i have had a system in my car since my first car, so i am pretty familiar with audio. Of all my systems none have them have ever needed 4gauge power wire they all called for 8gauge power wire, until my most recent system. I have had it hooked up for about 4 months with the 8 gauge wire that was already installed in my lancer, it was just convenient. Now i am trying to get as much power out of my system as possible b/c there are some local competitions coming up that i want to enter.

My question will changing the already installed 8gauge wire with 4gauge wire improve the performance and cooling of my amp (it does tend to get hot)?

 

the bigger the amp(number of watts) the more current it will need to draw from your cars electrical system, the bigger cable you are going to need for the power and ground leads, if your cables are too small, your amp might not be getting the current it needs to put out its rated wattage.

 

Use the manufacturer's recommended gauge wire (they obvisously know best). I had the same situation come up recently. I purchased a MTX 6004 amp and it said to only use 4-ga or 2. Boy did that thing suck up the power. Guess that's why I actually got rid of it. The Lancer does have the largest stock alternator. Bigger, more powerful amps (over 400 watts max, in my opinion) should use 4-ga. Good luck.