Alright so after my car alarm started acting funny with the window roll up modules I was advised to get a yellow top optima. Why Yellow over Red? Well Optima said if you have car audio equipment that is advanced then you can not use the red top because it voids the warrenty. Guess the lasting life on redtop isnt that good with audio equipment, enough for them to void warrenty.

After reading the discussion here about the yellow top and the redtop I haven't read much about people putting the yellow top in their cars. But I am going to do so because I've ordered the battery. After talking with the Optima people they decided that the best fit without connection issues would be the Yellow Top D35 Battery.

Once I get the battery I will let you know how the installation went and some pictures.

Has anyone installed the yellowtop in their RX-8 yet? Which Yellow Top Optima battery did you use?

 

Red top Optimas are designed to be used as a starter battery in which provides all the cranking amps. A few discharge should be ok. Since you got your nice audio equip, a yellow top is better because it can handle multiple deep discharges. Also the voltage discharge curve is more steady and hold longer than the red top. So, you can run your audio system a full blast without starting your car at longer time than the stock battery.
Don't know about the warranty but I am sure that you ordered the right one.. i.e group 35 with reverse post.

 

Well, I bought a yellow top Optima this past week from Autozone. Going from memory, I believe the part number was 51R-OY. It was the same height and length but it was a full 2 inches more narrow, which I am quite pleased about. No worries about plenty of room around the battery to have air circulation.

So far, so good. I can already tell it was a very nice upgrade from the stocker. The starts are noticeably more "crisp" and weirdly enough it seems to pull harder through the rpm range. I keep telling myself it is my imagination, but there are worse things to be imagining!


Chris....