i HAVE 2002 RALLEY RED ELANTRA GT WITH 3500 WATTS IN CAR. I NEED HELP IN GETTING A HIGH AMP ALTERNATOR FOR MY CAR. I THINK I WILL NEED AT LEAST 140 AMP ALT. ANY HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED. THX

i couldn't read your text. it was tooloud4me.

seriously, welcome to the club, but please don't post in all-caps. it comes off as shouting. as far as an answer to your question, i have no idea how high of an amperage you can get in an alternator for our cars. you may inquire about getting your alternator re-wound for higher output.

by the way, assuming 14V output, from my calculations is sounds like you need 250A of current to supply 3500W continuous power. is this peak power or RMS power that you say you are running? if you tell me what amps you are running in your car i may be able to help determine how much amperage you really need to feed you amps what they need. also, do your amps have fuses? if so, tell me the total # of amps all the amp fuses are rated for.

If he is running that much power, I could assume his total amp draw could be about 200 amps. For that kind of draw, I would get a separate battery and a second alternator; keeping the stock system intact. There is no way in hell the factory electrical system wiring (going to the alternator) can handle that much draw and keep the system from frying itself.

JPJR (Manual) could answer this one.

my point is that he THINKS he is pushing 3500W but in reality he MIGHT be pushing much less. i will not take it at face value that he is really pushing 3500W, even though his amps may say they push that much. there is no way to know without knowing the fuse ratings on his amps. we have been over this before.

my point is that he THINKS he is pushing 3500W but in reality he MIGHT be pushing much less. i will not take it at face value that he is really pushing 3500W, even though his amps may say they push that much. there is no way to know without knowing the fuse ratings on his amps. we have been over this before.


I said, IF he is pushing that kind of power, which seems unlikely; I have not seen a system with that level of wattage regularly. Hypothetically, it could be peak power, but that still is pushing it a bit much even with multiple amps. The only system I saw with that kind of power was at a competition sponsored by Car Toys in Seattle where this full sized Bronco had 6000 watts of sound equipment that had multiple batteries and alternators to run it.

It is likely he is running 1600 watts, not 3500, which is about 800 (approx) RMS for that smaller figure.

Go to www.termpro.com forums and contact a guy named Dominique Iraggi. He sells big alts or rebuilds small ones to bigger ones. I don't know his prices though.

Also, he is most like running multiple amps which one is used for the interior speakers. He is most likely getting his 3500W figure from adding together all the max power ratings written on all of his amps heatsinks. There is no way that he is using all of the power from his interior speakers amp since highs don't need as much power as subs to be loud. And the only way to get the full power out of his sub amp would be to run it at it's lowest possible ohm capability. I'd say he is running no more than 1200 watts RMS. Even with 700watts RMS with the stock batt and alt, I had lots of dimming. So with him running 1200+RMS watts, his car would probably be stalling or near stalling with the radio on full blast.

Which is why I recommend a separate battery and alternator. The factory alternator wiring isn't big enough to support that kind of amp draw/push. We only have a number 4 wire going to the battery and I think a number 8 wire coming from the alternator, which is enough for 95 amps, but over that would overheat the wiring. The fusable link going to the alternator would fry in no time. I know, done that on a car I had. I had originally put a 400 watt DC to AC inverter on the car to charge the 4 gell cell batteries for the hydraulic system with a 110 V AC series charger on the stock battery with a 140 amp alternator. I had to rewire the whole electrical system because I not only fried the wiring, but the alternator, starter and most of the engine bay wiring. I ended up putting a second 100 amp alternator for the second battery which powered the inverter. I had to use number 0 wire for the aux battery setup.

Where can you get a hight powered alternator

How silly. That means that even with another alternator or rewinding the stock alternator for higher amperage, the car might still want to stall at idle due to the resistance / torque needed to drive the belt may not be there. That means that the idle speed might need to be increased, too...

As Southpaw said, we need more information from 2loud4u69 as to the real power consumption before any useful advice will come of this...

The thing I would be concerned with is the wiring for the alternator. The factory wiring is designed for a specific draw. If you put more draw on the wires, they overheat and melt. I don't want that to happen because it did happen to one of my cars. I am taking that assumed value and suggesting something based on what I know about the electrical system, from discussions and observations about the topic.

i have an audiobahn 2300 hct amp for 2 12" abahn flame q subs in a 6.5 cu ft box. i also have an abahn 6400 hct flame q amp for the component spkrs. i am running a seperate optima yellow top in the back soley for the system. I run a 200 amp isolator as well as a 150 amp circuit breaker and 2 125 amp anl fuses. all wiring done with hd 0 ga wire. i run a 3 farad cap for the main amp and a digital dist block. I play all from a pioneer premier 960 mp player. i have hit 147 db in contests. also 100 square ft of dynamat. i get no headlight dimming and no real power drains while driving except when air is on other than that no issues. also sub amp and subs are wired to 1 ohm. i will post pics asap.

147 db with all that???? lol wow I get 146.9 with all sony and 1 yes I said "1" kicker 15 solarbaric square subpowerd by a older zr1000 kicker amp ..... all on the stock bat and alt.. NO CAP I doget diming when the bass hits but it dont bother me.... been like that for 91000 kms and all is still good...... BTW...... you must have a kick *** install to have all that in your car.... POST PICS!!!

bump:
sorry so long to update. switched screen names. latest dbl reading is at 158. and still tweaking system. need a spl meter for my own. pics on link in sig. go check out and tell me what you think. the proof is in the pics. thanks alot for your replies. also on the alt issue. h-o-alternators.com has a bolt-on mitsu alt(150 amp). and i will use 6ga positive wire to re-wire batt, alt and starter. so no burning wires.

Look at a dual(minimum) battery setup with a few capacitors. When the bass hits it will draw from the caps first then the battery(ies) which inturn hurts the charging system

getfuzzd, nice to see someone close. utica/shelby twp. i have dual batt system. 1125cca yellow top, and 3 farad cap. whan i top out (high dbl) thats when i start to affect electricla system. not that i am in car at highest volume, but i want power on my demand with no power lags. some events i have been to they dont let you run your car while competiting. that doesnt make sence. this is why i got high amp alt. thanks dude hope to see ya around town.

I would keep the high draw items off the cars electrical system as much as possible. A second battery and alternator is your best bet. I have doubts the wiring on the car can handle that much draw and keep up with the charging of the battery.

I agree any extra electrical u add to the car adds up, lights, screens, amps,and any other toys... a second battery solved my flashing light problems. I am running alot too,

2 1000CA batteries
LED under car kit
5 set of strobes, yes 5 sets, lol
6 12" neon tubes
1700 watt power inverter
P4 Computer with 19" screen
playstation 2
sony deck
2 12" 2500 watt competition class subs
3 1001watt Rockford Fosgate amps
3 1 farad caps
0 guage wires
upgraded ground wire kit, custom made
angel eyes high and low beams
washer fluid lights
silverstar headlights and fog lights (higher wattage then stock)

well u get the idea, lol

alot of toys, and well I need another battery cause i cannot run too many things at once. my alternator seems to be holding up.

I highly recomend the upgraded ground wires, a great ground means a healthy electrical system.

Mark,