I'm going with an Odyssey PC680 battery for my GC. I'm going this route for the weight and space savings, but mainly because I've modified (cut out) the OEM battery tray as it was rotten. Odyssey makes a battery hold down for the PC680 which can be mounted vertically or laying down. It's going to be a tight fit laying it down where the original battery used to be. Mounting it vertically in that spot, I don't think will be an option either due to the length of the battery box (9.5 L x 6.25 H x 3.1 W). Of course I won't know for sure until it's delivered and I begin mocking it up. That all being said, I'm entertaining the idea of relocating it. I really don't have any auto-x, drag, road race experience, but my concern is staying within SCCA/NHRA/whateverA/etc guidelines in the event that I begin getting into some motorsports. From my research, it seems that anything within the passenger compartment is a no-no, regardless of how it's mounted. Any truth behind this? Under the passenger seat would be pretty slick... I know relocating to the trunk is do-able, but again, not real clear on the requirements. This is a sealed AGM battery so I'm not sure if securing it in the trunk would suffice or if it needs to be in a sealed box, or what other requirements are needed. There isn't really a rear "firewall" per se, so perhaps even in the trunk it's still considered "in the passenger compartment". Thoughts?
Re: motorsports, most sanctioning bodies have rules primarily revolving around the battery not becoming a projectile (regardless of location), not outgassing inside the cabin, and not becoming a fire hazard in cabin without fire suppression systems. It can depend on the type of motorsport as well as the type of event within said motorsport. For the amount of effort you're potentially getting yourself into re: wire routing and mounting, you're probably better off keeping the stock location until you decide what all you want to do with the car. If you just cut out the tray and there's still metal to bolt to, I'd just try to keep the stock location for the time being. Quick GIS shows flat mount fitting pretty well.
I think you're right in regards to keeping it in the stock loc if at all possible. I'd prefer to keep it in there, but that metal isn't "flat". It's curved up on the side near the fender so I'm not sure how well the flat mount will work there. I think I should be able to modify the hold down in some way that will make it work (cut a corner out of it). I just figure if I'm going to relocate, now is the time to do it as the car is basically a blank canvas right now. I just don't want to run into sanctioning issues if I put it in the wrong spot and have to do things twice. I guess I'll just see how well I can get the hold down to fit there.
Might have to find a different way to route the HID wiring on the driver side to leave room for the battery. Just thinking out loud here Rough sketch:
Is that a pic of your car? Is it all stripped down? If so it might not be so bad to wire it up to the trunk. My BMW had the AGM battery in the trunk but there was a vent tube hole built into the battery and a vent tube in the trunk compartment that routed somewhere near/in the gas filler area (maybe evap canister?). The batteries vent hydrogen when charged so you def want a vent if its in the trunk.
Yeep. It's basically a roller right now, so now would be the time to relocate it if I'm going to do it. I did some mock up last night with a cardboard box and I think I'll be able to mount the battery holder vertically to the driver side fender. I may have to do some trimming to the sides of the battery hold down near the mounting holes. I think that's my preferred location (stock location), but just wanting opinions on relocating and staying within compliance of any racing regulations. This is what I'll be using for a battery hold
If you just want a project while you wait for the motor situation to be sorted, then do whatever tickles your pickle. re: racing, I guess I think about in terms of usefulness over compliance since you haven't chosen anything to comply to yet. If you want to move it around prior to corner balancing, passenger rear is usually the lightest corner on this chassis. Gets the battery away from heat too. If you really want to try for a safe, mostly all inclusive mounting solution, you could do an all metal, sealed box ready for a dry cell-type battery that you would probably end up wanting to get in the future. Throw in a cut off switch as well. You could probably find a spot near the passenger rear strut tower as a solid weld in point for proper brackets. It would also be out of the way if a cage is a future consideration. But really, at that point, you're going to be redoing a lot of the work anyway.
All valid points. Appreciate the feedback.I'm not real concerned with corner balancing. I'm just trying to avoid relocating to a spot that I'll later regret. I guess my Plan A will be to try to mount in the stock-ish location. If there's no way that's going to work for me, I'll move onto relocation strategies. I don't think there's enough pros who warrant relocating unless I absolutely have no other choice (for my goals anyway). There is another option for battery hold downs for the pc680 that would allow me another way to mount it where the battery tray used to be. It just won't be as clean. I'll see what I can figure out once I have the battery hold down here to play around with.
A pro to locating the battery in the trunk is it will be easier to add giant subwoofers in the trunk in the future!
Took just a bit of trimming on one corner and it fit better than I thought. This will be a much less complicated route
170 CCA so I can't imagine it wouldn't work all too well, although I read some folks run them year round without any issue (probably not a MN winter though).
It will have less reserve capacity, so in winter you'd need to be careful about running it down if the car didn't start right away, and also be careful about making lots of short trips. If the car is garaged normally, that helps too. Me, I do stupid things like drive off to the middle of nowhere in northern MN or Michigan's UP in the middle of the winter. I'm not about to downsize a battery. I always go for the biggest, highest reserve capacity I can get.
Looks like there's room to mount a larger, removable battery next to it. Guessing you'll have to extend the cables a bit anyway, so you could get creative and make it DDable. Similar thought crossed my mind with the rsvx but got less interested in building it and more interested in driving it... so I just left the stock battery in there.
I didn't even think of that, not a bad idea. Definitely some room there, but could get tight with IC piping. And yeah, will need to extend the cables a little bit.
