Wicks' E46 M3 Build. Hertz 3-Way Set from Tony D!

[goodvibez]

I have to ask...what's the difference in ar cones and the other cones? Also are the surrounds the same? My xl 10s have the ar's and didn't know...

[Swordlordboy1234]

I believe AR cones are like a normal version of the sundown hyper surround and they have a different cone material?

Not a DC expert. Just chiming in because I always come by wicks build.

Wicks. The cap placement is interesting. Can you elaborate on the voltage slowly rising thing?

Reason I mention, is because with my dc 270xp and my tiny 2.2 honda engine... Things don't work perfectly at idle especially with the AC on. The alternator is a bit too strong for my engine to torque through it and I drop to 500rpm until my computer bumps it back up to 750. So every single stop my car bogs down for a full second or two until the computer over rides it.

All that being explained, I've been thinking about

1) the space needed to add caps

2) how to make it look good since I'm already happy with how my wiring looks

3) if they would make my bogging down idle question worse or better or unchanged.

[Wicks]

Just wanted to pop in to say once again I love this car and build, hands down still my favorite on these boards. You guys and your meter troubles are one thing I'm sure glad I don't worry about lol, all the stressing over tenths and what not. It does seem ridiculous to me that even with different cones, going to almost double the power you have lost on the meter... but I have seen that type of thing mentioned in more than a few threads here from those of you who know and play that game.

Thx!

Yep, you'll save a LOT of heartache if you stay away from the meter. Nothing but trouble.

If you do start metering....it gets in your bones and you tend to go crazy trying to hit a certain number...

Just because I have that 9K in my trunk, doesn't necessarily mean I'm throwing double the power at the subs, I have some tweaking to do yet.

I have to ask...what's the difference in ar cones and the other cones? Also are the surrounds the same? My xl 10s have the ar's and didn't know...

AR cones are reinforced and stronger, but you lose a little cone area and gain a monster surround.

Paper cones:

AR cones:

Notice the AR cones have less area between the dustcaps and the edge of the surround.

Whether that realistically reduces the SPL....hard to tell. Maybe they're still a little stiff...IDK.

Still need to do some messing around.

I REALLY want that 150 Legal though so I'm going to shoot for that and see what happens.

[Wicks]

I believe AR cones are like a normal version of the sundown hyper surround and they have a different cone material?

Not a DC expert. Just chiming in because I always come by wicks build.

Wicks. The cap placement is interesting. Can you elaborate on the voltage slowly rising thing?

Reason I mention, is because with my dc 270xp and my tiny 2.2 honda engine... Things don't work perfectly at idle especially with the AC on. The alternator is a bit too strong for my engine to torque through it and I drop to 500rpm until my computer bumps it back up to 750. So every single stop my car bogs down for a full second or two until the computer over rides it.

All that being explained, I've been thinking about

1) the space needed to add caps

2) how to make it look good since I'm already happy with how my wiring looks

3) if they would make my bogging down idle question worse or better or unchanged.

Elaborating on the voltage stability.

The batteries rest at ~12.8-13V. I charge at ~14.9V.

Without the caps, when I would start my engine, the voltage would shoot from 12 to 14 rather quickly (~1sec).

With the caps, its a MUCH slower change as the caps are charging from 12 to 14V. I would roughly say 3-5 seconds. Noticeably different.

Voltage is much more stable as well when I'm driving around and the alternator is on full output all the time.

As requested, I'll try and document it with some video when I can get a chance.

The caps might help your bogging down but since its a power source that is supplied from the alternator, it could also make it worse as its yet another thing the alternator has to charge. Depends on the situation but it could help supply some current and take the load off of your alternator too. Hard to say.

Would a smaller alternator pulley help? Increase the speed of the alternator, keep it supplying more current and not let it go idle...?

[hdorre]

Would a smaller alternator pulley help? Increase the speed of the alternator, keep it supplying more current and not let it go idle...?

I thought a larger pulley would help.. and heres why. Heres how I see it:

Your little 2.2 is doesnt produce much torque at idle. The 270XP needs power to make power.. it needs mechanical power. Your engine doesnt supply enough mechanical power at idle, so your RPMs drop.

If you got a smaller pulley, your alt will try to output more power at lower RPMs. Thats the issue. Your alt producing all that power down low is dragging down your engine.

If you were concerned with your engine speed dropping.. Id think a larger pulley would help

[REH]

Would a smaller alternator pulley help? Increase the speed of the alternator, keep it supplying more current and not let it go idle...?

I thought a larger pulley would help.. and heres why. Heres how I see it:

Your little 2.2 is doesnt produce much torque at idle. The 270XP needs power to make power.. it needs mechanical power. Your engine doesnt supply enough mechanical power at idle, so your RPMs drop.

If you got a smaller pulley, your alt will try to output more power at lower RPMs. Thats the issue. Your alt producing all that power down low is dragging down your engine.

If you were concerned with your engine speed dropping.. Id think a larger pulley would help

Shouldn't it physically easier for that 2.2 to spin the smaller pulley than the larger pulley? I would think that it would follow the same way that gearing works in other applications. I'm thinking of it as a bicycle for example, the sprocket on the crank being a fixed size let's say 44 tooth and rear wheel freewheel being a 16 tooth (pretty standard) vs a 44t/13t setup that makes it insanely easy to take off pedaling. (ignore the bicycle reference, just how I can put it together in a fairly easy to understand way in my head). But usually it would take a lot less torque to spin the smaller pulley on something with resistance on it than a larger one.

[hdorre]

Shouldn't it physically easier for that 2.2 to spin the smaller pulley than the larger pulley?

heres my logic..

With a smaller pulley, the alt spins faster at ANY speed. As the alt rotor speed increases, so does its max output at that given speed.. until the alternator itself maxxes out.

It takes (mechanical) power to make (electrical) power. That mechanical power comes from the engine. As the engine struggles to output mechanical power, RPM drops.

[goodvibez]

Sorry one more question but the surround they use on the ar cones is bigger but seems like from the pic's I've seen it's not as thick...like the material for the surrounds on the regular paper cones looks beefier...is that just me?

[Cruze2]

Such a nice install the quailty is great!

[Wheelz_pitch]

77 pages of pure awesomeness. Love the build keep up the amazing work brother.