Sunfires are total hunks of garbage with wheels. There is no comparison. I tested all other vehicles in the price range before settling on the TC. All new models have little gliches that are worked out in subsequent years. It's a risk you take. The AC drain is no different than any other vehicle I've owned with 4 cylinders. You can't live with it? By the supercharger, or buy a vehicle with a V8.

 

boy it's great to have an automatic, put it in gear and live it, let the cool air breeze in your face and not have a worry in the world.

 

Yet another "people who haven't driven cars much" thread.

A/C sucks power and gas away from your engine. Now that you know the obvious, you can move on to "the sunroof is supposed to block 95% of UV rays. How come my head still gets hot?"

BTW, speaking of Sunfires, anyone notice that they seem to be the most popular car in Canada? Never figured that one out.

 

yeah the performance sux but hey,...its not a lambo or a porcshe...its a 17k econo asz car. With that said though, i really dont see a difference in the fuel economy when the ac is on or off! thats sweet

 

Same here! when the A/C is on i get the same gas mileage! and i use the a/c non stop HAAAAAAAAAAA it's awesome!

 

Sounds like you had a turd. My MK3 Jetta blows nice cold air without bogging the engine down.

 

Because UV doesn't contribute to heat, that's infrared. UV causes sunburn and cancer, and infrared is nature's way of transferring heat via photons.

UV also causes your skin to generate vitamin D, so in small doses it's good.

If you coated your sunroof with an IR reflective material (some sort of foily window tint, an exotic heat-reflective glass coating, or even just paper) then you'd be nice and cool in there.

 

my car drives w/ the A/C on fine but it does cool down reallllllly slllloowww... maybe it's because it's usually 115 here in Orlando when I get outta work and it takes time..

-Emo

 

I noticed the A/C load too when shifting especially in 2nd gear so I just put a little more gas before I release the clutch.

I don't remember my prior cars bogging this much during shifting when the A/C was on. I wonder if the "drive by wire" has something to do with it.

 

gotta agree with engifineer.. I can barely tell any difference at all with my tC with the AC on.. no drop in gas mileage either. Get's cold as fast as I expect R12 or whatever to cool to its ability. I don't have any trouble shifting smoothly with the AC on either.

 

Nothing to do with it. The only effect running the AC has is placing a load on the engine via the crank drive pulley. This is a very similar system to any other AC compressor on a small car and has the same effect. Actually less effect due to the newer compressor technologies in the last few years. The less HP a car has , the more noticeable it will be. So unless you drove V6's or V8's, or very high HP 4 bangers in the past, the effect would be the same. I have never seen a 4 banger that did not exhibit the same effect. Most are worse due to older compressors and lower HP numbers.

I am guessing most people that notice this so much either drove larger engine vehicles, or are relatively new to the driving scene... older 4 cyl engines were MUCH worse in this dept.

 

"I have never seen a 4 banger that did not exhibit the same effect."

I had a '96 Ford Escort where the A/C was on a clutch that would de-clutch when you floored the gas pedal. You'd get more power when you floor it, but your A/C would temporarily blow warm air out at you.

Made it more driveable though, so I actually liked that feature.

 

I believe the tC does the same thing. At least I am pretty sure it does. Most of them do. My saturn has the same feature (WOT throttle disengages it). However, it only helps at WOT, and my tC still handles the AC much better through the rest of the band.

 

"I believe the tC does the same thing."

You know, sometimes I feel like I drive a different car than all the other tC owners on this website. Mine definitely does not do that... the A/C blows cold air the whole time, WOT or not, and the performance is worse at WOT with the A/C on than when its off.

But that's just me.

My automatic also seems to shift differently than everyone else on this whole website so maybe I just got the freak experimental car or something.

 

My current car (soon to be replaced) is a 97 corolla, 105hp 4 cylinder, my old car was a dodge shadow that had even less horsepower. I've never noticed a major difference with the AC on, and I've even tried to notice. There must be some reeaaaly sensitive people on here

 

^^ ha..... you guys are sensitive!

 

My AC actually works, unlike some crap ive heard that it doesn't get cold but I do notice a difference when i turn it on. I can hear something click then i can FEEL the loss of power from the belts. Then when i turn it off it feels smoother...it's a $17,000 car...which is loaded with ____ most $25k cars wont see for a few years...so i really can't compain..just get an intake and exhaust to balance out the power loss

 

well the work truck at work duh lol its a 98 ford E-450 or 550 box van i dunno which its got the V-10 in it we have the a/c on in it all the time it still kicks butt at idle in the parking lot...

anyways now my car since i have a vacuum gauge (not a boost gauge) when i turn it off i see my vacuum raise i also can feel it when i'm at a dead stop on the brakes i can feel it depress about a 1/4 inch or so (when i turn my a/c off)

now my old car came with a/c but it never worked when i owned it costed way too much to get it fixed it was the old R-12 freon...

 

I know what you're saying about the load because the A/C clutch would engage when you turn on the A/C. I just thought the "drive by wire" might had a delay when you step on the gas so I just wait a bit longer before releasing the clutch so it releases smoothly.

I didn't have to do this on the cars I owned before and they were not V6 or V8. They were just 4 bangers, a mid 1980's 200sx turbo and a corolla gts twin cam which most car nowadays have anyways.