Light weight/race battery

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
I'm looking into fitting the above and have seen some specs for just replacing the OEM battery with all the OEM bits still fitted, I'll be fitting this in the OEM position.

I would presume the starter is the hardest thing on the battery, has it to be solely based on this which battery you get or is it a mixture of all the electrical components?

I'm going to be removing;

- rear window heating elements

- radio

- Aircon/blowers

- Lecci windows

- rear wiper

- Lecci mirrors

But will be fitting

- aftermarket in car blowers with supply from battery (12v)

Cheers for any advise on this as I don't know much about electrics
 

Fl@pper

Back older greyer and less oilier but always hope
Jun 19, 2001
12,370
26
Gloucester
ask F2Stu how he got/gets on with his

1st thing i ask is it for a trailered track/race car or still being used on road to/from work/track etc ?
 

m0rk

sarcasm comes free
Staff member
May 19, 2001
27,787
33
Clanfield, UK
If you don't want the complications, leave it standard.

Most reports I see of them are they're fine if you disconnect them (and charge them) - but not for everyday use.
 

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
Cheers Mark,

Thing is a need the space for my track induction set up, remodelled head light, 45 degree alloy elbow with open cone behind light.
I'm happy to have a light battery only for the track and change for coming away from the track and everyday driving.
I don't have a clue about the voltage specification I need for this
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
If it's just the space you need back then I'm sure I read something about battery relocation on these forums, some folks have moved the battery into some other place within the cabin or in the boot. Try searching for that.

I guess if you went down that road then you could have an additional, lightweight one (if you can find one that suits) that you could swap over when you get to the track.
 
Feb 26, 2009
5,275
1
Wolverhampton
The action of starting a car is the only thing that relies on the battery capacity, everything else is fed from the alternator charge. So as long as the car can turn over, you could get away with using a bike battery.

I'd suggest a small battery for the car, with a spare full sized battery available with jump leads to get it started (or even a spare car!).
 

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
If it's just the space you need back then I'm sure I read something about battery relocation on these forums, some folks have moved the battery into some other place within the cabin or in the boot. Try searching for that.

I guess if you went down that road then you could have an additional, lightweight one (if you can find one that suits) that you could swap over when you get to the track.
The change of battery is also a lightening issue.
I feel the lightening is dulled by running heavy leads all the way from the interior battery to the starter motor.

The action of starting a car is the only thing that relies on the battery capacity, everything else is fed from the alternator charge. So as long as the car can turn over, you could get away with using a bike battery.

I'd suggest a small battery for the car, with a spare full sized battery available with jump leads to get it started (or even a spare car!).
Sounds like a good plan.
Any suggestions what sort of battery I would need to turn over the engine wit standard compression?
 

calum001

Active Member
Oct 9, 2009
59
0
don't know how much use this is to you mate but i have an Odyssey PC680 battery that i will be running in my track Clio. I know of a good few other people that use it without any issues, some have left it up to a couple of weeks connected and it's lasted but ideally you would be starting the car every few days if you leave it connected

i've bought a Ctek trickle charger for mine and will just charge it when the cars left in the garage (don't need to disconnect the battery which is handy), also got a cut off switch (about £10) so i can disconnect the battery easily everytime i'm finished using the car

you can also get a cage to fit the battery for about £15

heres the spec:

Drycell Battery
12 Volt
16 Ah @ 10hr rate
220 CCA
680 Cranking Amps for 5 Seconds
24 Minute Reserve Capacity
7kg Weight

oh yeh they also use these in some kit cars as standard aswell so should be up to the job, i wouldn't suspect a leon be any worse on a battery than any of the rest of them (without finding out more info about it)
 

Willie

LCR Track car
Aug 6, 2004
8,939
1
Sunny Scotland
don't know how much use this is to you mate but i have an Odyssey PC680 battery that i will be running in my track Clio. I know of a good few other people that use it without any issues, some have left it up to a couple of weeks connected and it's lasted but ideally you would be starting the car every few days if you leave it connected

i've bought a Ctek trickle charger for mine and will just charge it when the cars left in the garage (don't need to disconnect the battery which is handy), also got a cut off switch (about £10) so i can disconnect the battery easily everytime i'm finished using the car

you can also get a cage to fit the battery for about £15

heres the spec:

Drycell Battery
12 Volt
16 Ah @ 10hr rate
220 CCA
680 Cranking Amps for 5 Seconds
24 Minute Reserve Capacity
7kg Weight

oh yeh they also use these in some kit cars as standard aswell so should be up to the job, i wouldn't suspect a leon be any worse on a battery than any of the rest of them (without finding out more info about it)
Cheers for this.

I think I'll go for this and see how it suits me.
 

calum001

Active Member
Oct 9, 2009
59
0
no probs mate, let me know how much your finding the battery (and any of the other bits) for and i'll see if a guy i can can do any better, i got mine from him and he was the cheapest i found
 

calum001

Active Member
Oct 9, 2009
59
0
i'm sure he can still get them for about £90-95 delivered (it's from a company called Groves Batteries that sponsor his race Clio)

he can also get the Ctek chargers and i got the cage from a company called Optimum Balance Products (they sell on ebay aswell)
 

truCido

Race Lupo in progress...
Dec 11, 2003
2,938
0
Bristol
www.vagowners.co.uk
Demon Tweeks aren't the cheapest place for Odyssey batteries...I've found that ebay is actually one of the cheapest places, just make sure you buy from a good seller and you won't have any issues!
 
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