Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Angel
I dropped 20 lbs out of the nose of my Corvette by switching to an Odyssey PC680 motorcycle battery. Lots of cranking power for that big V8, right down to below freezing temps. In a 4 cyl car it might be a viable option even in winter.
Not much reserve capacity, though, so no sitting with the key on and the radio playing. Still, a much more "risk free" weight reduction than a batch of capacitors.
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Agreed, but as you say, not much reserve capacity. For those occasions where a door wasn't shut all the way, or the radio was on while the car was parked, the battery runs down and is damaged.
With a capacitor, deep discharging doesn't harm them. They should last the life of the vehicle and then some. For applications such as my diesel truck, a small lead-acid battery just won't supply the necessary cranking amps.
I maintain that capacitors are a better option for vehicles that are parked in the sun and can be topped up by a small solar panel. However, I'd sure want to bring a small emergency battery along if I were headed into the wilderness or anywhere that a failure to start would be disastrous.