Battery OPTIMA or Exide
Been running red tops for 2 years. been fine so far.
2007 EOS VR6 6 volt Optima battery replacement Just following up to help out anybody else grappling with this expensive battery situation. I bought two of the red top Optima 8010-044 batteries on Amazon for $189 each and replaced the absurd $$$ yellow ones with no problems whatsoever. All I did was buy a battery charger and hooked it up to the jump points under the hood before disconnecting the old batteries, it was enough to retain all settings. To sum up, don't worry, it's a super simple operation that in no way requires an expensive trip to VW service. I will update if any problems arise as it's only been about a week as of this writing.
I bought a red top and have had no problems!! Can run the radio with the car off. Car can sit for weeks with no problems starting. Worth every penny
I got the yellow top but it was worth every cent fwiw. Swapped to a yellow and feel like I could start first time every time in the tundra.
My yellow top in my mk1 is 8 years old. My yellow ro in my R is 7 months old. They're great.
I installed an Optima Yellowtop D35. The D35 is shorter than the Q85, but the terminal cover provided by Optima doubles as a base to increase the batteries height. Great design Optima! Immediately after installing the battery, the "Battery Management System Malfunction" message still displayed. Finally after leaving the car overnight, the message went away on its own. The i-ELOOP system is now functioning as normal.
Had an Optima once. It was fine til it died, and it died hard. These days I stick with Interstate blemished units, since you can get them with cosmetic blems for about $35 from your local dealer. Cable wise, I updated them with the ones from a Mk3 VR6. I like the connectors better. Cables seem to be identical otherwise. Thicker alternator wire from Autotech is a must.
I've never been impressed with an Optima battery.
Optima isn't nearly as good as it used to be. I've owned a lot of their dry cell batteries and they've gone to **** over the years. They don't hold up well to this kind of use, and if they drop below 11V they **** the bed.
Once Johnson Controls bought them, they've become worse and worse.
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