Kinetic is the way to go, you can spend a few hundred on this battery, but is has enough power to fulfill a concert from KISS for about 2 minutes.

 

Mine had the original battery from 2000 up until about 3 months ago. Test it, if you feel like it. I bet it will test bad. Mine did. Felt normal, and then at school, in lab I decided to test it. Failed Miserably, and almost didn't start my truck.

 

i have had my red top for almost 7 years and in 4 different vehicles. never gave me any problems. i left my lights on all night in my truck last January and she started right up in the morning like nothing happened.

 

i love my red top,
my air compressors pull 80 amps and my headlights BARELY dim when they're running,
once i up the alternator i wont have any problems.

 

For the money Duralast Gold from Auto Zone is a great value. I paid $85 last fall for an 800 CCA with an 8 year warranty and 3 year FREE REPLACEMENT. The original 2001 battery still cranked fine but I'd rather be safe.

 

I was actually looking at those last night and the Duralast gold has a longer warrentee, same 3 year free replacement as Optima's, higher CCA, and a higher reserve capacity than Optima's, not to mention, about $100 less. I may actually be going Duralast when my el-cheapo goes.

 

My stock battery lasted about 6 years running a 3k watt system most of the time and no trouble. I replaced it with an optima simply because of the reputation they had. Kinetic isn't as known, but their batteries are capable of more than an optima, they also cost more.