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<blockquote data-quote="IDSkoT" data-source="post: 5409008" data-attributes="member: 584344">Well, not sure about the specifics, but a lot of higher-end cars and &quot;performance cars&quot; have a bit beefier alt so it can &quot;PROVIDE OPTIMUM POWER TO TEH SPARKZ&quot;. -shrug- The numbers give the designers a chubby.&#039;The big 3&#039; as it&#039;s been coined allows for a better flow of electricity into the circuit. It provides more surface area for the &quot;power&quot; to flow through.This is wrong. The idea is that the factory wiring isn&#039;t the optimum size. Doing an over-sized Big 3 helps to make the whole electrical system more efficient and put less strain on the whole circuit,Efficiency is key. Most class D amps have around an 80% efficiency. I couldn&#039;t say what efficiency A/B&#039;s have. I&#039;d say 40-50%. But, that&#039;s just a guess. When factoring in efficiency, it&#039;s quite easy.Volts * Amperes * Efficiency (In Decimal) = True RMS.For instance...14 (volts) * 120 (amperes) * .8 (80% efficiency) = 1344 W-RMS.That&#039;s about the RMS that said amp will give you.So, in a sense, he is right.But, if you can spare it, do it. Even if you don&#039;t have some &quot;baggin&#039; *** system.&quot; As I stated previously, it lowers the strain on the system so everything flows a lot more smoothly. Even on a car with out a system I&#039;d do an 8 or 4-AWG &#039;Big 3&#039; just to smooth things out. It puts less strain on the alternator, lengthening it&#039;s life, as well as the life of the battery.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="IDSkoT, post: 5409008, member: 584344"] Well, not sure about the specifics, but a lot of higher-end cars and "performance cars" have a bit beefier alt so it can "PROVIDE OPTIMUM POWER TO TEH SPARKZ". -shrug- The numbers give the designers a chubby. 'The big 3' as it's been coined allows for a better flow of electricity into the circuit. It provides more surface area for the "power" to flow through. This is wrong. The idea is that the factory wiring isn't the optimum size. Doing an over-sized Big 3 helps to make the whole electrical system more efficient and put less strain on the whole circuit, Efficiency is key. Most class D amps have around an 80% efficiency. I couldn't say what efficiency A/B's have. I'd say 40-50%. But, that's just a guess. When factoring in efficiency, it's quite easy. Volts * Amperes * Efficiency (In Decimal) = True RMS. For instance... 14 (volts) * 120 (amperes) * .8 (80% efficiency) = 1344 W-RMS. That's about the RMS that said amp will give you. So, in a sense, he is right. But, if you can spare it, do it. Even if you don't have some "baggin' *** system." As I stated previously, it lowers the strain on the system so everything flows a lot more smoothly. Even on a car with out a system I'd do an 8 or 4-AWG 'Big 3' just to smooth things out. It puts less strain on the alternator, lengthening it's life, as well as the life of the battery. [/QUOTE]

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