Best Lead Acid Batteries
Best AGM batteries
There are often many reasons to seem for a replacement battery for your car. The most thing is extreme wear or failure of the old one: constantly removing A battery for recharging or “lighting” a car within the morning quickly bothers people. When updating the car. You regularly need to install a further battery or a more capacious one to exchange the regular one. This is often necessary to power the winch of an SUV or a strong sound system of a show car.
What you need to know when choosing a battery? Its design options:
Lead-acid batteries
Gel batteries instead of liquid electrolyte
The AGM-made batteries
You also got to know the polarity of the battery, that is, the order of the terminals on its case. Most car models have power cables that are too short or uncomfortable to suit the “wrong” sort of battery. If you switch the battery with the terminals toward you, then for the battery with direct ("Russian") polarity. The positive terminal is going to be on the left, and for the battery with the reverse ("European") on the proper.
Best Lead Acid Batteries
Mutlu Calcium Silver 60
As in the previous version of our ranking of Best Car Batteries (2017). In 2018 Mutlu still ranks first, and deserves. The 60-amp battery gives 540 decent EN and has already earned a good reputation in Russia.
Calcium batteries now don't surprise anyone. But the additional silver ingots make them more stubborn. In fact, the limited source of early calcium batteries was their main pest. In addition, using the continuous casting manufacturer, according to the manufacturer, which provides better uniformity and improves the network structure. Mutlu achieves really decent quality of its batteries. An additional "bonus" from the manufacturer is that the top cap can be removed by accessing the jar lids. This, unlike most calcium batteries, which are structurally maintenance-free from birth. You can safely add water here, and measure the electrolyte density in each jar.
The main advantages:
Good current output
Having access to banks on a maintenance-free battery (as it is written on it) is strange, but a fact
Decent lead mass
Minuses:
Not the highest reserve capacity (when compared with the same Varta Blue Dynamic)
VARTA D59 Blue Dynamic
Batteries in this series sometimes managed to show continuity miracles. In fact, even the author has one of them. And it has stood for three years in a semi-hollow form at the corner of the garage. After a few charge-discharge cycles, it began working normally. Well, it might be the infamous PowerFrame, which, according to the company's website. Prevents damage to panels, does it really work?
As a model for rating the best car batteries. We took a 60 amp/hour version, which produces 540 amp according to the EN standard. Of course, taking into account the fact that some of the rating participants have less capacity. This actually gives Warta the lead. But unfortunately, in this series. The capacity closest to 55 A * h is 52 A * h, even in the very uncommon category 175x207x190. However, even it outperforms many competitors in the cold pass current (470 amps). So, not everyone will argue over the current output from Varta.
Therefore, Varta Blue Dynamic, although now very expensive, probably deserves a strong second place. In fact, don't we find a mistake in trivialities like the lack of an eye gauge in the cap?
Main advantages:
High current flow and standby power
Good resource, especially in difficult conditions
Negatives:
Fairly high price in most stores
Tyumen Premium 6CT-60
When it comes to the best batteries for a car. Tyumen plant has something to oppose to foreign competitors, especially now that the import price gap has become very noticeable. So, (… drum roll …) let me imagine: let this battery be so simple that the Premium inscription looks accidentally stuck. But it has not been spared lead. Although the battery from Tyumen does not give record numbers of inrush current and reserve capacity. (Here the undisputed leader is Varta). Its 510 amperes according to EN will be enough for most motors in winter. And, whatever one may say, 98 minutes of a reserve (at Varta, for comparison - 110). I Will not disappoint you for a long time. The difference will become really noticeable only with a fair amount of battery wear. The difference in technology will already affect it.
So, if there is little money, the Tyumen car battery will definitely become the best choice, especially in cold regions. And only for cars saturated with electronics. Where the "extra" amperes of current and the minutes of reserve capacity are not superfluous at all. It is worth taking a closer look at Warta or Mutlu.
The main advantages:
High inrush current and backup capacity
Attractive price
Minuses:
Alas, quality problems are still present, there have been cases of marked deterioration even in the warranty period. So access to traffic jams is not in vain - it’s worth watching the battery.
Best AGM batteries
VARTA D52 Silver Dynamic AGM
This line of batteries was specially developed for cars. Where, in addition to the already plentiful onboard electronics, the manufacturer also screwed on the Start-Stop system. It is convenient or not, saves fuel or not - in our case, it’s the tenth thing. But it creates an increased load on the battery for sure. Frequent charge-discharge cycles increase the wear rate of the battery, and the battery must gain maximum charge under such conditions as quickly as possible in order to recover between traffic lights in the urban cycle.
But on an ordinary car this battery will be just right: it not only gives a decent 680 A of inrush current, but it can do it for a long time and often. After all, it was not in vain that we repeated that a “styer” battery may end up being better than a “sprinter”? Here is just the best example of this. By the number of possible confident attempts to start in the cold, this battery is one of the best, and only an impressive price spoils the pleasure of buying.
The main advantages:
Excellent starting performance
Fast charge
Minuses:
Price
Bosch AGM S5 A05
Compared to the rating of classic batteries, where Bosch looked pale, among the AGM-batteries the position of the German concern is stronger. Looks like they pay more attention to premium products?
In any case, the battery turned out to be a worthy competitor to Warte, demonstrating good starting characteristics (starter current at a capacity of 60 A * h - 680 A), and fast charge collection, and a sufficient amount of reserve capacity. You can only feel the difference “face to face” - in this case, it’s still worth rephrasing the old German proverb Bosch ist Bosch: they say, “Bosch” is “Bosch” as a sign of quality by definition. But we will be objective: it is more correct to say Varta ist Varta. Even taking into account the difference in price.
The main advantages:
High inrush current, decent backup capacity
Fairly low price by the standards of the premium segment of AGM-batteries …
Minuses:
… and by the standards of the wallet - not always low enough
Tudor AGM
For modern cars whose designers like to combine a voluminous engine with a compact battery compartment, this battery from Exide Technologies will be a pleasant surprise: the ability to deliver 680 amperes to a load at 60 amp-hours of capacity is an excellent result. The battery was developed for use on vehicles with a "start-stop" system, which the manufacturer did not fail to mention on the sticker.
On the other hand, this car battery is at the same time one of the most expensive in the ranking of the best. You simply won’t be able to evaluate its advantages on an ordinary city car with the most common engine capacity of 1.5-1.6 liters, and that, having cheerfully started to give out a high current, it will quickly and sit down, you will have time to notice it repeatedly. So this battery has a rather specific character, in our rating, calculated for average car owners, it will have to cut points.
The main advantages:
The ability to briefly give a very large current.
Fast charge reception.
Minuses:
The rapid drop in capacity under load.
Which car battery is better to buy?
A car battery is a thing that is not purchased for one year. When choosing it, you should rely both on your needs and financial capabilities, and on the feedback of the owners: it is not a fact that the battery, which stands out with the numbers on the label, will last as much as a more modest model. Therefore, when compiling the battery rating, we tried to take into account all the parameters: price, stability, current, capacity, and resource, although it is often difficult to do.
