitting, no driving. No battery tender to fool with.

 

[lextoy]

i still hook up my batteryminder whenever the XLR is in the garage and will sit for a while, aka a few weeks.
but if i drive it regularly, no need for charging.

i added an extra nut to +/- terminals to attach the pigtail quik connect to the battery.
then the pigtail is threaded up into the rain gutter just under the passenger wiper.
there is a gap in the gutter by the hinge, it threads thru perfect.
i can connect and disconnect the charger without opening the hood.

hardest part was figuring out what pitch the thread was on the studs to pick the right size nylock nut.
wow what a pita !!

dont ask... i dont remember, somewhere in the corvette forums they had it figured out . lol