Trying to install a Yellow Top into my 2015 Mirage

[MOB710]

First time poster so please bare with me... I have recently put in an overly obnoxious sound system Into my Mirage. 4*2way Alpines (speakers), 4*3way Rockford Fosgate (speakers) and 2* 12 inch subwoofers along with 3 amplifiers totaling roughly 8000W RMS. Yes, I'm a huge hit with the neighbours... When the bass kicks in everything dims and the alternator drops down to 13.6V so I was looking into getting a Optima Yellow Top to give the alternator a bit of a break everytime I've checked the fitment of said battery it tells me it will not fit so I assumed I would have wire it directly to the system itself, which is fine. My question, or questions are 1. Can I string 2 batteries together so the alternator charges both or do I have to charge it (yellow top) every night? And 2. Does anyone have any other suggestions as to either how to go about completing this project or ideas for an alternate route to take? Thanks for reading!

[BillAce]

There are many different sizes of yellow top optima batteries. What you need I higher reserve capacity so you don't kill it and to upgrade all grounds and the charging cable from the alternator to a heavier gauge wire. If that is not enough a larger alternator is in order. Add up all the fuses on your amp and get that plus 85a go the car itself.
Ft example. 8000w ÷ 12v = 666 amps. Of course that I maximum and amps are usually rated at a single freqency with higher than normal input voltage but I think you probably have too much system in this car. Once upon a time I built cars hitting over 160db with less power an less speakers and thy were larger and had dual alternator setups

[Eggman]

Refer to this thread: Battery Size and Replacement

It's a bit dated but the various batteries listed in the chart should all fit in the Mirage, with some details on over- and under-sized batteries.

AGM batteries offer good performance and Odyssey has some good choices for your use.

[MOB710]

Thanks for the info. I have upgraded the grounds and charging cables to a 4 gauge OFC from a 10 gauge. Should I go to a 0/1 or would that just be pointless? I'm told there isn't an upgraded alternator available for the Mirage, to be honest I haven't found too many parts that I'm able to upgrade but that's for a different thread. 160db!?!? And I thought I was a hit with the neighbours lol. I'm not so mechanically inclined that I could pull off a dual alternator setup without someone showing me how that could even be pulled off. Unlikely it can be in the Mirage but it may be worth looking into. I'm a quick learner but that definitely goes beyond anything I've ever done. I can downgrade one of my amps as it's running the Rockford Fosgates but could almost be running the subs so that should shed 600W RMS or so🤞

[MOB710]

I will definitely check that out, thank you!

[klroger]

First time poster so please bare with me... I have recently put in an overly obnoxious sound system Into my Mirage. 4*2way Alpines (speakers), 4*3way Rockford Fosgate (speakers) and 2* 12 inch subwoofers along with 3 amplifiers totaling roughly 8000W RMS. Yes, I'm a huge hit with the neighbours... When the bass kicks in everything dims and the alternator drops down to 13.6V so I was looking into getting a Optima Yellow Top to give the alternator a bit of a break everytime I've checked the fitment of said battery it tells me it will not fit so I assumed I would have wire it directly to the system itself, which is fine. My question, or questions are 1. Can I string 2 batteries together so the alternator charges both or do I have to charge it (yellow top) every night? And 2. Does anyone have any other suggestions as to either how to go about completing this project or ideas for an alternate route to take? Thanks for reading!

Sorry, but I kinda find it strange that a person would spend Eleventeen Hundred Dollars on a sound system for a car without first figuring out if the electrical system would support it.
Answers... 1 yes you can "string" 2 batteries together... Transport trucks have that...
Answer 2...an alternate route is get a car with enough room for 2 alternaterators or put a generator on a trailer & pull it behind....

[MOB710]

Yeah, It wasn't all bought at once, I added as time went on as well as learning as time went on. I know you can string them, hook up, tether or whatever tf you choose to call it. What I should've asked was is it any harder on the alternator if I did, apologies D....

[Eggman]

What I should've asked was is it any harder on the alternator if I did, apologies D....

It's not so much the battery/batteries/battery capacity that will make your alternator work harder, but more the device(s) drawing the extra power that will make your alternator work harder. Batteries only store energy, they don't create it. And they are only 50% efficient at that - meaning, you'll only get about half the energy out of the battery that you put in. But the larger draw will be from your amplifiers.

Also keep in mind that voltage regulation is not integral to the Mirage alternator. Adding a second alternator might very well screw up the OEM equipment's ability to do it's job. Hopefully someone else who deals with these things can chime in with more details.

alternator drops down to 13.6V

13.6 volts is not so bad.

Sounds like you'll save yourself some headache if you scale back to a more reasonable audio setup? After all, the Mirage is an economy car. It can help save your money for more important things.

[BillAce]

In many cars adding a 2nd alternator was the best answer. In some cases you can remove AC, or another accessory and take that belt location. Ambulances have great alternators that give more output
Adding more batteries provides more current which is good when you need more current. But a battery is a storage device and if you have more storage capacity your alternator will work twice as hard.
You should definitely be using heavier gauge wire for that power level.

[7milesout]

Transport trucks have that...

My truck has 2 batteries "strung" together from the factory, and it's just a (somewhat) regular ole pickup truck. It is referred to as 2 batteries in parallel.

2 - 12V batteries in parallel = 12 Volts.

2 - 12V batteries in series = 24 Volts.

As indicated by the "sport" below, as well as having two 12V batteries, it's also built to slalom around grocery store patrons pushing carts in the parking lot, as well as setting new lap time records at Road Atlanta and the like.