Next week starts the audio build and i know i need to loose the factory battery. What aftermarket battery are you guys with big systems using?

 

a good quality battery like a stinger or optima will be fine. are you losing the factory battery because you are doing a high power system or for another reason. if you are doing it because its a high power system, you should look at upgrading to a higher amperage alternator instead, as that will be much more beneficial

 

The stock alternator is 100 amps, how much bigger would you go?

Mazda calls it a "generator", not sure if it is different, but it sounds.....expensive

S

 

what are you adding to your system that you need a whole new battery?

 

100 amps just to run your whole car. to put it in perspective, a 1000 watts of amplifiers would draw approximately 75 amps of current, and thats if the amp was 100% efficient, which it isnt.

 

Only if the amp was pushing out 100% power all the time.

 

you are correct, and granted the amp isnt, but there typically isnt much overhead with a factory alternator. typically, a factory alternator is designed to supply maybe 20% more power than what would be needed to power everything in the car, so even if you are only using 60% of the power output of the alternator to run the car, that leaves you 40 amps of current to power any additional accessories.

also, no amp is 100% efficient. more like 75-80% tops,

 

well you just have to read around the forum for this stuff...trying to align this cars electronics with a classic car or any american car is comical at best

I swiitched to an Optima Yellow Top (deep charge) Group 34 (larger than stock 35 fits just find with proper airflow maintained) I love it, period.

But the stock Alternator is MORE than efficient...the battery you SHOULD NOT BE RELYING ON ANYWAY with the wattage you are proposing...you must get Caps, good ones and lots of them if needed

to save you time...run a ground for the subs back to the battery...I ran 4 gauge to and from to the trunk...easy...running 2 or 0 I would have liked but a real pain and running it along the underbody is probably the best way with the lower gauges such as 0 and 2 otherwise start cutting apart your center console (I have NAV so that isn't an option anyway unless I want to rebuiild a massive wire bundle)

 

optima yellow top..

 

just like upgrading the battery, a cap is a bandaid for fixing a subpar electrical system.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-interior-audio-electronics-24/power-capacitor-question-68366/

also, the ground return is just as important as the power wire, and running a ground return all the way back to the battery is a good idea, but you need to make sure that you use the same guage wire for your ground as you use for your power wire. also make sure you select a proper guage for your power requirements.

 

Thanks guys, i had always planned on running the ground back to the battery from the start. my main concern was that i have occassionaly gotten hard starts, maybe once a week, and thats on a stock system in the summer. I was just overly worried about what was gonna happend with close to 2000watts max and freezing cold temps in the winter. Thanks again

 

suggesting a cap is a Bandaid is an improper analogy

Forbidden a well known/well established/and extremely capable installer for many years stated that you must do your best and create a clean and efficient electrical setup before you resort to using a CAP

using a cap is common on all high wattage audio setups....just don't use them until you've setup everything else the best it can be

 

That is very true...when I had my shop, we always recommended NOT just installing them for the ooohhh..factor...which apparently is how it is going these days..i was always glad to take people's $$ though...while yes they do provide a function, most of the time it is not an ESSENTIAL function...if you half *** your system..then you more likely will need one. Like anything...your audio system is only going to be as good as it's weakest point...some weak points can make it worse than others...if you want to use the band-aid analogy...this is where people start sticking the CAP's in...

 

Chew on this guys......some people say that you must have a cap to prevent voltage sags etc. and then proceed to sell you a amplifier that is fully regulated.....so the amp will make full power no matter what the voltage on the input is even if it drops to say 9 volts.....

This car has ample room to internally run 2 lines of 0 gauge with no visible bumps in upholstery or feeling it under the carpet. Run the power line up the passenger side of the car inside of the white looming, run the ground wire up the center of the car. Both lines can pass through the firewall behind the windshield washer resevoir.

PS.....my customer has his car back now....pics are indeed coming.

 

The simplest and best thing you can do for the RX8's electircal system other than upgrading the battery is to make your own/buy a 4 gauge grounding kit.

My sub runs so much cleaner and louder now that I upgraded the ground. Check the DIY for the ground points to make your own.