Battery Recommendations

[Silvia]

Mine is still going strong but 11 years old, so it's good to know where to look for a replacement.....thanks.

I searched their site previously, and if you put in " MX5" , you only come up with the $245 battery replacement!

[Old Dude]

I have the federal battery in my mx5 and it has worked fine . It also has the 2 breather tubes to the outside and I have had no problems. My daughters bot friend on the other hand has an old BMW that also has a boot mounted battery that someone previously put a normal battery in and the corrosion is massive!!!

Cheers
Dale

[Steampunk]

If you're not on a budget then just go for whatever you found to suit as it's obvious you did good research. I deduce the reason why SuperCharge said none of theirs suit an MX-5 boot might be because they think the boot is accessible from the cabin like sedans, hence danger of fumes.

I would have no hesitation buying SuperCharge again because I was seriously jilted by the Odyssey I bought which lasted a little over two years.

[Silvia]

I found Battery World had the best deal on AGM for MX5

[93_Clubman]

I have been trying to work with my local Autobahn to get a SuperCharge Gold as per the many posts about them. Either model MF40B20DF, GT12-35HR or MF43. SuperCharge today have said that NONE of their batteries suit an MX5 boot location.

Supercharge advised me that if their MF range Calcium battery became faulty it would no longer be suitable for the boot of an MX5. Supercharge GT is of course a non-vented AGM battery.

manga_blue has been using a Fullriver AGM for over three years. Caff also recently bought one for his NB8B:
viewtopic.php?f=77&t=55444&hilit=battery
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=55595&hilit=battery

Another option is the SSB vented Calcium battery from MX5 Mania for $135: http://www.mx5mania.com.au/product1875.htm

[manga_blue]

I've had a couple of Supercharge batteries, one in the 5 and one in the ute. Nothing special about them: average performance and very average life. Both died after a couple of years, so overall fairly poor value. They're just cheap chinese batteries with a Supercharge label on them. If you look around you might find a dozen different brands/labels on the same range of cheap cadmium chinese batteries.

Strongly recommend you stay with AGM. Far less fume problems and with something the size of the Fullriver HC20 it frees up a lot of room in an NA boot, enough to get in a set of full-sized clubs with the buggy.

I found Battery World had the best deal on AGM for MX5

x2

[manga_blue]

If anyone had a pic of how they did it that would be much appreciated.

It took me about an hour to do this. The original top bracket was replaced with a piece of shelf bracket, cut and drilled, and the original bottom holder has been moved forward about 80 mm. You need a decent drill and a hacksaw or angle grinder - that's about all. Parts were an old shelf bracket and one extra nut and bolt.

[Mr Morlock]

cheap batteries will not last as Manga says and I reckon he is right about the AGM but cost is an issue esp for those not keeping a car. Insofar as brackets are concerned its easy to buy aluminium angle or slotted metal angle.

[wozzah1975]

Depending on how serious you guys are about saving weight, especially in your race cars, I have Braille batteries in stock.

The ideal size for the MX5 would be the ML7C which is Carbon Fibre and Lithium Ion. They are tiny, and at 900grams the ultimate light weight.

Cheers
Warren

[Pamex]

Slees, I just remembered now. When chatting with Allmaz in Clayton, they mentioned they get MX5 batteries. Maybe give them a call. Good guys. Mention Pam sent you. The reason I mention it is they're good to look after you and are usually a reasonable price.

[bigdog]

Not pushing any barrows here, but the $99 Supercharge Gold I fitted six years ago (and inadvertently started the whole battery COW) is still going strong with zero issues. I will fit another one if and when it dies quite happily if they are still price competitive.

[Silvia]

...and I imagine some morning starts in the Blue Mountains could be quite challenging for a battery...

BTW My original Panasonic now has given 14 years service!

[MrRevhead]

Not pushing any barrows here, but the $99 Supercharge Gold

You wouldn't happen to know the model number by any chance?

Cheers

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Steampunk]

Nothing special about them: average performance and very average life. Both died after a couple of years, so overall fairly poor value.

Phil, they have a three year warranty, did you not make them honour it?

I agree there is nothing special about them, but as per bigdog's experience, the current owner of my old car still runs the SuperCharge I installed over six years ago now which is three times longer than the Odyssey (at the time was uber special) which had a one year warranty. The one in my GTi-R was installed Sept 2010 and it's fine.

MrRevhead, there has been confusion re part numbers so do what I did and simply measure your current one, go to your retailer and buy one with the closest dimensions.

Slees, Amarok is another new name in the game you might want to look at.
Why not simply buy the OEM Panasonic then? Even though only a few people here have gone down that path, of those few AFAIK none have had problems.

[Pamex]

Last I heard my Supercharge battery is still going strong. A few years down the track, after I left it on concrete constantly, and used it to start a dead Silvia (which it went with). I gave that battery hell and it worked fine.