Myth or Fact ???

Myth or Fact ???

That by running your A/C your car runs slower ?

For example I heard someone say : He took me off the line cause my A/C was on and if it was off I would have beat him ??

Or When my A/C runs my car slower or has less power ??

I know it can use up more gas with it on then compare to being off , Just have the power question . Myth or Fact ??

Is this true or is it all in the head ?? :wiggle:

it eats up more gas and you do loose hp because the belt have to run the ac pump.

X2. Thats why underdrive pulleys free up horsepower, not add horsepower

seriously anthony? . . . . .

yes it takes away from the power of the car because of the a/c belt being directly on the crank pulley , then you gotta think that your a/c has a head pressure of almost 120 lbs. pressure on the high side , so yes , i think its in the neibor hood of 10-25hp loss depending on conditions , pressures , ambient temp , and condition of the compressor.

but heres an interesting fact . . . at 55mph and above , you waste just as much gas and power by riding with the windows down , and the drag created. so why not stay cool instead of getting windburned arms , and dripping with sweat?

^

Lots of A/C system will automatically cut the compressor off (the largest HP "eater" in the system) at WOT.

As for increases in load - A/C system on smaller cars, like the Corolla, typically can consume as much as 20-25HP. Sames goes for electrical loads - the more accessories you run, the harder the alternator works to make up the juice - this includes all mobile audio/video, auxillary lighting, even main lighting. Your accessories also eat up power - power steering, waterpumps are typically belt driven - each one eats a little bit of power.

Reason that newer cars are turning to electrically powered versions - eventually trying to eliminate belt driven accessories to help boost performance/reduce maintenance.

its called parasitics drag.

orly?

In the AE82, when the AC was still functional, you can feel a considerably high drop in power once its turned on. In fact, I think it stays on 2nd gear and skips 3rd at times...

Plus side is when my AC is turned on, it sounds like its supercharged :ninjastea

mine does, but when I'm going up hill... not technically WOT, but high engine load

I feel mine from a stop sign or a red light it takes off slow

My ac on my accord kills my car if im on the highway and push the clutch in lol.. i guess that compressor is just too much for a 20 year old car with 190K on the odo

OR a 21 y/o carbureted car with 80hp

So I suppose it's fact that Air condition does indeed dampen performance. Looks like those millionaire engineers at Ferrari that remove Air conditioning in a lot of their cars aren't clowns after all, haha.

**Changes his rotors to cross-drilled ones**

meh... my friend that owns a porsche gt2 leaves the ac on during his road race... No idea how good that goes...

He can afford to since he makes gross amounts of power that would smoke most anything already.

my car runs AC 100% as I said d: when I turn it off running @ night when coming from the capitol city feels like I have a 5th cylinder and economy goes up. so yea.

but it isn't that huge of a diferrence anyways.

trust me man my accord is carbureted with about 75 horse too lol its slow but fun to drive

So if you install an Underdrive pulley, you will get back some of the power that is leeched by the A/C, alternator, water pump, etc.

But then, will the A/C still put out enough cool air to keep the cabin comfortable? Will the alternator still provide enough juice for lights, audio, cabin fan, etc? Will the water pump circulate enough coolant to keep the engine from overheating?

As long as the engine is revved up enough, you would not have a problem with an underdrive pulley. I've had one on pretty much since I got my car and I've never had a problem. The only time you may run into problems is if you idle for a long time.

Yeah Geez haven't you watched Top Gear?

Um... No.

here's your opportunity. http://www.youtube.com/user/TopGear

Guilty as charged, Your Honor.

But that's only because I never watch television period.

LMAO ^ I want such a button!

aka the Ban Hammer.