Red Top was made more for just cold cranking amps, and not for running a bigger system. That's why I bought the yellow top instead of the red top. If you don't have more than 1000 watts worth of extra amplifier, the Red Top would be a good choice for you!
Of course, I'm no expert in which battery is better. 1LoudLS would be a better person to give knowledge. I better let him confirm. But what I've heard is the Red Top excels at the cranking power.
edit: just went to optima's website. here's their description of each:
yellow top:
Your ride didn't come stock with electronic fuel injection, a juice-draining stereo, electronic fuel pump or electronic gauges so a stock battery will struggle to handle the extra load. For these power-soaking conditions there's the YellowTop. It can handle the extra demands put on your battery, you can mount it in any position without leakage on your electronics and you can store it for months at a time and still have juice. It also endures the heat thrown out by high performance engines and with 16X the vibration resistance it can handle the rumble too.
red top:
The RedTop has the cranking power to turn over a big, high compression engine with ease start after start. It can even handle constant engine starting and stopping while you're at the track doing hot laps. It really performs during the critical 5-10 second start zone. It has up to 2X the life of traditional batteries plus 16X the vibration resistance. And it holds a charge during long-term storage. Its stylized shape fits nicely into any rod, muscle car or racecar and you can mount it anywhere, even upside down, it won't leak.
Of course, I'm no expert in which battery is better. 1LoudLS would be a better person to give knowledge. I better let him confirm. But what I've heard is the Red Top excels at the cranking power.
edit: just went to optima's website. here's their description of each:
yellow top:
Your ride didn't come stock with electronic fuel injection, a juice-draining stereo, electronic fuel pump or electronic gauges so a stock battery will struggle to handle the extra load. For these power-soaking conditions there's the YellowTop. It can handle the extra demands put on your battery, you can mount it in any position without leakage on your electronics and you can store it for months at a time and still have juice. It also endures the heat thrown out by high performance engines and with 16X the vibration resistance it can handle the rumble too.
red top:
The RedTop has the cranking power to turn over a big, high compression engine with ease start after start. It can even handle constant engine starting and stopping while you're at the track doing hot laps. It really performs during the critical 5-10 second start zone. It has up to 2X the life of traditional batteries plus 16X the vibration resistance. And it holds a charge during long-term storage. Its stylized shape fits nicely into any rod, muscle car or racecar and you can mount it anywhere, even upside down, it won't leak.