Is this the wire off the "square" terminal which fires the solenoid?
I see you mentioned battery in the trunk. Are you running a trunk mount solenoid, or one hot wire from battery to starter?
you need to see what this voltage drop is. You need an extension cable so you can reach your voltmeter from the battery in back to "up front." This can be any scrap wire of any kind, say, 20GA on up larger.
Where and what have you for grounds? Details? How large?