Beefed up electrical system
#1
Beefed up electrical system
Has anyone on here had to upgrade their electrical on their car due to stereo/carputer/whatever? I know in my previous vehicles I always ended up getting a larger alternator etc. to help things out, does the 8 have enough juice stock to run an amp or two, some subs etc..? I've seen some pretty elaborate setups on here but don't recall reading about if they did anything under the hood etc. I was thinking about replacing the battery at least, but is that even necessary? Thanks
#2
the 8 has a 100amp alternator I doubt u will need more
only thing is running a dedicated ground wire to the trunk for sub setups along with the power
u need one as the ground return is miserable
I do recommend caps for a powerful amp system
definitely get a new battery, Optima Red is good, for audio and video Optima Yellow is better
only thing is running a dedicated ground wire to the trunk for sub setups along with the power
u need one as the ground return is miserable
I do recommend caps for a powerful amp system
definitely get a new battery, Optima Red is good, for audio and video Optima Yellow is better
#5
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I had a 280 amp alternator in my previous system and I can guarentee it was required. Caps only help for short bursts, any major current draw and you're done. Of course, I was also pushing 3 Zapco C2K amps (2.0, 6.0, and 9.0; 50@8, 300@4, 2000@2 total watts respectively).
Anyway...this system I'm not planning on upgrading unless I need to...but I probably will, so I'll look into getting an Ohio Generator alternator. On that note, does this car use a pretty standard Ford/Mazda alternator case?
Anyway...this system I'm not planning on upgrading unless I need to...but I probably will, so I'll look into getting an Ohio Generator alternator. On that note, does this car use a pretty standard Ford/Mazda alternator case?
#6
something I've never really paid attention to in all my years of car audio tinkering, but at what amount of wattage do you start stressing a 100 amp alternator/stock electrical? 1000 or 100 watts? will even a small amp 40-50 watts? 400-500watts? hmmm..can't believe I've never really figured this out already (doh!)
#8
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You won't need to upgrade the alternator unless you're going for SPL. An urgrade of a optima yellow or blue top(dont get the red tops because it's no good, just be a waste of money) & a capacitor will do just fine. A typical 1000watts rms amp will drain about 80amps at it's peak so the stock 100amp alternator will handle around a 1000watts rms or so system. Unless you're planning to pump out 1500watts rms & more for SPL then there's no need for the alternator which will cost around $700 for a good one.
#9
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Let me put 2 things in perspective.
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
2. I'd be willing to waiger that I have one of the most demanding systems in an RX-8, period and my setup uses the stock alternator, with an Optima Yellow top, and a specialty car audio battery (located in the trunk and connected up with the Optima battery). All the stereo, video, comuter, gaming, ac/dc conversion, lighting, cooler/warmer, etc, are all connected up directly through the audio battery, thus the first draw is to that battery. There are no caps necessary in such a design. Also, consider this, I use JL audio amps, which utilize an internal circuitry to allow them to pump out the same wattage despite the variations in voltage. So even when the car is off, and is running at "12V" or more likely even below "12V" the wattage is still the same....so you put that in perspective to when the car is on, its not gonna put a strain on the alternator.
Just some food for thought!
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
2. I'd be willing to waiger that I have one of the most demanding systems in an RX-8, period and my setup uses the stock alternator, with an Optima Yellow top, and a specialty car audio battery (located in the trunk and connected up with the Optima battery). All the stereo, video, comuter, gaming, ac/dc conversion, lighting, cooler/warmer, etc, are all connected up directly through the audio battery, thus the first draw is to that battery. There are no caps necessary in such a design. Also, consider this, I use JL audio amps, which utilize an internal circuitry to allow them to pump out the same wattage despite the variations in voltage. So even when the car is off, and is running at "12V" or more likely even below "12V" the wattage is still the same....so you put that in perspective to when the car is on, its not gonna put a strain on the alternator.
Just some food for thought!
