Fire And Ice: Optima Battery Goes To Extremes

Heat can be a major killer of your car’s battery, but freezing cold temps don’t do them any favors. That’s why you’ll see a lot of battery “sales” going on just about the time leaves start turning pretty or the ground goes into defrost mode.

To show the extent of what Optima Batteries can withstand, the company posted a video titled “Ice & Fire,” where they take one of its Red Top batteries to both extremes, almost instantly. Unless you store your automobile in a glacier somewhere, we’d bet that your battery will never be subjected to life in an ice cube. But, that’s exactly what Optima did with this 34/78 Red Top battery. Much like the bug in the ice cube gag, this test mule found itself in the middle of its own ice age.

Imagine being slowly frozen into a block of ice. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the instant thaw cycle will reach the center where the battery is located much quicker than the ice did!

Folks in the southernmost parts of the country can also attest to how damaging the heat can be to a battery. When you consider the power cube is most likely stored right next to the largest heat producer in the entire automobile, “extreme” begins to fit the description perfectly. But wait, there’s more! Taking an extreme TO THE EXTREME, the folks at Optima went out and found themselves a fun little M9 Flamethrower to toss a little heat and free this frozen battery from its cubicle.

If you’ve ever been near one of these flamethrowers, you know how much heat they generate. We couldn’t even imagine being in FRONT of one!

The charred, but still charged battery was then subjected to both voltage and load testing to see if it still had the stuff to start a vehicle. Both gauges were affirmative, but it wasn’t until a set of cables found their way back under the hood of a truck needing a good kick in the pants that the true test of a battery’s worth was complete. We’ve had batteries test out good but still wouldn’t start, or keep a vehicle running. Reality doesn’t live on the face of a dial, especially with batteries.

Even so, the trusty Red Top still had enough life left in it to not only appease the gauges, but also held enough juice to jump start the vehicle in spite of everything it was subjected to.

This one passes all tests, and we can agree with personal experience that Optima batteries can put up with some VERY inhospitable environs and still bring the juice. The fact they provide the strongest starting burst, have up to 3X longer life, are 15X more vibration-resistant, virtually spillproof, mountable in almost any position, and maintenance-free are just additional benefits in case you find yourself amid the next ice age or on the surface of the sun.

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Andy Bolig

Andy has been intrigued by mechanical things all of his life and enjoys tinkering with cars of all makes and ages. Finding value in style points, he can appreciate cars of all power and performance levels. Andy is an avid railfan and gets his “high” by flying radio-controlled model airplanes when time permits. He keeps his feet firmly grounded by working on his two street rods and his supercharged C4 Corvette. Whether planes, trains, motorcycles, or automobiles, Andy has immersed himself in a world driven by internal combustion.
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