Battery OPTIMA or OEM Mercedes

I remember this very interesting post a couple years back regarding AGM batteries and their charging requirements: On the one vehicle that I modified the charging circuit to run at 14.7V I have an Optima Redtop battery in it that has never been replaced. And this includes repeated discharges to near 0% SOC when the sales people at the tradeshows forget to turn the vehicle off after the show.

I always hear people talk about issues with newer Optimas but my old REDTOP is going on 13 years old and still going strong.

i have a optima red top in my drift car. its been in the car for atleast 4 years. 3 of which i have owned it. its been crushed, deformed, on fire and drained dead multiple times (always when diagnosing electrical issues or wiring up lights) and it still works great. it sits in my car hooked up and unused for weeks at a time with no issues.

I have a pair of Optimas (older) and they're dead-ass solid.

They’re pricey but I’ve always sworn by Optimas

General consensus is that the yellow top optima battery is best. Also, the optima is the only aftermarket battery that has the vent hole in the same place as the OEM battery.

While I did that I went ahead and grabbed a Red Top Optima Battery. Got everything back together, it turns over great but it doesn't spark.

my 2009 had an optima and it only lasted 2 years

I have only had poor luck with optimas

At 126,000 miles in 2016, we had the battery replaced with an Optima yellow top dry battery. It lasted around 2 years and was replaced in September of 2018 under warranty. Today, my car suddenly wouldn't start, and after getting a jump and going to Autozone, it showed the battery had zero charge. They didn't have another yellow top, so I got a wet battery, one of the only ones available. What sucks is I checked the warranty date and it expired 4 days ago. I'm quite disappointed that the average life I've seen with these are under 3 years.