#10
no spl or anything crazy, but we are building mine as a pseudo demo vehicle so it will be something a little more robust than the typical 2 subs and an amp deal. The brand I'm going with will most likely be Soundstream, Phoenix gold is my other option but we have so many cars down here with that already and since I'm getting super cheap labor/equipment and I want to help out our fledgling shop I think soundstream should be fine and a little more unique as there's not a lot of it down here.. I know their older stuff used to be awesome, is the newer stuff pretty good or? Thanks for all the help, i kinda' assumed it would be a little different putting stuff in this car and there's a lot of good info here
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Originally Posted by devoid
Let me put 2 things in perspective.
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
What I am worried about, however, is the 8's ability to drive the thing. My 280 amp alt. in my last system would pull the idle on my Z-28 down a bit if I was sitting at a light with my subs pounding ('course 2000 watts'll do that). However, the 8 has so little torque at idle I'd be worred it'd stall.
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Originally Posted by canaryrx8
no spl or anything crazy, but we are building mine as a pseudo demo vehicle so it will be something a little more robust than the typical 2 subs and an amp deal. The brand I'm going with will most likely be Soundstream, Phoenix gold is my other option but we have so many cars down here with that already and since I'm getting super cheap labor/equipment and I want to help out our fledgling shop I think soundstream should be fine and a little more unique as there's not a lot of it down here.. I know their older stuff used to be awesome, is the newer stuff pretty good or? Thanks for all the help, i kinda' assumed it would be a little different putting stuff in this car and there's a lot of good info here
#13
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Originally Posted by devoid
Let me put 2 things in perspective.
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
2. I'd be willing to waiger that I have one of the most demanding systems in an RX-8, period and my setup uses the stock alternator, with an Optima Yellow top, and a specialty car audio battery (located in the trunk and connected up with the Optima battery). All the stereo, video, comuter, gaming, ac/dc conversion, lighting, cooler/warmer, etc, are all connected up directly through the audio battery, thus the first draw is to that battery. There are no caps necessary in such a design. Also, consider this, I use JL audio amps, which utilize an internal circuitry to allow them to pump out the same wattage despite the variations in voltage. So even when the car is off, and is running at "12V" or more likely even below "12V" the wattage is still the same....so you put that in perspective to when the car is on, its not gonna put a strain on the alternator.
Just some food for thought!
1. Even if you did want to upgrade the alternator, I have been unable, in all my searching, to find an alternator designed as a replacement for the RX-8. Remember, you have to consider, the revs at which the alternator will have to put up with are far above a piston engine revs.
2. I'd be willing to waiger that I have one of the most demanding systems in an RX-8, period and my setup uses the stock alternator, with an Optima Yellow top, and a specialty car audio battery (located in the trunk and connected up with the Optima battery). All the stereo, video, comuter, gaming, ac/dc conversion, lighting, cooler/warmer, etc, are all connected up directly through the audio battery, thus the first draw is to that battery. There are no caps necessary in such a design. Also, consider this, I use JL audio amps, which utilize an internal circuitry to allow them to pump out the same wattage despite the variations in voltage. So even when the car is off, and is running at "12V" or more likely even below "12V" the wattage is still the same....so you put that in perspective to when the car is on, its not gonna put a strain on the alternator.
Just some food for thought!
#14
Originally Posted by TRU681
Go with Phoenix Gold if those are your two choices because Soundstreams newer stuff is no good.They got bought out by a low end cheap (power acoustik or something like that) company & are now making cheaper quality products.
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Originally Posted by canaryrx8
bummer, guess they went the way of Lanzar, Orion, etc.. I do like the way the PG stuff looks better than the Soundstream stuff, the spiders all over the place are kinda' tacky for lack of a better word. If I were to go with 3 DVC 10s what amp would you recommend? Can you point me to a place to learn a little more about the PG stuff? (besides their website anyway) Thanks for the help and the heads up
Phoenix Gold at the CarDomain Store
Phoenix Gold is known as a leader in innovation and manufacturing quality control among high-end mobile electronics manufacturers. With one of the most advanced manufacturing facility in the industry, Phoenix Gold offers a complete line of high-performance car audio products and accessories engineered and manufactured by their in-house experts.
