I have installed a new amp and speakers into my EL XR8. I have 4 gauge cable running from the battery to the amp and from the amp to the body. So now I need to upgrade the standard earth from the negative terminal on the battery to the body.

Just wondering where the standard earth goes to on the car body. Is it just above the battery on the side of the bracket that holds the coolant overflow bottle? I have one wire going there at the moment, I think it is about an 8 gauge cable. Would it be cool to just add a bit of 4 gauge cable from the battery to this bracket?

Is there any more suitable places? And also do I need to upgrade the earths to anywhere else? eg. battery to motor or motor to body?

You shouldn't have any problems with the original earth, but if your worried, just run a thick wire from the negative to one of the bolts in the side of the engine bay attached to the chasis, when you take out the bolt, clean its surface, and the the surface it mates too, this should be more than enough.

I think I should upgrade it as I have 4 gauge to one 4 channel amp powering the front splits and rear 2-ways that is 4 X 85 RMS and 8 gauge running to another 4 channel amp powering the subs that is bridged to 2 X 100 RMS. So the standard earth probably would be getting close to having problems I reckon.

yeh, well its a cheap safe bet if your running alot of power so do that and she'll be sweet.

I wouldn't remove the factory one, leave that alone, just add a second one! Two's better than one,a nd tehn they can both be earthing to different points on the chasis/engine.

no such thing as too many earths

batt to body
batt to engine
engine to body
gearbox to body


depends how hardcore/anal you are lol

upgrade your earth! you will find on heavy bass notes there will be less of a drop due to more power going back through with less resistance thats the problem i had anyway, headlights dimmed, changed earth, problem solved