FORMULAVEE.ORG

Does anybody have a recommendation for a battery size/capacity that will make it through a typical autox day (6 runs, 8 engine starts) without needing an external battery just for cranking the engine? I thought that I saw this info here in the past, but a search of the archives was just fruitless.

I know that VW put a Group 42 battery (54 Amp-hour, 450 CCA) battery into the Type-1's. My Vee came with a 57 pound lump of deep-cycle (NOT designed for cranking ) marine battery installed, and let's just say that I'm not too upset that it wouldn't take a charge last weekend. Considering that the car hasn't run since 2006 and we're still suffering from a lack of formula car-friendly autox sites in this area, I really don't want to dump a fortune into a fancy battery when it will likely be disposable between events. I'm just trying to figure out if I can get away with a lawnmower or motorcycle battery, without needing to carry a jumper pack.....

Try a group u1 lawn tractor battery. The u1 batteries sold by Wal-Mart are made by Exide.

I concur. A lawn tractor battery will work fine and will last for more than one season if you take care of it through the winter.. Also the gel battery that this site's sponsors sell work well. They are more pricey but a little lighter. However, I have been having a problem getting them to survive through a winter.. Anyone else running one of the gel types?

JGB

I started with a 375cca lawn tractor battery (sears) then switched to a 17ah Panasonic Gel Cell from SR. I never had any trouble with power from either and both last multiple seasons. I’ve not had to use an extra battery or jumper pack even though I start and kill the engine quite a bit while on line so it doesn’t over heat on hot 95+ degree SC days.

You may want to start with the tractor battery if you have a car you are working on so that you can do lots of cranking if you need to. Look into getting a battery tender – they will slowly charge the battery and keep it fully charged year-round. This helps extend the life of the battery over using a standard higher amperage charger.

Good luck,
Rich

I use an external starter battery to support 2 -4 drivers. The battery tender is a must for small batteries, the Lawn Tractor battery from sears that I started with worked well for 1-2 drivers with no external battery for a 2 day event, but the full sized charger killed it. The tender makes all the difference. I'm hard on a battery, I crank without ignition until the oil pressure light goes out, then fire it up. I did 2 years with the Lawn Tractor batt, then I ponied up for the Panasonic gell cell to mount it flat on it's side between my knees. No problems yet...YMMV.

I just use a regular small car (4 cyl.) battery. It's heavy, but I like the convenience. My battery is in the nose of the car, so it does affect the balance. If I got a much lighter battery or moved it to the back, I'd have to make adjustments to return to neutral handling.

A few years ago when the battery went stone dead halfway through an event, I was able to squeeze in the one from my F150.

Whatever you use, a battery tender is a must. Full size chargers or trickle chargers will greatly reduce the life of the battery. If you're at a multiday event, I don't know what the hot setup is. What do people use at Nationals?

Thanks everyone for this valuable information! According to sears.com, the U1 battery weighs 17 pounds. By losing that 57 pound lump of lead that came with my Vee, I can get 40 pounds closer to minimum weight!

It looks like a trip to Wal-Mart is in my near future, although I'll have to keep an eye on the tropics because Tropical Storm Hanna is now forecast to be smack dab over this weekend's event site during registration and tech.....

I had over 2 years/18 events on my Sears Gold U1 $57 I feel better paying more the Gold, a few more CCA.
Initial starting is with the tow vehicle. Between events, I use a .2 amp trickle charger.