Last edited by TRU681; 06-06-2005 at 10:58 PM.
#16
is it a preference thing with the 3 subs or are there advantages/disadvantages etc? Just wondering as I thought it would be killer to have 3 but if 2 is sufficient and there's no real advantage to 3 then I don't have an issue going with 2. It would save some weight and some $$, plus logistically it would make it alot easier for my installer and I to get creative with other parts of the system like the amp setup/enclosure etc.
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It is about enclosure volume in this car + the load that will be delivered to the amp. Good bass response is not about the number or size of subs used, it is all about the box and how everything is matched together and used. There are oodles of good subs on the market today. I encourage you to look at the tried and true Eclipse aluminum drivers. www.eclipse-web.com
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Originally Posted by forbidden
It is about enclosure volume in this car + the load that will be delivered to the amp. Good bass response is not about the number or size of subs used, it is all about the box and how everything is matched together and used. There are oodles of good subs on the market today. I encourage you to look at the tried and true Eclipse aluminum drivers. www.eclipse-web.com
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Originally Posted by canaryrx8
is it a preference thing with the 3 subs or are there advantages/disadvantages etc? Just wondering as I thought it would be killer to have 3 but if 2 is sufficient and there's no real advantage to 3 then I don't have an issue going with 2. It would save some weight and some $$, plus logistically it would make it alot easier for my installer and I to get creative with other parts of the system like the amp setup/enclosure etc.
3-2ohm dvc series/parallel= 1.33ohms if you parallel them you'll get=0.33ohms
3-4ohm dvc series/parallel= 2.66ohms if you parallel them you'll get=0.66ohms
I tend to like to give my amps(a/b bridged) a final load of 4ohms because it's less strain on the amp, amp stays cooler & it'll sound better on 4 ohms than 2ohms.Go with 2 subs because it'll be easier to work with & you can be more creative on working with 2 subs than 3 subs plus more room for your amps.
#20
If I was going to do this independently w/o reperesenting a shop then Eclipse, heck even Dynaudio would be my first choice. It would probably take me 2-3 years to afford everything though (haha). Eclipse is not one of the lines we will be carrying (at least not in the beginning, who knows what'll happen down the road a bit) so I will not be going with them this time around. I'm excited about the challenge this car presents as my last two vehicles did not have a trunk, I had a hatch and regular cab pickup before. I'll have to rap with my installer to see how we want to represent the shop, 3 subs will probably look more ominous, but we can do something just as impressive with 2 as well. can't wait to start putting all my ideas into wood/fiberglass/whatever we end up with It's been a while since I followed car audio and who makes what etc. so this is a lot of fun getting back into it :D
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Anyone have any further comments on the aftermarket alternator? I'm curious if anyone takes pause regarding my statement that it could stall the car at idle under heavy current draw.
Also, the comment regarding RPM. I'm thinking that if anything is needed it'd be higher quality bearings. However I'm hoping that the part number for our alternator (someone know it?) will prove it to be a standard Ford/Mazda part.
Also, the comment regarding RPM. I'm thinking that if anything is needed it'd be higher quality bearings. However I'm hoping that the part number for our alternator (someone know it?) will prove it to be a standard Ford/Mazda part.
#24
Originally Posted by DreamWarrior
Anyone have any further comments on the aftermarket alternator? I'm curious if anyone takes pause regarding my statement that it could stall the car at idle under heavy current draw.
Also, the comment regarding RPM. I'm thinking that if anything is needed it'd be higher quality bearings. However I'm hoping that the part number for our alternator (someone know it?) will prove it to be a standard Ford/Mazda part.
Also, the comment regarding RPM. I'm thinking that if anything is needed it'd be higher quality bearings. However I'm hoping that the part number for our alternator (someone know it?) will prove it to be a standard Ford/Mazda part.
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