by "itschrome" (itschrome)
Published 05/18/2017 at 12:47
by "itschrome" (itschrome)
Published 05/18/2017 at 12:47
No Tags
STARS: 1
I dont know about the rest of you but the warmth is back in my neck of the woods, which means its that time of the yeat when the ac gets used in my cat. While the welcome blast of ice cold air is always nice the loss of performance and gass milage can be a real deal breaker. But what are you suppose to do sweat?
Absolutely not! You just have to know how to properly utilize your aircon in your automobile. So allow me to give a brief outline for you and hopeuflly you toi can enjoy a cool summer driving experience with out the down sides.
First, never run your ac with your car set to draw im out side air. This will cause your ac to work all that much harder. Which means more parasitic loss of power. Not to mention and help lead to premature ac death.
Instead make sure your car is set to recalculate the air in the cabin. This means the air your cooling has already been cooled. This will put less stress on the system. It also helps speed up the overall cooling process.
Now on the car gets nice and cold you can turn off hour ac but keep the recirculation fans running. The inside of your vents will stay cold from the ac for a while. So youll actually notice your car may continue to get cold for some time after you’ve turned off the ac. You’ll also notice how cool your car will stay. I can run the ac for 20 min in my car and have a cold car for a solid hour and a half before i need to repeat the cycle.
Now go try it, i think youll be suprised that you dont have to always run the ac and kill your power and mpg!
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
05/18/2017 at 12:53, STARS: 0
My Accent is A/C-less :(
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
05/18/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 0
First, never run your ac with your car set to draw im out side air. This will cause your ac to work all that much harder.
Maybe if you have a thermostat vs dials, yeah
"Future next gen S2000 owner" (future-next-gen-s2000-owner)
05/18/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 1
Sounds like you car needs more power.
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
05/18/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 0
My solution is...uh...absurd? I wear a hoodie or a hat to protect my hair, then open both of my windows. The car sucks in wind like crazy and it’s impossible to overheat. xD
"vondon302" (vondon302)
05/18/2017 at 12:58, STARS: 0
75 mph and windows down that’s all I need. Well until about July then I’m gonna really need to fix that condenser.
;)
"smobgirl" (smobgirl)
05/18/2017 at 12:58, STARS: 0
Actually it’s snowing but thanks for the reminder.
"Katsumoto" (katsumoto)
05/18/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 0
Ah I run the AC, even with the mythical 20% hp draw due to the AC running my hellcat, I dont notice it too much.
Most of the time I run at the 500hp mode with everything on street. No need to wrap it around a pole, hell she only has 5400ish miles on it.
"jonny11quest" (jonny11quest)
05/18/2017 at 13:04, STARS: 0
What about fresh (mostly car exhaust and asphalt heat) air!? I rarely use recirc. Running the AC a little more is probably good for the seals and bad for my wallet and performance and the environment. Maintenance FTW!
"Tripper" (tripe46)
05/18/2017 at 13:09, STARS: 0
I’ve only ever noticed this in my American/Japanese cars. The BMWs/Audi don’t change a bit when you switch it on.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
05/18/2017 at 13:09, STARS: 0
Eh, there is definitely no difference in preformance for my car plus the A/C is on day and night no matter what. I like my cool dry air. Plus I dislike recirct due to it not allowing air to be blown into the footwell.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:12, STARS: 0
yeah when I had my Cadillac’s I never cared because I never noticed much change in the power consumption. but with my impala, shit bogs right the fuck down. That’s how I found this stuff out. You can really keep a car cool with this method. It’s almost magical.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:12, STARS: 0
haha nice. I hate too much wind when I drive. I like to sit back, relax listen to music. too much wind just annoys me and makes the music hard to hear. haha first world problems right
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:14, STARS: 0
I mean over all you have to work harder to cool down warmer air. if you’re running re-circulation your cooling much cooler air. You’ll also achieve an over all cooler car. try it, trust me you’ll be surprised.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:14, STARS: 0
that must be your car’s design. I get cold air in the foot well with the recirc on.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:15, STARS: 0
old car problems. I just really hate too much wind when I drive.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
05/18/2017 at 13:16, STARS: 0
If I’m on the highway I put the windows up and AC on. Anything below highway speeds I put the windows down (at least in summer. Spring and fall the maximum speed for having the windows down drops).
