battery relocation project finally finished

[kismetcapitan]

Last November, I installed two PC925 batteries, one in each storage cubby in the trunk. While I had issues with one, two have been just fine.

It took awhile for me to get around to getting the battery tray cut out, at a reasonable price. The shop that did my struts removed it for $50 (some body shops were quoting me as much as $250!!)

Last touch was swapping the carpet for one from an A6 4.2. And now, that horrific breadbox is gone, I still have most of my storage space in the cubbies, and with my spare tire removed, a lot more storage in the wheelwell as well.

The obvious benefit of this approach was the ability to carry a spare if I so choose. The twin PC925s perform just as well as the giant Interstate that came with the car, and are tucked away in space that doesn't get used anyways. And....I now have full use of my trunk! :jlol:

Total cost: $50 to cut out the tray. $30 in wiring (really, really thick stuff). $360 for the pair of batteries. $60 for the used A6 carpet. Not bad!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/tobereeno/file-98.jpg

[Justin9212]

Pictures of the tucked away batteries?

[hahnmgh63]

Yea pics please. I am still running my single 925 and after 4 years it's still going strong. It certainly doesn't have the reserve capacity of the OEM battery and I keep it on a battery tender if I'm not planning on driving it for 3 or 4 days but it always has the power to start the car. I use to leave it for a week at a time but since then I added another car to the stable so the RS6 gets driven slightly less. I might be interested in moving the single 925 into the right rear compartment as long as it clears the Bose Subwoofer.

[kismetcapitan]

it took some puzzle fitting and I honestly can't remember which way I finally managed to slide the battery past the subwoofer, but it goes in. The left side is easy once you remove the shelf.

I got the second PC925 after I ran into a situation where I had to start my car four times and move it in a parking lot. On the fourth startup, it didn't have enough juice. The pair carry reserve capacity similar to a normal battery; it never sits on a tender and I don't worry about listening to the radio with the engine off.

I think I had pics, let me search.

edit: ok, here we go. The right side w/subwoofer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/tobereeno/file-22.jpg

left side w/shelf removed. I have since dremeled out the foam tray so that the battery sits even:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v191/tobereeno/file-23.jpg

[alrightroad]

Excellent. Does the car feel any different with weight a tad bit further back and spread to corners?

[SFJ_RS6]

Very nice work on this! Your trunk looks great uncluttered by the bread box. Would you describe how you wired this? e.g. where you ran the cables, how you connected to existing cabling, any drilling, cable AWG, etc?

Thanks,
Steve

[hahnmgh63]

Thanks for the Pix. I'm thinking that the OEM Positive lead would still be slightly short if pushed back through the the liner and pulled over the fender. I do like the idea of moving it to the right rear corner, a slight improvement in weight distribution but it is all about slight improvements that are tasteful like this.

[kismetcapitan]

yep, a big wire splice was needed for the positive. The leads for the second battery were then tucked under the plastic trim at the edge of the trunk to reach the other side. The ground strap was done to the closest substantial part of the chassis near the right-hand battery. The two batteries are of course wired in parallel.

[mik15]

why didn't you go for the battery location as we have in Europe...we don't have a spare, that's right, but you can at least use the storage spaces on the sides, which for me does count a lot as i have all kinds of care products stuffed in there...anyway it looks very well done and it definitely is much better than the bread box you used to have...

[kismetcapitan]

ok, I remember now how I got the battery past the subwoofer: there is some kind of foam stuck behind the rear taillight. I peeled that off, and there was enough room to get the battery in.

Euro battery trays were impossible for me to find. Especially on the left side with the shelves removed, there is quite a bit of space. I have removed the spare and use that area for storage (detailing supplies, jack and other tools, and tire repair equipment). The amount of storage space without the spare is far more than what can be carried in the side cubbies.

If I want to carry the spare, all of that equipment can still easily fit into the sides; it will just be over the batteries.

It is hard to say what the handling difference is, if any, since I removed the spare at the same time. In theory, with the spare installed, it would make the car a little slower to turn in, but reduce understeer. However, I think if there is that difference, it would only be noticeable in extremely tight cornering such as autocross.

I am very, very pleased with this particular route to relocating the batteries!