Wiring Q; Amperage v. Gauge

[Cmr446 at cs.com (Cmr446@cs.com)]

  I was out looking for some heavier ga. wire to increase what my car's 
wiring system can handle (going for slight overkill for potential capacity) 
and found 8ga. rope strand. The spool this came off of said it can handle up 
to 60amps. How is it that my alternator lead and the lead from the battery to 
the fusebox is only 10ga. and seems to deal with the 90amps from the alt. to 
battery to fusebox without any problem (no smoke)? Is it the difference in 
the construction or type of strand? That is to say, "stranded", the usual 
stiff multi-strand 10ga. can handle more amperage because of the thicker 
strands, compared to the finer "rope strand" 8ga.?
  I thought the thicker guage is supposed to handle higher amps. A search 
online for "8 gauge" and "wire guage" turned up very little in answers, lots 
of  stereo instalation kits for sale, shotguns, and spokes. The only useful 
chart I found was here:
http://www.diymobilesound.com/tutorials/wire_gauge.htm
It claims only to have to do with specific types of car amplifiers.

Carl
77rocco
03saturn - can not modify under penalty of wife!