Dead battery... I guess it's better now than this winter...

I dropped into Home Depot for a little shopping this afternoon and returned to the C4S to find the battery too weak to start the car. My son came up and gave me a jump, so it's back in the garage now. I've had the feeling that my battery was getting a little weak, now I know for sure. The question is: OEM battery or aftermarket battery? The Porsche dealer sells both, and aftermarket batteries offer a longer warranty. I always like to use OEM parts whenever possible, but I'm considering the aftermarket battery. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Always had good luck with Interstate.

The Napa store by my house sells Optima batteries, and I've heard those are supposed to be pretty good. They cost about the same as the Porsche OEM battery, but they have a 72 month warranty, compared to the 12 month warranty from Porsche.

Here's a recent battery thread with lot's of suggestions https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...n-battery.html

Thanks Tom.

Hello Dennis, I had this kind of problem with mine (a 2002), and went to Kragen (the closest for me), to pick up the one that they had that was matching the type, and go, without any question about brand at all. I think that whatever you take, will last about 4 to 6 years, and, in my opinion, this depend largely in the way you keep it charged, the brand having very little importance (low tech item). What they do not like is being discharged and staying in such mode, and also being overcharged, the rest, IMO is irrelevant. ..my two cents ! Sure, the joyce should be to go with the OEM Li-Ion, but the price is crazy. If Porsche would make Tesla's and use the same type of Li-Ion pricing, they would sell T's for at least 3 million dollars each ! The great point of the Li-Ion is that it removes a very serious mass from a place that is quite up in altitude ! Important note, remove stuff, if any, in the tiny trunk place, and when you replace the battery, stand up in that trunck "hole", otherwise, it is very dangerous for your back.

..just saw that you are on line !

I can add one comment: For the P cars driver, this should not be interesting, but for the F cars drivers, ..that goes for a small tour on a monthly base during the good seasons, I think to keep the battery on a "ready to go any time" mode, a solution is mount "in board" a "battery charger/manager", and keep it connected when not used, (like a T car...). These battery charger manager have intelligent electronics, and beside charging the battery, they keep them on a fully optimize mode, by sending "pulses" on a regular base and never go above what a battery should have (you have to set which type of battery you have, i.e.: lead-acid flooded, Gel Cell or Absorbed Glass mat, and then, you simply keep a healthy battery. I do that for the boat and whenever I use it, all is good in this side. This is a significative improvement.

I do not like having an open acid container in the car. Get a sealed battery AGM or gel. I have an AGM in my BMW motorcycle and it is 8 years old and still spins it with no problem. (ok I probably just jinxed it) Those of you that have motorcycles know that over 4 years is pretty good in a bike. I had AGMs in my 1972 911 that were still strong at 7 years when I sold it. I always use a maintainer when they sit for more then a couple of days.

The only close auto parts store here is Napa, and the Optima battery wasn't the right size. I'm going to the Porsche dealer tomorrow and I'll just pick up another OEM battery. It should give me another 4 or 5 years.