Before you ask...yes,I have done a search and can't find the info. Anyhow,I just now went out and measured the Delco battery.I came up with roughly 9W X 7H X 5D inches on the stock battery.Man,that's a small rascal,ain't it?I wonder what group that is.I have checked the Optima site for a similar sized battery and there are several that are close.Have any of you replaced the stock battery with an Optima yet? What size did you use,and what problems,if any, did you have making it fit? I am just trying to put together some info. in advance of any problems.Yeah,I was once a Boy Scout and I like to be prepared.

 

I know I've seen discussions about the Optima battery and have done a search, however, have not found any mention of any particular model number. The only thing I ever remember reading was that folks were using the yellow-top optima. Hopefully that's of some help.

 

OPTIMA YEL51R should drop right in with no issues.

 

Yes Deb...I've seen the posts too.My question I guess is to find out the lazy man's way,how big an Optima battery I can stuff into the given stock mount area.I was hoping someone had tackled this job already.Larger batteries have larger reserves and the prices are not much different than the smaller ones.Of course,I could always buy a large one and break out the big hammer and make it fit. EDIT...thanks crazybob...you answered my question while I was hunting and pecking.

 

Not sure if the yellow top Optima would work best, though. Do you have a lot of extra equipment (i.e. stereo, video, other electrical equipment) in the car? If so, then go for the yellow top. If not, you might want the amps more than the draw capacity, in which case you'd want a red top battery, probably RED3575, and to fit in the battery compartment you might have to mount it sideways. Just my buck-o-five.

 

I agree...I do not have any extra electrical stuff yet.When it comes time to change the battery,I will probably stuff the largest RedTop I can into the given area.Thanks,HB

 

Naw... I wouldn't. Reserve capacity is more important than CCA. 500CCA or 625CA is more than plenty. It doesn't take much cranking amps to turn over a 4 cyl. The Yellowtop that fits has almost the capacity of the redtop that doesn't. Of course, if you cram a full size yellowtop in there, it will have much more capacity.

A deep cycle will recover fully if drained, a red will not. Also, a yellow will hold a charge longer when the car is not driven than a red will.

Get the one that fits... Just my 4 cents.

 

Better off with 625. The listing I have on the HHR battery shows a minimum CCA requirement of 595CCA, not only for kicking over the starter but also for the initial running of the fuel pump.

 

I have been having problems and are looking at the Optimum Yellow also. My battery has died 3 times in the past 5 months. I heard from two people that came to jump the car that GM, particularly HHR and Cobalt, have these problems.

I believe,and correct me if I am wrong, that the battery used is just barely up to the job.

 

are these as good as they say?