Lightweight SLA battery - Lose over 26lbs from your Prelude - STS/STX Legal! - Honda Prelude Forum

aklucsarits · 06-07-2003, 10:38 AM

I have recently installed a Hawker Genisis G16EP model SLA battery in my Prelude. In the course of my research several months ago on lightweight batteries, I found this site to be most informative and comprehensive: http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm Check it out for general info on SLA batteries, life expectancy, performance, and model comparisions.

The Hawker Genisis G16EP battery weighs only 13.5 lbs. It saves over 26lbs on the Prelude. On the Prelude, the battery is in one of the worst possible places for extra weight to be - up high in the engine bay and in front of the front wheels. The battery is one of the few significant legal weight reductions you can do in the SCCA Street Touring Solo2 class. http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/Rule...RICAL%20SYSTEM Also note that it is legal to remove the metal tray that the battery is sitting on. I kept it for lack of a better mouting location. But removing that heavy duty metal tray should save you at least another pound or two.

I got my battery from Portable Power Systems ( www.gotbatteries.com ). The G16EP is $69.95 there. When you order, use the coupon code "VMAX" to get another 10% off the price of the battery. So the cost is really only like $63. (I found that coupon on a motorcycle site while I was doing research on the Genesis batteries.) The battery comes with no SAE post terminals, so make sure you order some too while you are at it. They run another $9.95. The Hawker Genisis G16EP model is also rebranded and sold (at a higher price) as the Hawker Odyssey PC 680 and the DynaBat.

Buy the Battery
http://www.gotbatteries.com/Productp...06S1P&AddOn05=
And these Posts too
http://www.gotbatteries.com/Productp...On04=&AddOn05=

And then use the "VMAX" coupon for another 10% off.

I secured mine in the stock battery try using the stock battery tiredown. I did need to go buy a set of two new mounting rods to attach to the tray. I got a battery mounting kit at a local autoparts store that had 8" rods and threads that extended further down the rods than the stock rods have. The kit was $1.99. I mounted it straight up and down in the center of the tray. I know it probaly would have been better to mount it flat on its side. But the stock battery cables are a little short to do that and I would have needed some custom tiedown and rods. Maybe I'll work on that and remount it later...

With the stock mounting location and tie down, the battery does not really look very secure. But it is. When it is tightened down, it is not going anywhere. It has passed my local SCCA Solo2 tech. I even asked our local safety steward about it. He took a look, tried to wiggle the battery around, and said it was fine.

I do not really expect this battery to have a very long lifespan starting my Prelude. But I hope to get at least 1 yr of life out of it. For now, so far, it starts my car normally every time. I have no problems with electrical accessories or my car's alarm system. So far, the longest my car has sat without being started was just over 1 week. But I had no problems with it firing up after being idle that long.

Andrew

qualude98sh · 06-07-2003, 05:44 PM

looks like a real nice setup.....funny how guys will throw on a cf hood and lose like 12 or 13 pounds, at the cost of like $4-600 hundred bucks, and u can lose 26 from the battery at a fraction of the cost. i wuz gonna do the odyssey thing about 6 months ago, when my stock honda battery (circa 1998) started dying; but then, mysteriously, it has come back to life in full force (haven't actually checked the voltage). good deal man, nice pics, and i hope it lasts longer than a year for ya.....keep us posted.

vwong · 06-09-2003, 06:03 PM

That's pretty good. The thing I would do a little different about mounting this battery is to mount it flat with the terminals pointing inward toward the engine. Andrew, I'm sure you know Art Rinner from SR20DE forum. The way he mounted his battery is what I'm talking about. Very nicely done.

lightlude · 06-09-2003, 06:41 PM

Can you lay those flat? I'm under the impression that you can't lay most (if any) open cell liquid batteries anyway but up. Of course, i don' t know what type that is, but it look like a liquid one.

aklucsarits · 06-09-2003, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vwong
That's pretty good. The thing I would do a little different about mounting this battery is to mount it flat with the terminals pointing inward toward the engine. Andrew, I'm sure you know Art Rinner from SR20DE forum. The way he mounted his battery is what I'm talking about. Very nicely done.

Yeah, I would have loved to mount it that way in my Prelude, but the stock battery cables seemed like they were just a bit too short to fix it that way.

I just put the exact same battery in my SE-R too.

It "only" saves 16.5lbs of weight in the Sentra through VS the stock SE-R battery. It's mounted flat on its side in that car.

Andrew

aklucsarits · 06-09-2003, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lightlude
Can you lay those flat? I'm under the impression that you can't lay most (if any) open cell liquid batteries anyway but up. Of course, i don' t know what type that is, but it look like a liquid one.

