I have such a vehicle. My local, very trusted repair shop, put the battery in 1.5 years ago. The mechanic said I needed a new battery at the time. While I ddn’t think I did, I trust these guys so didn’t complain.
My question is-------------Is there some other component of my car causing this? I’ll lay out the symptoms.
Car is a manual transmission. Depress the clutch, turn key. Car starts every time, but has always seemed to not start with any enthusiasm. It always struck me as sounding like I didn’t have enough cranking power.
Before you crank, have you checked the battery voltage? It seems like you need to find out if the battery is weak or if the starting system is sluggish. One could be due to poor charging, the other, something else, like the starter motor/circuit.
This can be caused by bad or corroded connections at the battery or at the starter. Check the voltage drop from the battery terminal to the connection on the starter.
As mentioned, the starter could also be weak. You have to remove it, but most major auto parts chains can test your starter for you.