How does your car drive with A/C on?

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

no doubt.. I occasionally forget to turn mine off during an autocross.
last event, ambient temps were 100 degrees... didnt notice any major difference other than the cool air coming from the vents which alerted me that it was still on after my run.

What I found is ambient temperature is more influential in determine power. I noticed the runs later in the cooler air is about 10kw difference. Do jack all in terms of lap time however .

[Em/1]

Originally Posted by SfValley335i

Be happy, I bought a new gti in winter, when summer rolled around and I turned on the ac, the car refused to drive! I could seriously out run the car. It would lose about 50% of its torq.

yes the n54 and n55 suck with the ac on but not as bad as other cars. I also believe its more noticeable with manual trans cars.

I see/feel virtually no difference with my 1M OR my Mk6 DSG GTI. The A/C in the GTI is superior tho and complaints re lack of cooling power are legit I think for the 1M. Even in max mode, output not that great, but good enough.

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by Em/1

I see/feel virtually no difference with my 1M OR my Mk6 DSG GTI. The A/C in the GTI is superior tho and complaints re lack of cooling power are legit I think for the 1M. Even in max mode, output not that great, but good enough.

my Mk6 GTI manual with APR stage 2 felt like crap when AC was on.

We're discussing how the car drives with the AC on, not how well the AC works.

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by flzrider

I can sure feel a difference with it on vs. off. You definitely have to give the car a bit more throttle on take off. Also, the rpms drop quicker when the a/c is on, so it makes shifting seem jerkier if you are not shifting fast enough or adding more throttle than usual. Like someone else mentioned, it seems like a/c affects manual transmission cars more so than autos, although I'm not exactly sure why.

That said, I definitely prefer to drive with a/c off and windows down, but that's not always possible. Once you're on the highway and cruising in top gear, it's barely noticeable.

On par with what I feel.

[flzrider]

Originally Posted by burnsniper

I find the AC's effectiveness to noise ratio is very bad. I find the fan/air movement is loud vs its cooling ability.

I agree completely. I found it to be the same in my past BMW's as well as MINI's.

[1MOz]

Originally Posted by burnsniper

I find the AC's effectiveness to noise ratio is very bad. I find the fan/air movement is loud vs its cooling ability.

I agree. I don't feel any power zap from AC being on but I often turn it off only the noise of the fan is terrible...kind of primitive and a home made product....not BMW-like quality. If anyone know a way to upgrade the fan motor or mechanism, I love to hear from you.

[Klepper1]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

I pretty much leave my A/C on all the time and haven't noticed any difference. I hope this thread hasn't ruined it for me.

+1

[b33g33]

No issues whatsoever for me. I think I keep the A/C on 75% of the time here in GA.

[Stu1M]

I haven't really considered this with the 1M before and I tend to leave the ac on all the time. I tried it without today and it is definately smoother to drive when it is off. Not much difference in power but smoother.

[josephvman]

I feel a slight loss of power with the a/c on, but it's hardly noticeable. My biggest issue with the a/c is that it's freaking noisy as hell, and you can't get any of the vents to actually blow air directly at you in the driver's seat. I was driving a '13 328i loaner earlier this week while they replaced my charge pipe, and it was a little noisy on max air, but nothing like the 1M. It's the one thing about this car that makes me crazy, since you need the a/c running full-stop for half the year in Houston. The other annoyance is the location of the light for the rain-sensing wipers, which is all but impossible to see on the end of the wiper stalk; totally ridiculous location for it. Why not a dash light?

Back to the 328i loaner. The a/c was fantastic! Engine was very surprising too, huge snap of torque off the bottom and while it was no 1M I never felt that it was hugely underpowered. Pretty incredible fuel economy too, a good 10mpg better than I get on the 1M, and I was driving it like I stole it. Unfortunately it really doesn't sound sporty, or sound like much of anything. Once you get the revs up it starts to make some noise, but none of it is pleasant. The rest of the car is a disaster though. The 8 speed gearbox lurches and jerks terribly if you get on the power aggressively from a stop, and then back off, and the manual shifts are lazy. The steering is incredibly light and lifeless, and the brakes have zero initial bite, and I found myself having to get on them hard in situations that wouldn't never appear to need it. It has loads of body roll and dive under braking; not at all what I would expect from a BMW and not even close to the feel of an E36 or E46 sedan. The interior is a trainwreck in my opinion, with flat, overly-soft seats with no lateral support, and poor integration of the radio/nav display in the dash.

With the exception of the engine power and economy (but not the sound) and great a/c, the 328i was very disappointing. I haven't driven an Audi lately, but frankly if BMW's don't drive like BMW's anymore, and this one certainly doesn't, then I'd probably rather have an Audi in the garage. They're killing BMW in the styling (especially interior) dept. and from what I've seen the build quality and fit and finish are better.

[1978.530i]

Big difference if car isn't warmed up. Not much difference once warm.

[Em/1]

Originally Posted by SfValley335i

my Mk6 GTI manual with APR stage 2 felt like crap when AC was on.

We're discussing how the car drives with the AC on, not how well the AC works.

I don't know where you get the "we" from; my comment was not the first to discuss the related issue of A/C function.

[Sparks1M]

I can't notice any meaningful difference. And I don't have any issues with the A/C performance or noise.

But I still like to drive with the windows down to hear the engine / exhaust..... for about 5 seconds until I'm going too fast and the wind becomes too much ....