simple question guys, i just want some advice on a great battery for my 97sc300, i have HID's front and fog. i just want something powerful and reliable,

 

optima red top.....

 

Go to auto zone and get the battery that is rated the highest.

Personal experience with the optima battery is that they are over priced and suck.

Also I dont think HID in the low beam and fog lights will take up to much from your battery now.

 

I wouldn't worry about the condition of your battery to operate the HID's, I'd be more concerned with a larger alternator. But if you have an old battery and would like to replace it before winter time, by all means just get anything that is OEM spec or better. Just a quote note, Driftmotion has an awesome 200amp alternator.

http://store.driftmotion.com/static/...orovalplug.php

 

When did you get the HID kit.....and did you ibstall them already???

Thats what I did with my SC, might need to upgrade the alternator soon b/c of my Double Din......

 

Same here - I had a bad experience with a red top. High price, dismal performance. My old Exide and my new Varta blow the Optima away. Never again. Choose anything but.

 

for the upgraded alternator do i have to upgrade the ground wires to accommodate??

 

Relatively HID's have much lower wattage and amp draw. Regular halogen bulbs have 55watts, so unless you got the 55watt ballast, it still wouldn't matter since it's the same as stock. People always say, if you're not gonna do anything out of the ordinary with your car like sound system that can demolish houses all you need is a regular battery you can buy from any auto store. Besides, there have been alot of negative reviews about the Optima's, I myself wouldn't want to be a person to write about it since they're pretty expensive. Get Duralast, they're DURAble and LASTs up to 5 years. LOL

 

^^^^ it really depends where u live too though. optima are really good in the desert like az because its jelly not water. the water charged batteries only last a yr here in az because the water drys up by the heat. my battery only lasts a yr.

 

dont go with a duralast battery from autozone. they crap out quick (at least in my experiences).. ive bought two of them for two different cars and niether one lasted over 8 months.. only positive i can say about it, is the warrenty.. they dont have a problem giving you a "new" one but its not worth being stranded and needing a jump..

 

If you are anywhere near me I have a 1 year old sears diehard from my 97 for 25.00 if you need which should save you at least 75.00 and this is a top of the line battery.

 

I just hope Optima would say something about this. But what you're saying makes alot of sense. I just don't wanna go through the trouble of paying $200+ and have it quit on me after some months. That's the most common feedback/review from my fellow CAns.

Not sure about your experience, but my uncles and me have had great experience with them as well as their warranty is very reasonable.

 

I've had an AutoZone (Duralast Gold) battery in my truck for almost 2 years and it's been fine. My SC has a WalMart battery but only because I trailered the car into town after midnight and needed a battery to drive it off the trailer. The seller loaned me a battery only long enough to get it loaded

On the plus side, at least WM does stock one with the terminals in the proper orientation. That can make it a huge pain to put an Optima in a Toyota product. I used Optima years ago but ditched them when their longevity went to hell. The only advantage to me is that a sealed battery will never have corrosion so the terminals & wires will last forever.

 

There is battery anti-corrosion spray that will stop corroded terminals after you clean them.

 

After personal experience I found that HID's really messed with my power. I would turn them on and my RPM's would jump up 500+. I put my regular halogen bulbs back in and haven't had any issues. Obviously they suck for output but my car is running much better without them.