wannarace8

i've been reading all these posts about the different types of batteries you can put in the 8s. what if i wanted to put in a full performance audio system. does anyone know what kind of wear/tear it will do to the 8 whether it will effect performance or the electrical system of the car, by this i mean serious problems other than just a drained, but functional, electrical system? would it possibly trip the CEL. I'm talking about taking about 1000 watts for audio power (in motion or @ idle). any thoughts?

rotarygod

As long as the amp you choose can't drain more current than the car requires you should be fine. One thing you'll need to do it to change the factory ground wire from the battery to the chassis. There are actually a couple of them but they only add up to about an 8 gauge wire total. If you end up running an amp that needs a larger wire than an 8 gauge such as a 4 gauge or larger, how does all of that current get back into the battery? You can see that current is limited by the smallest spot in the system. In this case it is the factory grounds. There are so many people that use large power wire but then do nothing about the grounds on the battery. This would make their nice big wire worthless. Upgrade the ground to as big as you can. On my RX-7 I use a 1 gauge ground to the chassis, an 8 gauge ground to the fender and a 4 gauge ground to the engine block. You can't overdo it. The RX-8 also has a 100 amp alternator so you should be just fine. You may need a 1 farad cap later on.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

Actually, power flows from the ground to the positive.
Electrons are negatively charged. It is a misconception that electricity flows from positive to negative.

That said, increasing the gauge of the ground wire will increase the effective current capacity of the electrical system up to the point that the positive end becomes the restriction.

wannarace8

awesome guys....appreciate the input...anyone else have any ideas feel free to post them.

Gord96BRG

Weight is the enemy to performance - if you add 140 lbs of audio gear, it's like carrying an extra passenger full time. Yes, a full-blown audio system affects performance, the weight will slow you down! Might not be a lot, but still...

Regards,
Gordon

wannarace8

thanks again, i forgot subs weigh a lot (don't see how i did considering i have 2 12's in my current car) anything else anyone?

JeRKy 8 Owner

I think the 50-50weight ratio that the car has gets slightly affectedby adding a system. I noticed that after I threw my box of two12s in the trunk --whichI still havent mounted down to this day since Im such alazy *******-- taking sharp turns at faster speeds became alittle more risky then theyused to be. It couldjust be my imagination though

sferrett

Electrons do indeed flow from negative to positive.

Electrical current, however, is a very old concept and is, in fact, defined as going from positive to negative. It's considered to be a flow of positive charges even though it's really not.

...and since rotarygod was talking about current and not electron flow.... you're both right !

here's something I dug up with google:
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/electron.htm
however the original source of my being pedantic about conventional current flow direction vs. electron direction was my physics teacher who drummed it into us pretty good.