Does anyone else get a really bad lag in their accelleration and horsepower whenever their a/c is on. I seem to get alot less power throughout the whole rpm range whenever my a/c is on. I know it robs a little horsepower puts never was noticeable in any of my other cars.
a/c lag
- Thread starter Mp5speed
- Start date
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- Das Pretzelwagon
AC drags the FS-DE down. The idle also sucks when the compressor is engaged.
cheapmiata1600
Member
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- 03 P5
Magus said:
That's some facinating automotive reasoning...
Our cars get noticeably slower because we're using an already underpowered engine to run a rather large and ineffecient air conditioning compressor. A 20-30hp draw on a 100hp engine is gonna be pretty noticeable.
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- 2007 Mazdaspeed 6 GT Retired: 2002 Protege 5
yes very noticeable LAG thats why i try to drive with the windows down but its getting to hot in florida to do that now so i have to drive my car with like 80 hp cause i have the ac on
I think that the A/C robs about the same amount of power, regardless of engine speed, so it's gonna be a lot more noticeable if you are pootling around or the engine is idling than if you are cruising at 60-70 or whatever.
Didn't someone do an experiment comparing AC with having the windows open, and at highway speeds, the AC is more efficient (i.e. the drag caused by open windows robs more power than the AC compressor)?
Didn't someone do an experiment comparing AC with having the windows open, and at highway speeds, the AC is more efficient (i.e. the drag caused by open windows robs more power than the AC compressor)?
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- Das Pretzelwagon
That sounds familiar.falsedawn said:
qualityrockola
Member
One of the selling points for me when i bought my protege5 was the fact that the A/C didnt seem to rob much power. Maybe its just my car, but i really cant tell any difference in power with the A/C on or off. with my V6 chevy S10 i could tell a huge difference in power. weird.
archangel571
Member
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- Mazda, Protege5, 02
BadKarma said:"Mythbusters" on the Discovery Channel did test this in one of their earlier seasons...
Sounds reasonable, but I think the results could be different at higher speeds...
I remember that one, i think they had two SUVs on an oval track at 50mph, the window one lasted a lot longer than the AC one, which was set to a bone chilling low temp that required winter jacket. So the affect from amount of drag created by opening windows is significantly less than using more gas for the AC.
