Battery physical size vs cca rating?

[slybunda]

Iv seen various batteries from different brands that will come in the same physical size and shared model size but have varying amounts of cca rating.
E.g
60ah and 500cca
60ah and 540cca
60ah and 600cca
Etc

And all the time its the correct model number and size number for the car. From what iv read it could be related to plate thickness in the battery itself.
Now some people say get the highest ah but lowest cca to get thicker plates which is better for some reason. And some people say get the highest cca which will have thinner plates but more plates which is better for some reasons.

So which is the better option? Or does this not matter in any way or it matters on your driving pattern etc?

 

[JHZR2]

I’m generally a believer in less CCA, more Ah, unless in an extremely cold climate, and even then, it behooves the owner to have other mitigations, like a float charger or battery heater.

Batteries can degrade and fail by having plate material shed off. Thinner plates have less material to shed before they become less useful, or run a chance of failure. Thinner plates are also more prone to vibration and motion in use. Vendors’ cranking requirements are usually much lower than aftermarket battery requirements anyway, so there isn’t a huge need for extra CCA if you don’t see too low of voltage while cranking in cold conditions.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My Subaru has a physically bigger batter than my Jeep or Pickup. Also the lowest CCA

 

[slybunda]

Ahh so its the plates that make the difference in cca. I thought it might be to do with the chemistry inside the battery.