Some have said that the full-size Avalon is something of a departure for Toyota, which made its name in the United States building efficient little compacts. But that's kind of missing the forest for the trees; Toyota's real strength stateside hasn't been a particular type of car, but rather identifying markets and building cars to fit them. In that sense, the Avalon isn't so much a break with tradition, but a grand continuation of it.
Battery cold cranking amps are usually a function of battery size, but not always. Regardless of the type, the stock, top-post replacement battery measures 8-7/8 inches tall, 9-1/6 inches long and 6-1/16 inches wide. The lowest-spec stock battery is a Duralast 35-DL, which produces 500 cold cranking amps. The Duralast 24F-DL also fits, and it produces 600 CCA. Upgrade to the Gold model, number 35-DLG and you get 640 CCA. The Optima "Yellow Top" deep cycle battery produces a bit less at 620 CCA, but its spill-proof, sealed design may allow it to last twice as long as the standard battery type. The Optima Red Top is the most powerful specified for this application, and it makes an impressive 720 CCA. It should be noted, though, that the Red Top's 90-minute reserve storage capacity is a minimum of 10 minutes less than all but the 500 CCA Duralast. So, the Red Top trades off a bit of parking-lot radio time for quick and reliable starting -- that is typically the case when you step up in CCA for a given battery size.
