Alternator limitations on 4 cylinders?

[knowledge]

i had a hard time finding a decent alt for my 2005 honda crv, same 4 cylinder in an rsx or a new civic. only thing i can find is a dc180 wich does a pretty good job on 10k and a few batteries but i would love a bigger alt. but something about not turning the pulley fast enough to produce the amps out of that big alt. idk.

[Autruche]

Main reasons I've heard are:

#1 4 cylinders tend to have a lower idle speed, so a bigger alternator, which usually has a lower idle output, wouldn't be able to put out good power at idle unless you had a smaller pulley on the alternator, but then that means you'd hit it's max power faster and most likely spin it too fast while driving.

#2 often times mounting space is limited and you can't squeeze a bigger alternator into the stock location. If you compare a 180-220 amp alternator case to a 250 amp or higher case, you'll see the higher output ones generally have larger cases.

#3 A larger alternator will be harder to turn and get more belt slip. Quite often with a larger alternator you need to add idler pulleys to put more belt area on the pulley to get the traction to turn it. This, of course, will need a custom bracket and will take up more room, which is usually not there in the engine compartment of a smaller car.

It's not that it won't work, it's just that it can become a major pain in the ass.

[dsktim]

i had a 300A EA alt on my crx it was a pain to get in and the crx only had a 3 grove belt so at idle when the alt kicked in it would slip the belt