In What Way Are The More Expensive Car Batteries Better than The Standard Models?

Got a CRV and think the battery is going to die soon so thought I'd get ahead of the game and but a battery before it does.

Just wondering whether to go for quality or just get the cheapest one from a reputable brand. What do you usually get from a more expensive battery?

For example at battery works they have two batteries that fit the CRV.

https://www.batteryworld.com.au/search?id=35995,36005&make=HONDA&model=CR-V&year=2012+-+2017&series=2.0+iVtec+(RE5%2C+RM1)+Petrol+Front-Wheel+Drive+SUV

Both are yausa - the ultra is 240$ and the non ultra one is $210. What battery would I get getting the more expensive one?

Comments

  • Slightly higher CCA on the more expensive one (480 vs 430). And that is about it. Both are flooded lead acid, so other than slightly more capacity, they are the same.

    Does your car have "stop/start" when you pull up at traffic lights? If not, go the cheaper one.

    And for me, the non-ultra one is showing at $189…

    • Nice one. One more stupid question - what is CCA?

      • +6

        Canadian Curling Association

      • +1

        Cold crank amps. This is a very plain English definition of it but with CCA The higher the number the better the battery will turn your engine over, especially On the cold
        Weather

        • Ok so would the higher CCA mean the battery will last longer? Or just that I might need one for a car with a bigger engine or have more electronics

          • @witsa: Longer warranty on the ultra (40months)

          • +3

            @witsa: No, CCA is a measure of a batteries ability to empty its charge in the shortest time. The higher the CCA, the more “punch” it has to do it’s job.

            There may be a correlation between the higher CCA and longevity, but only because of the higher starting CCA. Either type will deteriorate at about the same rate, but the higher CCA battery may feel like it last longer.

  • I don’t know anything about how Century make batteries, though I have met some of their staff who seemed very nice.
    But the differentiation here is classic market positioning.
    Performance is almost the same, warranty too, but you pay a small amount for the better one.
    A high number of people won’t care about the extra $30, and will feel good they bought the ‘better’ one. And I bet that almost all that $30 is pure profit.

    So if it is worth the $30 for you to feel good about the ‘premium’ model, go ahead, or enjoy the saving and know you weren’t trapped by marketing.

    • Yep it's just enough that you might go "yeah might as well do it for peace of mind". Lucky I have ozb to guide me though!

  • Century Ultra High Performance -67 efmf in my Magna, are Australian made.
    Help your country.
    3 years warranty when I purchased mine & a big 640 CCA.
    It lasted exactly 4 years, so I replaced with the same that now has 40 months warranty.
    $189 in February.

  • +1

    Simple, NS60LS MF has a 30-month warranty with 45 Ah, 430 CCA and 75 RC
    NS60LSX MF has a 40-month warranty +5Ah, +50CCA and +5 RC compared to NS60LS MF battery. RC does not matter much, but Ah which determines how much battery capacity in the battery and CCA which tells how much current can be drawn from the battery are important. e.g, a 50 Ah battery means you can draw 50A for an hour or 10A for 5 hours, theoretically.

    If you can afford to go with the NS60LSX MF it has an extra 10-month warranty and that is a quite long time for a battery to last, especially if you are not driving a lot.

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