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Lighter and smaller battery! Anyone?

A3SBQ

Ready to race!
Location
Norway
Hi. I am looking for a lighter and smaller battery to save some front weight on the car.
Anyone done this and can recommend a setup?
Thanks
 

Dragk913

Go Kart Newbie
Location
DFW, Tx
Braille G30 is what I, and lots of other people, run. Lithium ion, 6-ish pounds.
Switching to a lightweight, lithium ion requires a change to your car’s charging system via OBDEleven or VCDS, AND a change in your driving habits (starting&stopping the car, sitting with the car off but the ignition on, etc will leave you stranded) because they have only a tiny reserved capacity.

If you don’t like the price point of the Braille, Deka and Fullriver also make lightweight batteries (15ish lbs I think) that are supposedly pretty good. I have no personal experience with them though.
 
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Mk6Bender

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Doylestown, PA
Braille G30 is what I, and lots of other people, run. Lithium ion, 6-ish pounds.
Switching to a lightweight, lithium ion requires a change to your car’s charging system via OBDEleven or VCDS, AND a change in your driving habits (starting&stopping the car, sitting with the car off but the ignition on, etc will leave you stranded) because they have only a tiny reserved capacity.

If you don’t like the price point of the Braille, Deka and Fullriver also make lightweight batteries (15ish lbs I think) that are supposedly pretty good. I have no personal experience with them though.

Not directly applicable but I've had great success with Deka on the past. Can't speak to it on the R but they are good batteries.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Dragk913

Go Kart Newbie
Location
DFW, Tx
Not directly applicable but I've had great success with Deka on the past. Can't speak to it on the R but they are good batteries.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Yup, I agree! I’ve used their motorcycle and regular car batteries (just not the lightweight version) in the past and had no complaints. Their lightweight batteries should be good to go, and I would have picked one up instead of the Braille, but I was feeling extreme at the time (6lbs vs 15lbs:D).
 

Mk6Bender

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Doylestown, PA
For an extreme light weight battery setup, why not just two? One lightweight for daily, another super lightweight for when a few pounds actually matter.

Just a thought.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 

Dragk913

Go Kart Newbie
Location
DFW, Tx
this braille can be used as a daily? i dont ever leave my car running. it goes 22 miles each way so no short trips. nothing needs sacrificing like ac and fender cant be run at same time?

Heck yeah it can! I’ve been dailying it for about 3mo now with no issues. No sacrifices needed, just use OBDEleven/VCDS to code your car’s charging system and don’t sit and listen to the radio with the engine off. The only time I killed the battery was when I left the ignition on (engine off) and was working on the suspension for a few hours.

I am fairly paranoid about the battery while not at home because if it dies and you jumpstart it, you’ll mess up the battery permanently (possibly kill it dead, according to Braille). But I haven’t actually had any issues with going from store to store and turning off/restarting the car each time. I think I just like to worry.

ETA: a custom battery box isn’t necessary to use the Braille. I went the ghetto route and used zip ties to secure it to the factory battery tray (less weight that way!)
 

Dragk913

Go Kart Newbie
Location
DFW, Tx
Thanks bought one. So it seems like this is all is needed in VCDS?

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34664&page=2

Correctomundo! VCDS or OBDEleven.
Also, I followed TecklenburgVW’s first post of that thread for coding, not Mursepaolo’s on the second page. The only thing I did differently is coding the Battery adaptation-Rated battery capacity Adapted; Teck used 39ah (stating that was the lowest that the system would recognize), however I was able to successfully set the capacity to 13ah (which the Braille G30 is) AFTER changing the battery type to Lithium Ion.
 
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