[brucepick]

Thanks to all for the helpful input.

Based on all factors considered, I decided to get a "Gold" grade standard type automotive starting battery for the regular location, not a marine and not installed in the trunk. Bought it today + installed. Advance Auto Parts opened a new store two towns over and announced 25% off batteries - so I got a $9x.0 "Gold" battery for $7x.00. Good deal. It has higher CA and CCA and reserve than the standard grade i've been running on, which is about 5-6 years old now.

Yesterday I took smaller roads home, which allowed lots of EOC. I worked it pretty hard BUT the traffic, now that school has started and most folks are back from vacation, worked against me. I got essentially the same mpg as I would on the highway (45-46) which gets me home a lot faster. Last week I got 50-52 mpg on that route, which is what tempted me towards heavy EOC use. But it's not helpful if traffic kills the potential gains. Bear in mind it's ~55 miles each way so speed counts for something at that distance.

Also, investigating the trunk revealed 3 potential locations, all of them rearward of the rear wheels. I decided that would be detrimental to handling. Best of the 3 would be in the center, up against the trunk latch area. Still, not a great location, and I'd worry about rust starting where I would drill mount holes for a battery tray, and battery flying forward in an accident, which could have disastrous consequences.

An Optima yellow top would be a really nice choice, but the price is about $100 more than what I paid, and I'd find it hard to justify that to my good wife who is our financial wizard.