Use a 34R battery in these cars. Spinning off another thread from another poster who was asking for a high capacity battery, and mentioned group 34's would fit, I took the plunge with an Optima red top, as I was ordering another for my pickup. Sure enough.. it fits, and even retains access to the mounting points (though I didn't use the strap over the top as it wasn't quite long enough... and it kept coming loose from the upper mount). The only "mods" that I had to do was to straighten the negative terminal "pad" to fit over the battery, and I took one of the OE mounting pads and notched it on the bandsaw to fit in between the cylinders on the driver's side of the battery. Keeps it from sliding that way; OE metal stop on the right side and the Optima supplied hold-down on the front complete the install. Nice, tight, and should have plenty of reserve for when the car sits a bit. My old battery was on it's way out.. now it'll be the "garage battery" for various projects. Spare tire cover fits as it should, no issues at all.

34R Optima battery in place

 

Good to know, Thanks for the info.

 

This is a very nice find - and prove-out. I was on my 4th battery at 140K miles and 9 years when mine died. Battery life is a concern for long-term owners.

 

My OEM AC Delco battery lasted over 11 years & still checked out decent. Load Test & voltage, but I did replace last winter, cause I don't like to push vehicles anymore.

I know many like the Optimas, I don't like the price & no venting. But that's just me.

 

They are expensive, no argument there. But AGM batteries are much more resilient than wet cells and are much safer to work with. No gas = no explosion hazards.

 

Cool you found a suitable size more powerful unit.. There's a HHR Member here that races his & swears by Oprtimas, IIRC it might be same size..

How's the warranty ?

 

3 year from Optima

 

Nice... Strap over the top ? My battery only mounted by the base...

How many cca ? & ca ?

 

No, no strap. Battery is slightly taller than the OE battery. Optima supplied base mounts to fit *most* cars and trucks. Their adapter works for the "forward" mount. The side mount I adapted the OE hold-down to keep the battery from possibly sliding sideways. Specs are here: https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...ng-battery/34r

 

Great find, thanks for sharing. And posting the picture