Big 3 upgrade worth it by itself?

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

I used to have my MRV in there now and an MRD-M1001 with 2 10" Rs. Sold the Rs and MRD and now I only have what's in my sig. I had always planned on doing the Big 3 and a battery ugrade as I also have my bi-xenon HIDs hooked up to the stock battery. I'm going to be upgrading to the stuff in my sig pretty soon here...My question is, upgrading the Big 3, is it worth it by itself with those amps and my HIDs hooked up to the stock battery? Or should I just use the 4ga I have in there now and get a dist block, then run 8ga to the two amps and leave everything else alone? I am usually one for overkill, so my gut is telling me do the 0/1 Big 3, then have 2 ga coming from the battery (and I would get a Yellow top or something similar) to a dist block, then 4 ga to the amps. Obviously that would be best, but would it be needed with just a 4.100 and a 1.600? Also, is the Big 3 upgrade only worth it if the battery and alt are upgraded? I can probably squeeze the Big 3 and battery in, but it wouldn't be for a couple months after I got the equipment. Should I just wait and do it all at once? Sorry for so many questions...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

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[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

Anybody?

 

[kurtdirt1 10+ year member]

i hate reading gobs of sentences like that...so what exactly are you asking... if you should do your big 3 upgrade along with a new run to the rear amp?

 

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

I plan on doing the Big 3 eventually. I'm asking if it is worth it to do it first, before any other electrical upgrades, or should I do the Big 3 WITH a new/better battery? I probably won't have enough $ or time to do the equipment AND Big 3 upgrades, but even when I had my old amp and sub in the car, I never really had significant voltage drops...

 

[kurtdirt1 10+ year member]

I plan on doing the Big 3 eventually. I'm asking if it is worth it to do it first, before any other electrical upgrades, or should I do the Big 3 WITH a new/better battery? I probably won't have enough $ or time to do the equipment AND Big 3 upgrades, but even when I had my old amp and sub in the car, I never really had significant voltage drops...

Personally I'd say upgrade it...You'd be amazed at how much it actually helps...Your voltage would prob sit higher and current flow would be much better...personally I'd also run a + and - run to the back...it really helps A LOT how far away are you from Fresno?

 

[mile098 10+ year member]

if u dont have the money id get the alt first, then up big 3 then a new bat

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

always do the big 3 first. it provides better current flow and keeps your electrical sustained at a set voltage alot better then the speaker wire that originally came on the car. you may never even need a better alt. but go big 3 first, and see how it effects you and then battery, and then alt as last resort. but having a bigger alt without the big 3 done is pointless. you want more current flow to keep your voltage steady. bigger wire will do that.

 

[mile098 10+ year member]

^^agreed but he said hes gonna upgrade anyways, so just put a bigger wire from the alt to bat fro start

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

im now running a HO 180a alt with big 3 upgrade and I can say it was the best thing I have done for my system(running a 3000watt system). My headlights dont dim anymore nor does my dome light

deffinitely worth the extra couple hundred bucks imo..

 

[bass_lover1 10+ year member]

Take this for what it's worth.

I'm running on the stock 90A alt in my Passat, and a factory sized battery (autozone replacement). I'm also using more amps than you and they also draw more current, I've got 0awg running from the battery back to my trunk. The ONLY upgrade I did was for the battery ground, because I had extra 0awg after I ran the power wire, and my lights do not dim at all, even at full tilt.

It's actually kinda sad, but if I pull the switch to roll up all 4 windows, the lights dim more doing that than they do with my stereo running full volume.

I'd keep the stock battery and alt, use 0awg for power wire and ground. If you have dimming issues after that, then you can tackle the big three, but my guess is that you could probably get by without it.

 

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

Thanks for the input guys...My car actually came stock with 4 ga, but I'm planning to eventually do exactly what I said. I guess I'll just do the Big 3 first and keep my 4ga power/ground cables in there for now and use a dist block with 8 ga coming off of it to the amps. Upgrade to 2 ga/4ga later.

And to kurt, I'm actually going to school in Stockton, so I'm not too far from Fresno...

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

if u dont have the money id get the alt first, then up big 3 then a new bat

Big-3 before HO alt. You don't want to send 200A through stock electrical wires, do you?

 

[Tehgregzor 10+ year member]

^^ Agreed. And costs can be reduced by using welding wire, you don't have to buy a BIG3 kit from monster (just an exaggeration) for 200 dollars, it can all be done with local bought wire.