Do subwoofers drain petrol in a car?

Question

I have a subwoofer and amp using 250rms. Should this have an effect on my cars petrol use. I have noticed im using more petrol than before. Obviously it would use some, but should that have a big effect?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

An amplifier needs current to work and the current comes from the battery. Then the battery needs an alternator so that the battery doesn't go flat too soon. The power that the alternator produces comes from the engine revs and therefore if more current is needed the engine has to produce more revs to produce the current needed to supply the amp. So there's gonna ba a slight increas in the fuel consumption. But this increase will not be noticeable. To outstand this drawback you can always install a capacitor so that the battery will not have too much load on it.

There is another drawback why it can increase in the consumption of the petrol. When you install an amp, a subwoofer and some speakers, you will be increasing the weight on the car by nearly 50kg at least (for eg mine is 20kg for 2 speakers, 25 kg for my sub excluding the box, which the box weighs another 10kg, the amp weighs 15kg and 2 tweeters weigh 5kg. So in all I have increased the weight of my Punto with 75kg. So I'm always carrying a man's weight with me.) And the more the car weighs, the more fuel will be consumed to perform well but it will not be noticeable neither.

Hope this helps mate.

Answer 3

Yes, mate as the Subwoofers are drawing more amps this is drawing more power from the alternator which in turn is making the engine work harder. The other factor is the type of music you listen to, the faster the beat the faster you drive thus less MPG. Proven fact, try listening to some Classical and see the difference, only when your on your own though after you've dropped your mates off

Answer 4

As far as i understand it you need to remove the tank from underneath and empty the tank and then flush it with a deisel additive mixed with deisel and swill it around and around and then empty it again. as for damage to your car then thats a distinct possibilty. You drove for a mile or so ! How full was the tank before the mistake and how much did you put in on top. ? I put deisel in my petrol merc,but luckily did not start the engine. I called my local garage and they trailered it off and sorted it. I do think that the garages should do more to make deisel and petrol pumps different/more distinguishable. when you have lots of things on your mind and in my case a white merc (petrol) and a white van (deisel) it is very easy to just pick up the green or black hose and fire !whilst not concentrating. The nozzle shapes or filler caps in manufacture should be different.or the hose colours should be very different like Yellow and red ! Green and black are just too similar to colour blind blokes. (most blokes have some colour blindness) Get the garage to sort this.You may be lucky but until its restarted with deisel,you wont know.What did the recovery bloke say ? He was there,he must have some idea how bad things may be.

Answer 5

So far you have really only gotten perhaps 4 answers that actually make any sense. The total weight of your system will factor only slightly into fuel consumption as it is a load that must also overcome inertia and gravity with the rest of the vehicle. How efficiently your alternator and battery are performing in conjunction with the engine is also a factor, but realistically should not cause a noticeable change in fuel consumption. Have you changed driving habits or driven about with more friends in the car listening to music?

Answer 6

Absolutely not! Alternater generates electrical power for subwoofers and essentially has no connection with gas concumption. You biggest expense of running big powerful subwoofes just might be annoyed people in pickup trucks firing shotgun blasts at your vehicle. That is just bad luck but much more expensive to repair than buying gasoline. Now please give an old country boy from Arkansas, a true blue razorback fan, a click on the star, eh?

Answer 7

As others have said the Amp driving your sub feeds from the battery which in turn is fed by the Alternator which is fed by the crankshaft. this loop is running whenever your engine is. It won't have any different effect on your fuel consumption the alternator will always be pulling on the engine.
If you use your ice when the engine is not running then you could easily drain the battery quite quickly, depending on its condition.

Answer 8

technically, yes, it does use more fuel, but it shouldnt be enough to notice. most likely you are driving slightly faster as a whole and using more petrol there. its slightly possible that lower voltage is causing the ECM to get false readings and make the car run richer, but your amp shouldnt be using that much current. if youre convinced that it is a problem, install a capacitor and it might help, but it shouldnt be needed on a 250 watt amp. i run a 460 watt with no cap and its not a problem. assuming your alternator and battery are in decent shape, its not the amp thats using more fuel, its your driving.

Answer 9

The only drain it would have would be on the battery if your engine wasnt running. depending on the size of your system Eg, weight if you have a small car it could be like having another person in the car thats what you might be seeing. I have 2x jbl gt4 subs and have never noticed any problems only than boot space, hope this helps.

Answer 10

it can have a big draining effect on the battery
which in turn may have a effect on the
efficiency of the electrical engine management
system therefore the engine will not
run as well as it should,and more fuel
will be used because the engine is working
that bit harder.maybe!

Answer 11

simply, yes but not alot. Two reasons, the extra weight and the power consumption from the vehicles power source (petrol) Even using the cig lighter uses petrol.