Yes, you can lay it flat, on its side, upsidedown, whatever. It is a sealed lead acid (SLA) battery. It has a gel inside of it as opposed to a liquid that would be found in a flooded lead acid battery.

Andrew

pIOUs · 11-05-2003, 12:19 PM

Back from the dead. Thanks for the write-up aklucsarits! I just ordered mine to run my car through the racing evolution school hear in Houston. Let you know If I can give some install pictures. The VMAX discount still works. Woohoo!

Joon525 · 11-05-2003, 12:51 PM

Hey how is this battery holding up Andrew? I'm curious about the lifespan of this thing in the Prelude.

bdb · 11-05-2003, 01:32 PM

I have had one in my Prelude for a couple of years now. Mind you I take it out for the winter and I never leave anything on (lights, heater, etc) when the car isn't running. I've had no problems with the one I have and yeah it's a great way to shed unwanted pounds!

Oh yeah mine is a Hawker Odessey PC680 which is a dry cell and a bit different than this one listed, but I'd think they'd have similar characteristics. Mine weighs 14 lbs.

aklucsarits · 11-05-2003, 07:30 PM

Mine are holding up great so far in both of my cars. I'm going to put the stock 40 pounder back in the Prelude for the winter. The other Genesis will probably stay in my Sentra over the winter. So we will see how that works out. The only other battery I have for my Sentra is the 12 year old Nissan-branded battery that it left the factory with. It was still working great when I removed it from the car, but I don't trust it for winter weather.

Andrew

Mugenlude · 11-06-2003, 10:05 AM

I'm in a little bind right now... My stock battery finally died (86k miles

) and I want to replace it with the lighter battery, but the winter months are coming now and I don't know if I trust the little/light battery to make it though. I'm thinking about getting a Red Optima and relocating it to the truck, but maybe in a Civic size or something not as big as the Prelude battery... any thoughts???

ludikris · 11-06-2003, 10:07 AM

Get an Autozone/OReilly's S2K battery. It's about 1/2 the weight of the stock battery and only runs $30-40. That's what I have (410cca) and haven't had any issues.

aklucsarits · 11-06-2003, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mugenlude
I'm in a little bind right now... My stock battery finally died (86k miles ) and I want to replace it with the lighter battery, but the winter months are coming now and I don't know if I trust the little/light battery to make it though. I'm thinking about getting a Red Optima and relocating it to the truck, but maybe in a Civic size or something not as big as the Prelude battery... any thoughts???

SLA batteries handle the cold better than regular flooded batteries do. I would trust a 13.5 Lb SLA battery in freezing weather more than a smaller than stock regular battery. Where SLA batteries actually have big problems is with heat. They lose charge fairly rapidly when exposed to excessive heat.

Andrew

Daemione · 11-06-2003, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aklucsarits
SLA batteries handle the cold better than regular flooded batteries do. I would trust a 13.5 Lb SLA battery in freezing weather more than a smaller than stock regular battery.

Really? I don't know - those 280cca's don't inspire a lot of confidence in me . . . .

Rule of thumb in my area is 600cca's or more to survive the winter (although my stock Prelude battery has done admirably for quite some time with less than that).

ludikris - any more information on that Autozone battery? Is it sealed? What are it's dimensions? Thanks . . . .

ludikris · 11-06-2003, 01:42 PM

I'll see if I can't measure it for you tonight. I have some pics, but my damn hosting server for the webpage went down.

.

Joon525 · 11-06-2003, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ludikris
I'll see if I can't measure it for you tonight. I have some pics, but my damn hosting server for the webpage went down. .

Email them to joon525@preludeonline.com and I'll host them for you tonight.

Daemione · 11-06-2003, 02:17 PM

How about the spelling? O'Reilly? Oreilly's? O'Riley?

I'm trying to google it up & finding nothing - and Autozone's site is terrible. There's no way to just browse the entire inventory, you have to put in a zip code & model, which inevitably comes up with nothing.

Mugenlude · 11-06-2003, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aklucsarits

SLA batteries handle the cold better than regular flooded batteries do. I would trust a 13.5 Lb SLA battery in freezing weather more than a smaller than stock regular battery. Where SLA batteries actually have big problems is with heat. They lose charge fairly rapidly when exposed to excessive heat.

Andrew

Very interesting. So why are you putting the stock battery in then? So the only downfall of these batteries are the life-cycle, and less CCA?

BTW- I'm also not to keen on the 280cca's for the WI winter...

aklucsarits · 11-06-2003, 06:24 PM

^^^ I'm putting the big ole stocker back in the Prelude because 1) I hope to prolong the life of the SLA battery (I will keep it in my fridge over the winter

). And 2) I don't want the stocker to drain itself dead sitting in my dinning room for months on end.

Andrew

Jacques · 11-06-2003, 10:26 PM

Thanks for the tips, Andrew.