I can only speak from my own experiece...owned 2 red tops first one for about 3 years vehicle was totaled in a crash..I've had my current one for about 5 years now with no problems on my SR. Have left the lights on a couple of times and drained 100%. Charged back up no problem after getting a jump. Winched my way out of pritchet canyon in the middle of the night with stock alt. as well. The biggest reason I went with the Optima was that I was tired of electrolyte leaking all over the place when at exteme angles on the trail. Been more than happy with mne and will replace with another when it dies.