What Battery Does a Mini Cooper Take?
Cars
- Sponsor
- OPTIMA Batteries
- Location
- Mt. Dora, Florida
Mini is a British automotive brand founded in 1969 and made popular by the popular British TV character, Mr. Bean, who famously drove a 1977 British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 4. As interesting and cute as those cars are, they are now rarer than hen's teeth. What are far more popular and commonly-found are the modern Minis created since BMW acquired the brand in 2000.
The styling immediately made these cars identifiable to their British lineage, but they were obviously upgraded with modern performance and features from Bavaria's finest. That first generation of new Minis (2001-2006) used an H5/Group 47 battery, which can weigh about 33 pounds. That's a fairly sizeable battery for a car with just a 1.6-liter engine, but the DH5 YELLOWTOP offered by OPTIMA as a direct-fit upgrade weighs in at 44 pounds. However, as with many modern vehicles, it wasn't long before conversations started floating around with people asking how long the batteries were supposed to last and asking why the battery in their Mini Cooper kept dying.
The manufacturers heard those conversations, but they also understood that consumers don't want less features in new cars, even if they sometimes create a parasitic draw on car batteries, when the car isn't running. Consumers wanted the newest, latest & greatest technology in their new car purchases, which often correlates with an increased electrical demand on car batteries. For that reason, starting in 2007, the second generation of Mini Coopers came equipped with larger H6 batteries, which can weigh around 36 pounds. Some of the newest Mini models come equipped with an even larger H7, which weighs in around 43 pounds and many of these newer models will require that the battery be registered with the charging system after installation.
While the batteries have gotten progressively bigger, the engines haven't followed suit. That brings us back to the electrical demands of modern vehicles and what is really important when choosing a car battery. While car battery brands used to tout cold cranking amps as the go-to measurement of a quality battery, expect to see more of them talking about the weight of their batteries.
The heavier a battery weighs, the more active material it tends to have, along with more cranking amps, reserve capacity, etc... As we've mentioned the typical weight of flooded batteries already, we'd like you to know how OPTIMA batteries stack up by comparison. Where a regular flooded lead-acid battery in an H6 size may weigh around 36 pounds, the OPTIMA DH6 YELLOWTOP weighs in at 54 pounds. That's 50% heavier than a standard car battery of the same size!
A comparison of a standard H7 flooded lead-acid battery and the OPTIMA DH7 YELLOWTOP and shows a tale of the tape at 42.9 pounds versus a whopping 60.5 pounds. That's 41% heavier than a standard car battery of the same size!
99.99% pure virgin lead, more of it and thick cast straps to connect the cells all add up to a battery that can provide you with more of everything your Mini needs- more cranking power, more reserve capacity and ultimately, longer life. One final element in the equation is keeping your battery voltage properly-maintained. If you drive your Mini Cooper daily, it should have no trouble keeping your battery topped off, as long as your typical drives aren't a bunch of short trips.
If your Mini Cooper or any other vehicle in your garage only sees occasional use or lots of short drives, the best thing you can do to maximize battery performance and lifespan is to keep your battery fully-charged whenever possible. The best way to do that is with a quality battery charger or maintainer. We're so confident this is true, we'll add an additional year of free replacement warranty coverage to your OPTIMA battery, if you purchase an OPTIMA 1200-series charger from us at the same time. These are "smart" chargers, easy enough for anyone to operate safely and they will automatically get your battery voltage right where it needs to be and keep it there indefinitely.
The styling immediately made these cars identifiable to their British lineage, but they were obviously upgraded with modern performance and features from Bavaria's finest. That first generation of new Minis (2001-2006) used an H5/Group 47 battery, which can weigh about 33 pounds. That's a fairly sizeable battery for a car with just a 1.6-liter engine, but the DH5 YELLOWTOP offered by OPTIMA as a direct-fit upgrade weighs in at 44 pounds. However, as with many modern vehicles, it wasn't long before conversations started floating around with people asking how long the batteries were supposed to last and asking why the battery in their Mini Cooper kept dying.
The manufacturers heard those conversations, but they also understood that consumers don't want less features in new cars, even if they sometimes create a parasitic draw on car batteries, when the car isn't running. Consumers wanted the newest, latest & greatest technology in their new car purchases, which often correlates with an increased electrical demand on car batteries. For that reason, starting in 2007, the second generation of Mini Coopers came equipped with larger H6 batteries, which can weigh around 36 pounds. Some of the newest Mini models come equipped with an even larger H7, which weighs in around 43 pounds and many of these newer models will require that the battery be registered with the charging system after installation.
While the batteries have gotten progressively bigger, the engines haven't followed suit. That brings us back to the electrical demands of modern vehicles and what is really important when choosing a car battery. While car battery brands used to tout cold cranking amps as the go-to measurement of a quality battery, expect to see more of them talking about the weight of their batteries.
The heavier a battery weighs, the more active material it tends to have, along with more cranking amps, reserve capacity, etc... As we've mentioned the typical weight of flooded batteries already, we'd like you to know how OPTIMA batteries stack up by comparison. Where a regular flooded lead-acid battery in an H6 size may weigh around 36 pounds, the OPTIMA DH6 YELLOWTOP weighs in at 54 pounds. That's 50% heavier than a standard car battery of the same size!
A comparison of a standard H7 flooded lead-acid battery and the OPTIMA DH7 YELLOWTOP and shows a tale of the tape at 42.9 pounds versus a whopping 60.5 pounds. That's 41% heavier than a standard car battery of the same size!
99.99% pure virgin lead, more of it and thick cast straps to connect the cells all add up to a battery that can provide you with more of everything your Mini needs- more cranking power, more reserve capacity and ultimately, longer life. One final element in the equation is keeping your battery voltage properly-maintained. If you drive your Mini Cooper daily, it should have no trouble keeping your battery topped off, as long as your typical drives aren't a bunch of short trips.
If your Mini Cooper or any other vehicle in your garage only sees occasional use or lots of short drives, the best thing you can do to maximize battery performance and lifespan is to keep your battery fully-charged whenever possible. The best way to do that is with a quality battery charger or maintainer. We're so confident this is true, we'll add an additional year of free replacement warranty coverage to your OPTIMA battery, if you purchase an OPTIMA 1200-series charger from us at the same time. These are "smart" chargers, easy enough for anyone to operate safely and they will automatically get your battery voltage right where it needs to be and keep it there indefinitely.