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Name a car with decent AC

M

Mide

Golden Member
Outside Temp: 95-110

09 Honda Fit (Horrible AC...have to be cruising on the highway at a constant speed before it gets even remotely cold)
08 Subaru Impreza (Great AC...gets cold fast)
08 Toyota Yaris (Horrible AC...same as the Fit)
06 Saab 9-5 (Great AC)
06 Civic (Midrange but still lacking)
94 Civic (Horrible)
98 CR-V (Midrange)
05 Toyota Tacoma (upper midrange)
00 Ford Explorer (Surprisingly ok)

So is good AC dependent on how big an engine is or is it a manufacturer thing? For example every Honda/Acura I've ever owned or sat in had an AC system that blew. Most of the cars that had pretty good AC had 160+ HP. It's summer and now I'm kicking myself for getting an econobox Fit. Trading in car comfort (sweating my ass off) for MPG is so not worth it when it's 105 outside.

Anyone else's $.02 on the subject?
 
Well, my old 02 Ford Taurus had great AC, ran full blast would actually make me shiver if I ran it for more than 10 or 15 minutes at full blast.

My current 2010 Fusion Hybrid, has an all electric AC system, and honestly I've not used it much this summer, but basically within 5 seconds of turning it on, it's already ice cold, and because of dual zone climate control in the car, it stays very cold/cool.
 
I have a 2008 Fusion, and my father has a 2009. Both blow ice cold.

It's only gotten up to the mid to high 80s so far this year (Connecticut), but I usually have to turn the fan down to the lowest setting (after the car cools down from sitting in the sun) or it gets too cold.

Edit:

Also, when you first jump in the car, try turning on the AC, leaving it on "outside air," and putting down the back windows. Once it starts to cool down (usually takes a minute or so), roll up the back windows and set it to "inside air." I find that tends to cool the car down the quickest when it's been baking in the sun.
 
Both my Accord and S2000 have very good A/C systems, but my old 91 Accord was pretty sad, especially after converting to the new refrigerant. The S2000's system probably isn't actually all that powerful, but the space it needs to cool is a tiny fraction of what most cars need to cool.

Actually, a truly great system that comes to mind is the unit on a 1970's "Chevrolet" LUV 4-cylinder pickup truck (actually made by Izuzu) that's been passed around the family for generations. That thing blows insanely cold, even in the super drafty cabin. The truck is ancient and super minimalist (seat doesn't even move), but that A/C is fantastic. Like the S2000, it helps that the cabin is tiny.
 
This year we have been over 100F on a regular basis and both the 2005 Acura RL and 2008 Avalon are able to cool down just fine. In fact, the Toyota will freeze you out if you set the temperature low enough.
 
My parents Audi Q7 always blows warm air regardless (some "feature" so you don't get hot air blasted in your face)and takes some time to get cold. On a hot Florida day I feel it was not cooling that great when I did drive it.

My G35 on the other hand, Cools within seconds and cools very well.
 
2000 i30... after getting over the 10mins of heat pain you'd get on the leathjer in the car on humid summer days, the ac would destroy you soon after and become utterly freezing!! I usually set it to 24C once the freeze kicks in
 
It works really well on my 2001 Lexus ES 300.

The thing that doesn't work well is the temperature setting. On "Cold" it will be extremely cold, and if you turn the knob and set it at like 23 degree celcius it will be the same shit and stay on the whole time. No clue why it doesn't work and adjust the cabin temperature to what you set at the knob, it's always cold basically.
 
My 06 Pontiac Pursuit GT's AC is pretty weak. It takes a good 5 minutes to really cool down the car on an 85+ day
 
Originally posted by: Scouzer
My 06 Pontiac Pursuit GT's AC is pretty weak. It takes a good 5 minutes to really cool down the car on an 85+ day
Click to expand...

That's normal, don't forget the dash and vents are sitting in the hot car as well so on initial turn on the AC has to overcome that too. I've never seen an AC that cools in less than 5 min., even on a brand new car.
 
My 1999 Grand Prix does ok, as does most of the GM line as far as ac goes. As to making it work better, that is primarily dependent on the size of the ac condenser, compressor size and freon capacity. You can also add an auxiliary electric fan in front of the car ac condenser, mounted so it pushes air thru the condenser. That will improve the ac performance when at low speed or in traffic.
 
My '01 Mazda Tribute has a really good AC system. My '79 Monte Carlo has an OK AC system. And my '92 Mercury Cougar has always had a crappy AC system even when we bought it in 2002 with only 64k miles on it.
 
?Myth or fact:
Japanese cars have wimpier AC because Japanese carmakers value fuel economy more.

I saw the above years ago, and it presumably applies for any small car, not just Japanese ones.
 
Most cars I have owned had no AC (ya I was broke in HS and college). Out of the ones that did:

2005 Ford Mustang - Its ok, it does the job but takes a while since its a vert I guess
1993 Honda Accord - It was fair, eventually the compressor broke so it died
1983 Olds Cutlass - That thing was a freakin ice box
 
My 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 does pretty well.
Only time I ever had an issue with it was driving 700 miles straight from South Dakota to Wisconsin in 110+ degree July sun, and I'm pretty sure that's because it froze over.
 
Originally posted by: MetalMat
Most cars I have owned had no AC (ya I was broke in HS and college). Out of the ones that did:

2005 Ford Mustang - Its ok, it does the job but takes a while since its a vert I guess
1993 Honda Accord - It was fair, eventually the compressor broke so it died
1983 Olds Cutlass - That thing was a freakin ice box
Click to expand...

One thing I've noticed is that most cars seem to outlive their AC system easily. Maybe they just don't design them robustly or the automotive environment is so harsh they either break and then stay broken because of the cost of repair or owners just deal with it and pay to keep 'em going. My '94 Escort's air worked awesome for the entire time 11 years I drove it and I think the 2 reasons were: 1, I made a habit of not using it except on the hottest of days, 2, I always cycled the system on for a few minutes once a week during our short winter (FL) to help keep the seals from drying out.
 
My S-10 with the 4.3L V6. It starts putting out cold air about 4 seconds after I turn it on. And because of the small cab it will get really damn cold in about 3 or 4 minutes if I put it on full blast.
 
My CTS does a really good job of cooling in the Atlanta heat. It also helps to have the A/C seats so you don't burn your butt. I really don't notice, but women do in shorts or a dress.
 
A mod I've seen lately is insulating the piping coming off the AC compressor to the cabin with that foam tubing. Probably certain cars have the piping routed differently, going closer to hot engine components or something.
You can probably make any car shoot super cold air if that one line got insulated properly, if you touch it when the AC is on its ice cold, but having all that heat around it probably isn't helping it all get to the cabin.
 
That's a nice idea. I may look into trying it and see if my car ac improves. (but it is working like it did from day one)
 
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