Do new cars have less powerful air con

devizes18193

Have recently got a vauxhaul combo life . Nice car lots of toys , the air con works ok ,
Back in the day I had a new vectra and a zafria both which seemed to be more powerful in the air con dept .
Maybe be i an looking at the problem with rose tinted specs , The last new car was 10 years ago . Before i trog back to the dealer wich is 15 miles away .thought i would ask .

Thanks

coffeehound

Interesting point; is there a measure of aircon's cooling capacity included with vehicle specs? I remember hearing that American cars have more powerful AC than do European cars, which makes sense.

AdrianC

Is it simply that the new one has more intelligent climate control which doesn't think you need full cooling whack, so is saving fuel by using the compressor less?

Aylesbury_Duck

AdrianC wrote: »

Is it simply that the new one has more intelligent climate control which doesn't think you need full cooling whack, so is saving fuel by using the compressor less?

I suspect so. Many people seem to have little idea about how thermostats work in cars and offices where you can set the temperature. When they're too hot they turn the aircon on and set the temp to 16C or whatever the minimum is. When they're too cold they turn the heating on to 24C or whatever the maximum is. I've got people in my office that do it and they're constantly see-sawing around on the control instead of setting 21C or whatever and letting the thermostat and the unit do its work.

I've just hired a car where the aircon control had a "fast auto" as well as an "auto" setting, the former blasted out cold air to get the cabin temp to the set point faster than the latter. I suspect you're right and that there's some intelligence working in the background to limit fuel use and prolong compressor life.

Ant555

I also had a Vectra and I agree that the aircon on that car was incredible - If on full then, within a few minutes, I would be able to see my breath when exhaling just like on a cold morning outside!

I have never ever had a car since that was the same.

- <nostalgia> it also had trafficmaster with an led on the dash that glowed orange or red to warn of traffic 'somewhere' close by </nostalgia>

Manxman_in_exile

We had a 53 plate Toyota Avensis and the air con on full blast was absolutely freezing.


We now have a 12 plate Mondeo and the air con, whilst perfectly acceptable, is not so cold.

Tom99

devizes18193 wrote: »

Have recently got a vauxhaul combo life . Nice car lots of toys , the air con works ok ,
Back in the day I had a new vectra and a zafria both which seemed to be more powerful in the air con dept .
Maybe be i an looking at the problem with rose tinted specs , The last new car was 10 years ago . Before i trog back to the dealer wich is 15 miles away .thought i would ask .

Thanks

Yes. The old Peugeot 405's used to have great air-con, your shirt and face would be very cold to the touch when you arrived.

Goudy

You have to factor in the cabin size.
There's a lot more cabin volume in a Combo than a Vectra.

I also don't think the new refrigerant gas is as good as the older stuff.
Since 2017 they've all had to use HFO-1234yf rather than the older, more polluting R134a.

Exemplar

We have a 2019 Kia Sportage. If the Air is set to auto it feels 'less' then when on manual. So I get where you are coming from.

m0bov

I have a CX-5, 2018. I noticed when I set it to 20C as in my old car, it does'nt pump out chilled air, I have to turn it down to 18C, then back up when its cold enough.

AdrianC

m0bov wrote: »

I have a CX-5, 2018. I noticed when I set it to 20C as in my old car, it does'nt pump out chilled air, I have to turn it down to 18C, then back up when its cold enough.

That'll depend on the current internal temperature.

If the temp is close enough to 20deg that chilled air simply isn't needed to bring it closer to that target, it won't waste the fuel on the compressor.