I understand the concept for doing this and what its supposed to help but would you mind helping me out a little and explaining what is needed to complete this. Like what is connected to what? Sorry if its a noob question I've just never done this before. I might grab some 4awg wiring and do this just need some clarification. TIA!

 

The concept is simple, the wiring that comes factory with any car is barely the proper gauge for conducting, in some cases too small of wire is used. Example on the fit, the ground was a single 6awg wire from the battery to the sheet metal of the car. Not only is that ground weak but the size of the wire was too small. Think of it this way, when someone adds an audio system, you are now pulling more current through the factory wiring than was designed to handle. So by adding a second power run from the alternator directly to the battery there is less resistance of current flow. Additionally, by changing the ground to a larger gauge wire and grounding to the block of the motor this also lowers the resistance of current flow and improves the overall grounding of the car. These two alone can often eliminate light dimming from system current drain. The addition of a better battery is just like adding performance brakes to a car, where the factory will work, the performance version is better suited for the needs of the driver. In the batteries case, this battery is not just larger in output and performance it is also designed for audio use so if in a competition format you have to run without your car on, this battery will out perform the factory lead acid battery by a mile.

What you are seeing in my pictures is a single 0awg strand from the negative terminal of the battery to the block of the motor. Additionally another single strand of 0awg from the alternator to the positive terminal of the battery. The other pieces you see are going to and from a 150amp circuit breaker, some people use a fuse with fuse holder. The total cost for my upgrade process which includes running 0 awg from the front battery to the rear was $60 for the wire, $75 for the battery. Course I got some deals on both my items but the battery can be had on ebay for $109, and the wire you can get here; http://www.audiosavings.com/products...15M-BLACK.aspx 22ft for under $50 you might be able to also contact this company and get a few more than 22ft since I used near 25ft total to do all of my wiring.

Overall you aren't going to physically see much in the way of the improvement other than if your lights are dimming now, this may eliminate that issue. What you are not seeing is the improvement of efficiency of your electrical system. Where the current flow is less restricted letting your amplifiers pull the current needed with less stress, thus also meaning they will not heat up as fast. And in effect they will then be performing better and more efficiently using the power they require to operate. Hopefully that answers your question, and anyone else who was contemplating doing this upgrade, it is well worth the effort and minimal costs.

 

That is an awesome summary, thank you so much +repp...The only thing im wondering is whether or not I will benefit from a much larger gauge(0awg) for instance or if 4awg will be ok. I do not have any amps or subs in my car nor do I plan to have any. Basically if I do this upgrade it will be to enhance the current electrical system... is that a fair assumption?

 

If you are not adding any amplifiers you won't see a direct benefit, however improving the grounding of the car is never bad. The power side since you are not adding amplifiers in your case wouldn't be effective, unless you have a multitude of other electronics added to the car.

 

There is a big grommet on the passenger side that is very easy to get to and run 0 gauge through it.

I fit 4 runs of 0 gauge in it

 

ahh ok, makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

 

I don't see your batt. neg. to body connection, is it hidden somewhere? Additionally, I also don't see an inline fuse from your alt. post. to batt. pos..

 

Battery to body, if you mean sheet metal it's not there you are correct, there is a ground to the engine block which is a much stronger grounding point. As for the power wire running to the positive terminal, it is a secondary line and there is no need for a fuse as the line is merely providing a lesser resistive path to the battery. The factory wiring from the alternator to the battery still remains which has all the factory fusing.

 

If this were a car audio forum, you'd be completely flamed, but it's not, and I see no reason too.

I would recommend an inline fuse though, and not to scare people, but it can prevent a possible overload of the wire should the alternator send a surge down that line, which could lead to worse things.

Looks good though! I like how the wire stands out. I plan on doing this with a few "modifications" when it cools off here. Doing this in 106 weather is not fun.

 

Ok, one more question... This is called the big3 but what are the 3? you have one going neg to engine block, one from pos to alternator. and another from pos to amps im guessing?? so since i have no amps would mine just be:

Neg to Engine Block
Neg to Body(if i wanted to is this ok?)
Pos to alt with inline fuse(id rather be safe than sorry)

 

If you search on the Big3 for just arguments sake, there are many different opinions on it, from fusing it direct from the alternator to not. I have done this exact setup in many cars and never had a problem, that's not to say I won't ever have a problem, and you are correct safety should be considered with any electrical upgrades. However I am confident that I will not have an issue and if so the factory fusing that is still inline will blow, and if a surge of that size does occur, highly unlikely with only a 95A alt in these cars, it will trip the breaker far before impacting my stereo gear.

 

Some people add a second ground to the chassis not just to the block/frame of the car, I have enough 0awg left over I might just do it. So the three are power and double ground. However I view the big3 as the two wire changes (no matter how many you add) and changing the battery.

 

cool thanks again! im buying my supplies today!

 

Exactly. Some people are set in their ways, and anything less is unimaginable.

 

I'd still do battery to chassis for the hell of it. I remember calculating the resistance of the chassis onetime front the rear end of a car to the battery as a physics problem when before I switched out of engineering and it was a lot higher than I thought. Going through just the engine block adds to that.

How do you like those GTi components? I was looking at those but I recently made the decision to go 3 way active up front.

 

I actually did, the last piece of 0awg I had left I went and bought more 0awg ring terminals and went battery ground to chassis since it was a small piece I figured might as well. The GTI components are awesome, I want to buy another new pair to keep on hand if I ever need a new set.

 

Thanks for the heads up. First, I will try and go the route behind the airbox for the shortest route. Now, I am not even sure I want/need to use the 0g that I have. I'll wait and see what my buddy wants to do. On my last Civic Hybrid, I had to drill through the firewall, and that was a huge hole.

 

sup mang,

gonna order me a shuriken also. just wondering what did u use to hook up the existing stock power wire?

 

I lopped it off at the base of the battery terminal since it's one piece then put a 4awg ring on it, there's a bolt it is attached to right under the forward edge of the red cover. And if I have to return the car to stock it will still work that way with very little effort and a new set of battery terminals for $4.

 

my system hits over 145 db daily and about 157db at spl comp new honda fit kicker system - YouTube