My AC smells funny. I take backroads as much as I can
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
05/18/2017 at 13:18, STARS: 1
“First, never run your ac with your car set to draw im out side air. This will cause your ac to work all that much harder. Which means more parasitic loss of power. Not to mention and help lead to premature ac death.”
I don’t think this is *quite* correct - - when you first get into a car that’s been sitting in the sun, the air in the car is hotter than the outside air. So you should draw in outside air initially. Then switch to recirculate once it starts to cool down.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:18, STARS: 1
“My AC smells funny”
probably have mold in the vents. I had a Taurus once that would get lots of moisture in the vents when i ran the ac. would get mildewy as fuck. it was gross. then the ac compressor caught fire once day.. not related to mildew, just shitty fords.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 2
yeah, fair enough. I usually air it out windows down for a hot second before I fire up the ac.
"vondon302" (vondon302)
05/18/2017 at 13:22, STARS: 0
True.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
05/18/2017 at 13:23, STARS: 0
Your idea would be even more efficient than my suggestion. I usually pull outside air for a few minutes, depending on temp, then flip over to recirc.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
05/18/2017 at 13:24, STARS: 0
Did you ever manage to get rid of it?
Not the Taurus, the mold
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 1
yeah! I donated the car and the mold was gone! but no nothing would get ride of it. I changed cabin filters several times and tried everything from bathroom tile mold killers, to bleach, to home remedies like vinegar with lavender and lemon essential oils. nothing because it would just get and stay moist..
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
05/18/2017 at 13:34, STARS: 0
Well, I don’t have cabin filters at all, so there’s that...
Here’s the weird thing. It doesn’t always smell. I ran it in the winter a couple times for defogging, no smell. I started out yesterday and it was blowing clean and cold, by the end of the day it was smelling and not as cold. I do notice that whenever it smells it’s not blowing as cold. But then if I turn up the fan it smells a little less and is definitely colder. The assumption then is that something is wrong with the system that doesn’t affect when you first turn on the AC, but gets worse as you use it through the day. But no... some days it stinks from key-on and gets better through the day.
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
05/18/2017 at 13:36, STARS: 0
Yeah, the recirc doesn’t allow it in the GTO
"facw" (facw)
05/18/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 1
This is a good approach, though my headliner is having difficulties with all that air (especially if I open the sunroof all the way instead of its normal stopping point).
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/18/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 1
something dead in there?
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
05/18/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 0
It would smell all the time then. I think it’s probably a mild case of mold and a dying compressor. Or something like that.
"facw" (facw)
05/18/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0
I always run on outside air. Would prefer to get the fresh air. Doesn’t seem to cause much of a hit and is cold. It’s been a while since I took a class, but my recollection is that heat transfer is more efficient with larger temperature gaps, so while cooling cold air will always take less energy than cooling hot air, the difference might be less than you expect.
In any event, rarely use the AC if I can avoid it, I’d much rather have the windows down and the sunroof open to get some breeze. I’m told that this is “not done” here in TX, but I’m just some weird lost northerner so I’m ok with being weird.
"Katsumoto" (katsumoto)
05/18/2017 at 13:59, STARS: 0
My old Fit really noticed it. With it only having about 100 hp taking 20 of them away really was bad.
The funny part is even on 700hp mode, losing 20% is more than my old Fit makes total. My Fit is the only car Ive had in the last 10 years that I didnt total.
"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
05/18/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 0
20% isn’t the proper rule of thumb for compressor parasitic drag, that’s way overstating the drag. The average modern compressor will pull 5hp at the most, which feels like a ton on a Fit or a Miata, but isn’t noticeable on anything much over 200 hp. 20% drag on a 500hp car would be suggest it takes 100 hp to run a compressor, which I’m pretty sure might even grenade an industrial real estate compressor.
"Katsumoto" (katsumoto)
05/18/2017 at 16:20, STARS: 0
20% is what ive always heard but I dont really pay too much to thr AC system unless it’s not working.
My old Fit with the AC on feels like being limited to 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear only. With it off its got a little more pick up.
The Hellcat doesnt notice it at all. But with plenty of power it has, it would be hard to notice it.