Do amps reduce the performance of the car?

[Cicak]

Do amplifiers reduce the performance of the car by drawing more power from the battery, resulting in a smaller spark? Just wondering of what the drawbacks would be to installing a sound system. Are there any drawbacks to performance in installing a sound system other than it weighs the car down slightly?

[Alex B]

Ummm very very minimal. Depends how big the system is. Extra load on the alternator.

[DeeCee]

upgraded engine and battery grounds as well as battery would take care of it

[Alex B]

Still a minimal loss. 2kw worth of amps has to come from somewhere

[Cicak]

What if was just running a 2x120w and a 1000w @ 1ohm mono block. So it does hamper it slightly. Is the power loss significant? Are there any easy things to change that could reduce the amount of power loss eg will changing the battery to a larger one solve this problem? I don't really want to go into changing alot of parts to recover the loss power although it won't be much

[Lloyd]

Weight would be the main performance loss



No such thing as free energy, if you want to power the system it has to come from the engine. The battery is charged by the alternator, a bigger battery will do bugger all

[Alex B]

no, you can not create energy, mearly change it. You will not feel the loss.

[DeeCee]

one of the easiest upgrades to ensure that there is minimal loss in electrical current is to ensure that the grounds are upgraded.. hence why i keep plugging the fact into the car audio noobs. Factory engine grounds are not exactly the best - need to increase capcitance and fibre count in wire.

and yes i realise that 2kw has to come from somewhere.. and its from the alternator mainly.. not the battery but its affect is minimal overall as you say.

Increased battery size will ensure that the system has the capacity to not draw extensive power from the alternator.. handy when you have large audio systems as voltage fluctuates due to to continuous changing draw on the battery then the battery capacity will compensate for the lack of voltage provided by alternator.

i'd be looking at weight factors.

same goes with battery relocations as well.. its all about capcitance