I have a nice stereo in my s2k and I do notice a big difference from when my sub is turned off or on. If you want to do it right, make sure you have at least a capacitor in there so its not putting that much of a crazy strain on your alternator or install a second battery. But then you gotta think about the added weight too. Also, I think 1000watt is overkill for an S2k. I have a kicker 700.5 that powers all my speakers and subwoofer and sounds amazing. Running speakers alone sounds great and runs good, but turn on the sub and you can feel the performance fly out the window.

 

ya ... the road noise just doesn't justify it ... I would much rather put a nice system in a car that's better insulated with less road noise, etc

Just a personal thing ...

 

The only thing I upgraded was the speakers and radio. I added and amp but took out the heavier spare tire so really it all balanced out. I don't feel I need a sub I just wanted to be able to hear something with the top down.

 

I enjoy my upgraded audio, 300W to separates & 300W to the sub. Yep, adds weight but I enjoy my car more with better tunes than without. IMO, that's near the minimum power requirements for our loud cars if you want tunes. I pulled the spare donut out to partly compensate for weight (and where my amp rack went). I think it weighs about as much as my amps. My sub and sound damping materials are surely added weight over stock. A sticky-string kit and 12V compressor keeps me rolling if I get a puncture, AAA card if worse.

 

Trade your car for a lexus and tell us how your system sounds in it

 

Riding in a s2k with a system isn't that bad. A nice amp and a 10" sub to me is perfect.

 

You're not introducing a new loss. I'd think the alternator is on all the time anyways.

Even if it cycles off and on like the AC, you'd just be running it at a higher duty cycle--just like the AC compressor will work more of the time when it's 105F outside than when its 90F out. When it's 90F, the car can cycle the compressor off.

Regardless of how it's set up, from a performance perspective, the weight is probably going to be a much bigger concern than any horsepower loss due to alternator draw.

In high school/early college when I had a crazy stereo (1000W RMS subs + 300W RMS speakers), I did have one unexpected performance issue that you would want to eliminate. I didn't have a capacitor, and when the stereo suddenly went from zero draw to full power, it felt like I got incomplete ignition sometimes. I suspect my spark plugs weren't able to cope. I had a 5+ year old battery on a 10 year old car that probably needed a tune-up. The headlights dimmed a LOT, and the battery dropped from 14.4V to around 12V when the subs were pulsing. Good old college beaters....

 

all 74 days? lol...

 

Just get the grounding kit. Also run a ground from your battery to a good grounding point and run a capacitor and you should be good.
But are you talking about 1000w peak or 1000w rms? 1000w peak will be only 500 rms and you should be good. 1000w rms, upgrade your alternator to a 150-175amp

 

1 HP = 746 watts. You will lose less than 2 HP. It's the 200 lbs. of magnets in the speakers that will kill your performance.