I've always loved big speakers (yeah I'm one of those annoying guys), but I have 2 diamond 10" subs (500/1000W) a 1500W viper amp and a 1 farad capacitor. Really I know little about car audio beyond the fact that this sounded really good in my Yukon.
My question is - if i plug this into my hybrid civic, am I going to drain the juice and thus ruin my mpg? :-/ Before I had the capacitor installed, the system would cause my lights to dim completely at a stop in my yukon
I don't know about the battery, but from experience I do know that when I crank up the volume on some tunes that I refer to as "drive music", I have a tendancy to get a lead foot in a big way and also temporarily forget about maximizing mpg, so I guess you could say that a nice stereo system could affect your mpg. Someone should do a study on that...measure mpg for a 45 minute drive with total silence versus the same drive with a U2 or Stones CD at volume level 8. Betcha there would be more mpg during the silent drive...Hey, I just thought of something...I wonder if I can increase my mpg by listening to Mozart during my commute??
It won't affect your MPG too much, my friend put a decent stereo and computer into his Prius and it still gets the mileage that it should. It does dim the headlights a little when the tunes are cranked way up, but as you said the capacitor will smooth out those peaks and stop the dimming. You may not need as much bass in such a small car as compared to a Yukon, but of course that's up to your ears. Also, I think the maximum amount of power the Civic and Prius (although I'm not 100% certain on the Civic) can deliver continuous is 100 amps or about 1000 watts, but that shouldn't be a problem, even with an amp rated at 1500W it's only going to suck up that much power occasionally and the battery can supply the difference. A bigger battery may be a good idea if you really like to crank it.
Hey thanks for the input And hehe I'll need every bit of that system, plus some dampening material to keep that license plate from rattling. Is everyones HCH license plate secured with only one screw?
May not actually cause a direct reduction of MPG per se, but since the HCH does not have an alternator to power the 12v system, but this is rather recharged by a electronic convertor from the 144v main batteries, two questions arise:
1) Will the additional current drain on the 144v batteries mean that longer "green bar" periods be required, and thus less boost time is available?
2) Will said electronic convertor be able to handle the added load?
I don't know the answer to those questions, but are concerns that I could have.
Does a nice Stereo System affect mpg?
And hehe I'll need every bit of that system, plus some dampening material to keep that license plate from rattling. Is everyones HCH license plate secured with only one screw? 
