battery upgrade

[matej]

is it possible to place a stronger battery without having any negative effect on electrical systems in the car? I am thinking of purchasing dvd/navi unit with lcd and I worry the standart 45Ah (iirc) battery would not be able to power it for a longer time when the car is not started and on battery power.

I guess the size is relative to Ah so I won't be able to place that much more powerful battery, probably just a few Ah more. I quite like the Optima batteries. They look like quality products and pricing still within my reach.

Yellow Top series

http://www.optima-batterien.eu/optima-a ... specs.html

Red Top series

http://www.optima-batterien.eu/optima-a ... specs.html

when looking at the specs sheets I guess the one meant for my car would be this one

Optima 12V 38Ah 460A Yellow Top R-2,7J

Length/Width/Height (mm)......237/129/227

BCI Group...........................51R

Type Post/Terminal...............Jap

but not sure if the 38Ah isn't actually less than my current VARTA Asia (from my old crashed car) or the Banner battery (that was on my new vti when I bought it) that I think has 45Ah (but I could be wrong as I haven't checked that yet). It probably has much higher (Cold) Cranking Amps than my current one but that probably means peak usage (like when playing loud bass or starting engine). So it probably doesn't mean how long it will be able to power my audio system when the car is turned off. So are there any better batteries for my application than those Optima ones? I don't think I need that much higher Peak power since I have a normal unit (Pioneer DEH 9800 BT) with 4x50w output. I don't have an amplifier in my car but I have set of two large Pioneer speakers in the rear parcel shelf (not sure if those in standard positions are the original ones or some uprated ones). There also was a subwoofer in the trunk but I didn't like the too powerful bass and also the subwoofer was actually doing noises (thump bass sound) when I turned on the lights or the wipers so I removed it (still have it though). Maybe this Optima battery with higher peak output would get rid of that problem so I could get it back in. With some tuning I could be able to decrease the excessive power of the bass since the thumping noise was the thing that annoyed me the most and the main reason why I uninstalled it. Or maybe I would have to use some capacitor. My current unit has load and loads of settings to play with including the subwoofer options so I could tune it with that one but guess the chinese dvd/lcd/navi unit that I would like to get won't have nearly as many audiophile options. I know my current unit is top quality Pioneer that cost about 700gbp when new so maybe audio quality wise this chinese units would be a step backwards, but I would really like the 7'' touch screen with 800x480 resolution, playback of videos and mp3 from either dvds or sd card, rear view camera (seen a nice one built in rear registration plate holder) and Igo8 navigation on that big screen. I was using Igo8 in my Samsung Omnia in my car and loved it, but having the navi in my car would be better than having it in on my phone. I have a brodit holder which broke so I had to tape it to the dash trim and also the CL power cable broke on me and generally it is a bit of annoying having to start it on the phone all the time. It has some other disadvantages having it on the phone so maybe that cheap chinese unit would be more usable in the end.

Think I've read on some Honda forums that I need 51 or 51R type and only the Yellow Top series has one of that type. The Red Top series have higher Reserve Capacity (Minutes) than the Yellow Top series at similar Ah, but there are no with 51 type BCI (guess that means connector thickness). The battery that was in my car when I bought it was some Banner one and it had some spacers on the connectors to fit the Honda power cables so not sure if that BCI is that much important when it can be converted to other format.

also will probably upgrade my grounding cables. Found a really nice set here specifically for mb6

http://www.groundingkits.co.uk/products.htm#mb6

* 5 high quality 8AWG grounding cables

* Gold plated battery clamp

* Cable ties and detailed fitting instructions

£40 including free postage and packing

Guess I will have to measure the space for the battery in the car to be sure what I can fit in. The bottom that the battery sits on has some reserves with my current battery and also I think the studs that hold the plate above the battery are actually inside of the bottom so maybe if I would use some different fastening system (like some belt that would hold the battery down pressed to the bottom) I could use the whole bottom area and thus placing a slightly bigger battery.

I haven't completely decided on the purchase of the new unit but I cannot decide before having a good thinking about all the aspects, so that is why I wanted to ask. Even if I decide to stick with my current audio setup I would like to get the grounding cables and probably also the battery when I have some cash to spare since it would enable me to enjoy my current audio for a longer time when chilling outside in my car and I would be prepared for a future upgrade.

Sorry about my posts being usually very long and often probably silly since I have no knowledge about anything related to cars but there are just too many things to consider and the more I read about it the more questions pop out in my head.