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COPYRIGHT 2002 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.
Battery ads have pushed their products' staying power with everything from the dread of a missed wedding to the need to escape a flood. TV spots for Sears' Diehard Gold batteries have shown jumper cables tying a gate to a fence and a boat to a tree--since you obviously won't need them for your car--while those for AutoZone's Duralast models showed trucks racing in grueling desert conditions. Some brands also pitch long life with ever-longer warranties; coverage is now up to eight years for Diehards and Motorcrafts, and nine for Champions and EverStarts. But long warranties can be less than they seem, since you pay a growing percentage once the free-replacement period ends. And at two to three years, most free periods are shorter than the four to six years that batteries usually last.
Which battery will go the distance in your vehicle? Our new battery-life test, (see the Ratings, page 31), can help you find out. The first published anywhere for consumers, our test measures how many drain-and-recharge cycles a battery can handle in hot conditions before it cannot produce its rated output for 30 seconds. While more demanding than highway use, the test mimics the way in which many cars are driven, and is revealing:
* The longest-lived batteries lasted nine times as long as those that failed early.
* Sears' Diehard batteries lived up to their promise in our tests, consistently providing long life across sizes. Shortest-lived: the size-35 Champion and Duralast Gold models, despite Champion's long total coverage and Duralast's compelling ads.
* The Optima Red Top 34/78-1050 was another long-lived battery. As we mentioned in our October 2001 battery report, Optimas use a spiral-wound cell design said to provide longer life than conventional cells. But at $140, this model costs roughly twice as much as most.
* Larger batteries tended to outlast smaller ones in our tests. But because batteries are sized for different vehicles, choices are limited to those that fit what you drive--a key reason our life-test and other scores are relative to others within group sizes.
Several other factors make some auto batteries a better bet for your vehicle.
THE TESTS, THE RESULTS
We evaluated 34 auto batteries in five group sizes that cover many of the cars and trucks on the road. Group size 75 fits mainly four- and six-cylinder General Motors cars, while group size 65 applies to most large six- and eight-cylinder Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury cars and trucks. Group size 35 fits newer Hondas, Nissans, and Toyotas. Group size 34 fits most Chrysler vehicles, while group size 34/78 can replace size 34 batteries in Chrysler cars and size 78 batteries in GM vehicles, thanks to two sets of terminals. Because some brands sell northern and southern variations of a model for cold and hot climates, we tested both when available. While each version is sold only in its region, our tests found lots of strong choices that are available...
Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.
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