Yes, of course. I see now that you were only trying to help the OP as a fellow enthusiast. Glad we cleared that up!

 

I think it depends on how cold the temps are. It started my car at 30 deg F a couple of times and I wasn't daily driving it. For insurance you could upsize to a more powerful model than reccomended. To be honest, I don't have a lot of cold weather experience with it. The car was in South Florida for most of the winter. One great feature with voltphreaks is that when they discharge to a certain level, they shut themselves off with enough power remaining to start the car. All you have to do is press a button to turn it back on then fire up the car and go.

 

And you had that battery on a GT3? Wonder how much heavier the battery would need to be to turn an extra 6 cylinders. I think the battery you can use depends upon the engine.

 

WOW did not know this topic would cause such a ripple in the community.

 

We're just having a "spirited debate." While it can be a distraction, sometimes good info comes from such exchanges.

 

Interesting question. It is possible it could work, although the V12 is 50% larger, the compression ratio is lower so they might be closer together in terms of the number of CCA's needed than it would seem at first glance.

 

I spent about 5 minutes looking into this before on the internet and I think the recommended batteries got progressively heavier as the number of cylinders increased, and a number of them were only recommended for racing purposes. Another complicating factor would be the fact that these aren't daily drivers for most of us. Would be nice though to shave 20+ lbs if there's a battery out there that would work.

 

HAHA no worries. I am glad this forum section is friendly and knowledgeable.

Just to recap for the new people to the party,

1. Headers
2. 200 Cell Cats
3. Exhaust (for noise only and weight)
4. Brakes
5. 18 wheels (If you like that look)
-------more extreme but tasteful----
6. Suspension IE Coil overs (if you want more extreme tuning)
7. Recaro Profi XL seats in leather or CS Sporsters

 

I wonder if a MINI battery has enough to crank the V8. It has enough to kick over a 3.2 straight 6. Anyone have a buddy with one you can "test" with? That would shave some weight

 

Agree that lightweight seats could be tasteful, but if they knock out the airbags it's a no-go, unless you and your passenger want to drive around in 6-point harnesses. Safety first.

 

I'm liking the idea of a lightweight battery, so I got in touch with Braille. This is what the rep said about a lithium-ion batttery:

The drop-in replacement would be our I49CE at 14 pounds, so you are looking at a savings of 45-50 pounds. This is the same size battery for both models. The CE is our lightweight version. You are looking at $1999 for it and would bolt in.

Not only is lithium lighter, but they are superior electrically as they provide a higher, cleaner voltage which means: quicker starting, improved engine management performance, less HP draw from the alternator due to efficient charging (5 times faster than lead) and last 3-5 times longer. This why nearly every OEM runs our lithium in their factory race cars and is a factory option in the BWM Alpina cars. You won't have an issue with capacity as long as you use a charger if it's going to sit for more than a week. In a regularly driven car, it won't be a problem.

Here's the battery he's referring to:

http://www.braillebattery.com/index....atteries/i49ce

 

^^^That's expensive but damn, 45-50 lbs?! Really? When you say both models, you mean V8 and V12?

 

Yep, V8 and V12. I kept you and your fancy schmancy V12 in mind

They have a direct replacement AGM battery, it's 58 lbs, which he said is the same weight as OEM.

 

Hmmm, this is giving me ideas. Can significantly lighten my car and my wallet at the same time.

BTW, can't believe the OEM battery is that heavy! Almost like Aston tries to make their cars heavier.

 

Hood = Totally unnecessary. Aston hood is already aluminum, CF will barely shed any weight. CF hoods are usually purely aesthetic. especially in this case where the stock hood is already so small & light as-is. Bang Per Buck its the worst weight reduction mod you can do (just being honest). Now if you want to do it b/c its "pretty" lol .... totally different story.

Again, Rotating Unsprung mass is the only thing you will legitimately FEEL without being too invasive in the modding. 99% of people have never attempted to drastically reduce rotating unsprung mass and until they do, they waste their time making all these sacrifices in comfort and luxury. I too was one of these individuals years ago, until I started to focus all of my energy on reducing rotating unsprung mass, its not until I starting doing this that I had been wasting my time & money all the prior years. The effects are so much more profound when reducing rotating unsprung mass.

For the record, Lightweight flywheel does not fall into that category. It is rotating, but it is not unsprung mass. Unsprung mass refers to anything that is literally between the springs and the ground (aka, suspension arms, brakes, wheels, tires, half shafts etc). If its rotating and moving up and down with wheel travel then it counts. Flywheels do reduce rotating mass, but at the expense of sensation of torque (which honestly is a big downside for me).

Battery: The best long term solution I have found for battery is the Odyssey PC680. Racers everywhere have been using this bulletproof battery. It is unique in that it is a solid state battery (meaning there is no liquid inside it at all). It weighs only 13lbs and is about $120 (versus lithium ion which is $1500+ or 10x price). Also, the benefit of drycell technology is you can run it down to zero 20 times and charge it right back up and it will not harm long term life of the battery, I had run down my old one countless times (old BMW track car that would sit for months) and as soon as I charged it up it was perfect. Optima batteries are the exact opposite, you run it down once... its a $150 paperweight. The only thing you need with the PC680 is a battery box (there are many available out there that provide very plug & place bolt on solution. The only thing about the PC680 you need to know is it's really only meant for cars you drive regularly. You can go about 2 weeks max before battery runs down. So as long as you drive the car 2x a month or more, you are totally fine (depending on your cars natural idle draw down rate). Also, I had no problem cranking the motor even as low as 30*F so it can handle quite a bit. Should def be no problem for the V8 and I suspect V12 would be fine too if you drive it regularly. Also, I noticed it had so much cranking power that it would actually start my car much faster than stock battery. Instead of taking 3-4 cranks, it would instantly fire on the first crank rotation, pretty impressive.

The PC680 is literally the size of a radio head unit (hard to believe I know)... You will need the brass SAE terminals (extra $12). The cranking amps listed below:

• 680 cranking amps for 5 seconds
• 595 cranking amps for 10 seconds
• 525 cranking amps for 20 seconds
• 17 amp hours
• Short circuit current over 1800A
• 25 minute reserve capacity with 25amp load
• Female brass terminal w/M6 SS bolt
• Length 7 1/16"
• Width 3"
• Height 6 9/16"
• Weighs less than 15 lbs

Russ Wiles Battery Box is the perfect OEM solution for battery box as it can be held down by factory tie downs just like the stock battery usually. Its only couple pounds and looks very OEM compared to a lot of ricey aftermarket type battery box/tiedowns