What about light weight batteries?

I

itaracer

New member
I didn't get too far with my one piece air dam idea so I'll try another angle (intrepretation) of the GCR/ITCS. The question is - Are light weight batteries legal? If I want to replace my 12 volt battery that weighs over 40 pounds with a 12 volt battery that weighs 6.5 pounds and has the same cranking amps but is smaller in size am I in violation of ITCS D. 1. e. (page ITCS - 9)?

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Mark Jeffery
ITA #92 '85 RX7
MiDiv - Arkansas Region
 
IIRC, you must replace the battery with the same size and type. Size is obvious, but type restricts you to the lead-acid type that came with your car (assuming it did).

So, lightweight batteries are illegal (sorry!).


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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
I figured it would be. I'm trying to get some weight off the left front corner and that damn battery is way the hell out there on my RX7.

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Mark Jeffery
ITA #92 '85 RX7
MiDiv - Arkansas Region
 
Join the crowd! The Optima is a great battery, but weight savings aren't it's forte'. Remember, same size ...not much debating that one...

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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]
 
Smaller...NO...clearly stated same SIZE.

Lighter....why not?

My ASSumptions:
TYPE = lead/acid
SIZE = series #
VOLTAGE = 12v vs. 6v vs. 18v vs 24v, etc.

Some may argue that size implies something other than physical dimensions. SIZE is not defined in the GCR. So who knows who's right unless you are protested and it goes through the process.

If you find a battery that is the same series (size) that has a lower CCA rating, it will generally be lighter. The size and number of the plates inside are smaller and/or fewer.

The intent was probably to prevent people from substituting smaller and therefore lighter batteries. Did they even have other types of automotive batteries? Was it assumed that in order to have a lighter battery back then that it would have to be smaller, therefore weight was not addressed?

I seriously doubt that batteries from various sources for the same application all weigh the same. For that matter all series 42 batteries can't be the same EXACT size.

Put in a cheap 24 mo. Low CCA battery for your application and you'll probably never have to worry about it. Hollow out your battery, insert a 12V lawn tractor battery in it's place, connect the terminals inside the display battery and you could be asking for trouble. I didn't see anything in the GCR/ITCS that defines the required distance between the plates and the outer case.
 
Wait for it. Wait. Waaait...

Okay -
rolleyes.gif


K
 
As one of the many who cannot attain minimum weight, I went thru this excersize myself. Optima is heavy (and expensive). Rule that out right now. Here's the Walmart solution I found:

Go into Walmart, and throw a bath scale in the cart. Then push it over to the car battery area. Weigh youself holding all the batteries available that fit your car. If you don't know the right battery - Walmart even lists the correct ones for you car. I found that the absolute lightest one (that was correct for my car) was also the cheapest one (about $30). Isn't it great when that happens! When I replaced the "Diehard-Super-Gold-Whatever Battery" I had, I lost about 15lbs!
 
Between Walmart and the dollar store, you're all set. Jake, I'm just waiting for you to try classifying a Walmart shopping cart into IT. Probably be in ITS - you know, competition potential.
 
Hey,,,don't let jake give you that 'poor me" stuff! Didn't I see him towing with a Lexus or something like that this year??
wink.gif


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Jake Gulick
CarriageHouse Motorsports
ITA 57 RX-7
New England Region
[email protected]
 
Originally posted by itaracer:
Oh Please!!! Everyone knows the Target carts are faster.
Click to expand...

Well, they used to be, but they went over to that other series.


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George Roffe
Houston, TX
84 944 ITS car under construction
92 ITS Sentra SE-R occasionally borrowed
http://www.nissport.com
 
Well you know, he was once forced into driving a new Toyota 4runner. So yes, pity the shopping cart boy (no one ever said that the shopping cart couldn't have twin turbos and No2).
 
Originally posted by gran racing:
(no one ever said that the shopping cart couldn't have twin turbos and No2).
Click to expand...

However, you'll find in the SCCS the old "IIDNSYCYC"
smile.gif
. And I don't see anything permitting the modification.

It's good to laugh about all these rules and interpretations from time to time.
 
I lost my qual times for the first ARRC when Atlanta tech decided to look at everyone's batteries and other stuff. My battery of choice did not fill the battery tray on my RX3( I will admit that I had gone to clients battery shop and weighed all the batteries that were rated high enough to spin a rotary). Stan Hinds and I had to send our wives to Sears to get the right size battery for our RX3's and luckily I was able to back up my times from the first session in the second session.
The next yr they impounded top 10 cars to look for computers; I enjoyed that impound a little more.
 
What's interesting for our cars (at least mine, Jake's, and Cherokee's) is that the shop manual does not - anywhere - mention or recommend a battery case size, just CCA. The lightest battery I've found for our cars, that meets the spec in the manual, and appears in anyone's aftermarket replacement guide (they all vary) is the 26R.
wink.gif


[This message has been edited by ITANorm (edited December 08, 2003).]
 
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