No, if related to your mpg. A higher amperage alternator (if available for our cars) would only be able to GENERATE a higher peak amperage output, but the drag on the engine to spin the alternator would not change at peak output. A higher amperage would possibly secure the possibility that you don't have enough amperage available to fire your ingnition system while cranking your stereo.

 

A capacitor is just another form for storing electrical energy, it does not itself create any energy but stores energy supplied to it by your electrical system. In this regards, a capacitor would only work for your stereo system in making sure it had enough clean power to continue to operate. The alternator still would have to supply the energy to the capacitor to keep it fully charged.

A capacitor is used in the car stereo world to supply that "boost" of electrical energy when the stereo goes into high amperage mode. It also is used to keep the voltage clean and stable. Think of it like a UPS system for computers....it keeps the electricity clean so that your stereo does not go into a "brown out" state. Brown out's for lights would make them dim, but for an electrical device that requires a minimum amount of electricty to turn on, ala a transistor, that device would turn off and on as the power fluctuates.

 

Tis is the problem with having a modded car. You lost control of MPG and too much upkeep.

 

L3XOTIC,

That's a pretty unique looking ride you have there. Do you have any better pictures of it, maybe posted in a gallery ?

 

^ Definitely unique. Looks bad *** with that black vinyl roof.

 

my fuel light just came on and i ran about 250k on a full tank and like a dollar top off... i have a heavy foot and road rage.

 

What's 250k? 250km? 190 miles?

 

I don't think it has to do with anybody having a system in there trunk. I had a system in my car I was checking up on it last week I was getting 12-14mpg city and 16-18 on highway.

3months before I left the country I notice that cheveron never uses ethanol in there gas but all the other gas station did. I notice that eveytime I filled up at a BP, Shells, Valero, Sonco, Mobil, or U gas, I would get crappy milage because 10% or whatever ethanol they mixed into our gas. So I continued to go to cheveron because I was actually seeing a defference. But when I got back to the states cheveron now mixes there gas with ethanol just like all gas stations.

 

While i mean no disrespect in this comment, Fuzion tires are not made by BF Goodrich. While the BF is correct, its just not that company. ( http://www.allbusiness.com/automotiv...8689118-1.html ) Its made by Bridgestone/Firestone.

Now i'm curious; i know everyones driving habits are different, why are the mpgs so different and wild? Some seem as farf etched as the next.

 

basically stock '98 GS400 113,000 miles
I spent the last 2 weekends making the exact same trip, about 3.5 hours, large majority was highway. The first time I got about 19.5 mpg (forgot to check tire pressure). Before starting the same trip the following weekend I made sure to check the pressure and found I was running around 25 psi, so I topped off around 38 to 40 psi. The 2nd trip was a little more stop and go with slightly heavier traffic but still mostly highway, I was able to get around 21 mpg. I guess I can't complain but I had a similar 98 GS400 a few years ago that I swear I got close to 25 mpg highway, had the same amount of miles on it, both with 18's. I'm starting to believe that fuel quality is playing a part in the crazy sways in mpg observations.

 

I pedal to like 1700-1900 rpms in the city and rarely go above 2500 when merging on to the highway generally. That gets me my 22-25 in my 430. However when I tend to do the 2000-3000 driving that number quickly becomes 19.5-21. It's all about coasting in V8s. Get up to speed and take advantage of the fact torque isn't going to let you drop in speed immediately. .

 

i got stock 17" rims running on pirelli p6 all seasons. I inflate them to 45 psi and they run stiff but nothing wrong and no problems.

 

Uneven tire wear not exactly. Depends how you drive as in taking hard turns and do your alignment you should be fine. I'm running on 45 psi on my tires for 1 year no alignment problem whatsoever

 

i got an 03 gs430. City and Highway together gives me 22 miles per gallon

 

I forgot to post my new mpg when I got back from my trip ... I averaged 20 mpg !! wtf!! all highway on a trip to tampa and orlando just setting cruise control to 90 the whole way, this is a 3 mpg drop from when I didn't have the system installed