It's not BS. There are plenty of people who have had their more recently made optimas fail, even people that swore by them in the past. I'll stick with my odyssey. Slightly more money, but also more bang for the buck. Spiral cell is a neat gimmick, but flat plates are a more efficient use of space (read: more lead in the same size battery).

See the graphic on this page: ODYSSEY Batteries

 

I'll stick with Optima for now as it has never failed me in the past.