With the talk in the battery life thread about the optima, I was curious and emailed them about it. A rep just replied and said that it'* not a good idea to use for our cars with the battery under the seat. These batteries are sealed against leaks, but the person said that if the battery becomes overcharged, it has a valve that will release gas. So there is your warning.

Now that is definetly information worth knowing. Espcially since I carry kiddies around back there.

Anyway, the only gas I want discharged around my seats are from me and the bean burritos.

And that'* different than normal batteries?

yes, because the OEM battery have vent tubes that attach and vent the battery outside of the vehicle, whereas the yellow/red tops have only these little venty holes on the top of the battery

toastedoats, will this mean I will have a very limited range of batteries to chose from when mine goes bad? I'm assuming "yes" and that, as usual, we'll be gouged.

Probably. Looking online for my car Autozone and Advance only listed one battery. Napa and Sears didn't have any. Interstate Batteries only showed one.

I'm looking for a new battery as well. This is what I've put together so far. The Aurora, Riviera, and Bonneville have the same battery tray and area under the back seat. The Aurora and Bonneville have a 770 CCA battery and is a 100 series battery, the Riviera had a 79 series battery at 880 CCA. I'm going to try and see if I can get the 880 CCA battery instead for some more power. (Riviera vent tubes will be required however.)

Maybe off-topic, but can anyone tell me why they put the battery under the back seat? I've heard many rumors, but nothing to confirm any of them.

The Interstate was an 880 battery, and had a price of like $140. The other two I found were 770.

Why don't you just add vent tubes to the Optima?