Best Battery for Cold Winters

Ok so let me start by saying... yes it's the middle of summer.... and why are you asking this question now?

 

 

Ive been doing some research conserning a new battery because last year during the winter my battery gave me the impression it hates life and the engine is asking for more cranking amps. This question goes out to all the Northern LGTers.

 

What battery have you used in your car and how did it perform on cold days?

 

Let me just note that im not looking at running my radio for 1 million hours on battery only. Just want a good performing, high cranking battery.

 

Thanks

I have some good experiences from Tudor Batteries - which now are the same as Exide batteries.

 

From my experience it's usually a waste of money to go for really expensive batteries as the Optima batteries, but that you also should avoid the cheapest alternatives.

 

And you will often get a better result by selecting the right oil (e.g. 0W40 or so) as well as making sure that the car is well serviced before the winter. Changing spark plugs before the winter may be a good idea, even if it isn't specified in the service interval - and make sure that they have the correct gap before installing. May make a difference when the temperature drops below -30 (C or F, give or take ) Running a few tanks with injector cleaner may also be a good idea.

 

In any case I did have an old Volvo -64 with a B18 engine which started at temperatures below -30 without any engine heater. So maybe I did something right!

im running a duralast in my car, it never gave me any problems. And im up in Washington so our winters are pretty cold.

Last Sept I went to Walmart and bought a battery there. A few weeks later I saw a review on batteries, turns out I bought one of the better ones. Who would have thought.

 

Maxx-35N $75.00

I go to VT every winter weekend, well except for 4 weeks last winter I was home with a broken collar bone, (4 places). But it worked fine during the end of Jan on.

Another vote for Duralast. Put one in my old Passat and it never failed me during several cold Iowa winters.

I see alot of you have good things to say about each different batteries but did you see i big improvement over stock? I noticed the stock battery has a low cold cranking amps rating.

All I know is that it starts the car when it's freaking cold out. Even after the car has sat in the cold in VT for a few day's.

 

Just go to walmart and buy the battery. Don't over think this. It's not going to add HP. It's just a battery. There good and bad in everything.

My stocker always started the car but turned over slowly. The Maxx-35N that I got at Walmart had a much higher CCA rating and does crank faster.

Got good ratings from Consumers too.

Duralast here too. Never let me down.

Interstate Battery but Im a little biased since we sell them

Batteries comes in two varieties - Sufficient and not sufficient when it comes to cold starts. Brands that have been around for several years are usually OK, odd brands that originates from a place/company that you never heard of and are cheap usually lacks somewhere.

 

But sometimes there is a surprise - good or bad - in that you may get a cheap battery that works and lives "forever" or a well-known brand battery that dies after 15 months.

If you are still using the OE battery that came with car then pretty much any battery you purchase will be better. The OE battery has a relatively low CCA value about 490 I think. I know how you feel, the cold new england winters here aren't fun if your car doesn't want to start. I bought an AutoCraft gold battery with CCA value of 640 and it did just fine last winter.

Top of the line AutoCraft (Titanium? Platinum?) Anyways its great.

All I know is that it starts the car when it's freaking cold out. Even after the car has sat in the cold in VT for a few day's.

 

Just go to walmart and buy the battery. Don't over think this. It's not going to add HP. It's just a battery. There good and bad in everything.

 

Lol. I know it wont add me HP. Im just getting some info before heading out and dumping some cash

If you are still using the OE battery that came with car then pretty much any battery you purchase will be better. The OE battery has a relatively low CCA value about 490 I think. I know how you feel, the cold new england winters here aren't fun if your car doesn't want to start. I bought an AutoCraft gold battery with CCA value of 640 and it did just fine last winter.

 

Its not like my car hasn't started on me but the battery seems to strugle when cold. This is exactly what I was looking for Thanks.

I wouldn't pay much attension to CCA as that measurement has been shown to pretty much be meaningless in the real world. Just buy any quality brand battery with a decent warranty and you will be fine. Most batteries are made by only 2 or 3 manufactures so there is much difference between them.

Its not like my car hasn't started on me but the battery seems to strugle when cold. This is exactly what I was looking for Thanks.

 

For the most part, batteries only last 6 maybe 7 years. I bought my O5 GT in late June 04. Like I said I drive to VT every winter weekend. For the $75.00 I got the piece of mind knowing I had a young battery all last winter. If you can I would wait untill just before winter to replace it.

 

Clean the terminals real good and put some grease over, around and under the negitive terminal after you install it. That will help to keep the corrosion off it.

Top of the line AutoCraft (Titanium? Platinum?) Anyways its great.

 

AutoCraft Gold

 

It was just under a hundred bucks at advance auto parts

spiral cell batt ftw ! they can freeze .. there garenteed for 5 years just a tough as nails batteries twice the price but worth it!

Interstate Battery but Im a little biased since we sell them

 

interstate MEGATRON! i bought a cavlier (mr plow) 3 years ago the battery was stone dead .. boosted it .. and its been fine ever since!

Another vote for Duralast. Put one in my old Passat and it never failed me during several cold Iowa winters.

 

The Duralast Gold was one of the top Group 35 cold weather performers in the latest CR test. Others were the Kirkland Signature from Costco, and the Bosch Premium Power

The OEM battery is a group size 85, which is smaller than most people replace it with, the group size 35. So any group size 35 will have more juice. Consumer Reports rated the Duralast Gold highly as well as the Bosch Premium (Pep Boys) and Everstart Maxx (Walmart) followed by DieHard Gold and Costco.

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I wouldn't pay much attension to CCA as that measurement has been shown to pretty much be meaningless in the real world. Just buy any quality brand battery with a decent warranty and you will be fine. Most batteries are made by only 2 or 3 manufactures so there is much difference between them.

 

Have you actually tested this yourself, or speaking off-hand. CCA have everything to do with how a battery performs. Why do you think diesels run 2 or more? For fun I guess:rolleyes:

I haven't but Consumer Reports has, numerous times. They found that the CCA rating of the battery almost never corresponded to the actual CCAs measured. The CCA rating on a battery is not at all accurate so I wouldn't pay that much attention to it.

 

From CR:

 

"We also test for cold-cranking amps. That's the measure of current that's available at 0º F and is the primary indicator of cold-climate performance. CCA has long been a major selling point for batteries. But we believe that the industry's claimed CCA doesn't reflect real-world conditions because batteries are charged at a higher voltage than the 14.5 volts provided by most vehicles' alternators. Our CCA test is based on more realistic charging voltages and amperage demands, and our results show each battery's relative cranking power, regardless of the manufacturer's claims."