g0nk

Wow..

I've had my Auto '06.5 xB for exactly 2 weeks now, and living in FL, it's always hot, so I've always had the A/C on pretty much the whole time.

I've done the air box snorkel mod, and replaced the filter with a K&N Drop-in, and it seemed peppier, nice throatier sound, etc. I liked it.

I had the day off today, so it's the first time I've had a chance to just go drive around town and enjoy my new baby. I decided to roll all the windows down and cruise around, hittin' up shops that looked interesting to just waste a nice day, etc.. Well, at a stop light, I decided to turn the A/C off since I had the windows down.. Light turned green and *BAM* My little xB lurched forward with excitement!! It is like a night and day difference when you have the A/c on in terms of power.. Wow..

I found myself getting a lead foot and turning overdrive off here and there just to see what she could do.. Then I got a little scared and didn't want to push her too much and went back to normal driving..

But wow, what a fun day!!

I my xB.

hotbox05

hmm. with our smart air conditioning . I cannot tell a difference on or off at all.



maybe the 06's have better ac comps (bigger , more strain on the motor)

Max

I gotta agree with hotbox on this one... cannot tell a difference. I can feel more of a difference with the change in outside temps.

g0nk

i dunno, but there is a definite difference in acceleration response if the A/C is on or off.. for me anyways, in the nice humid 90 degree FL weather.. heh..

LiquidFX

yeah i notice a difference with the A/C off

Persocon

open your glove box when you turn your A/C on, better intake for A/C recirculation and ingest hotter air around dashboard level instead of foot area where cooler air hangs out. Just my theory, maybe it's all in my head

streetlethalxb

On my 06, turmimg the a/c on feels like a 25% power loss on normal acceleration from a dead stop, I keep hearing about the smart a/c clutch, but the a/c bogs me down. Maybe its just the florida air, I don't know... all I do know is I sweat alot in my box, because I wont run the air due to this.

hotbox05

even if the a/c on these cars was equipped with a direct drive (regular) pulley instead of the electric clutch it has the size of it is approximate to about 5hp. at the LARGEST 8 or so hp.

if you accellerate harder the clutch just about freewheels. so heavier accel is probably the least drag on power whilst still actually cooling the air to an adequate percent.

vintage42

I almost never use the AC, as I am not on the Interstates much and just drive around suburbs at slower speeds. If I need cooling, I do it with the windows down and sunroof open. When ever I do need to use the AC, I notice a difference. The engine wants to bog down taking off in 1st gear unless given more rpms than without AC. And acceleration with AC is sluggish compared to no AC.

tCizzler

A/C makes a huge difference in my 05 tC. It seems like i barely have enough power to merge on the highway when it's on, but i have more than enough power to pass when it's off, weird

Winter

manual 06 here, only diffrence i've noticed is at dead stop idle... idle gets slightly knife edging on the rough side but other then that i don't feel much diffrence at all. though i have mine set just at the begining on the blue section on the dial so maybe thats why i havn't felt much because i'm not calling for max ac?

leov36

when i had my tc there was a very noticeable difference in power when the ac was on. with my 06 box i do notice a difference in power but not that much, nothing like ____ is describing. this is a good thing since the box doesnt have that much power to begin with.

jct

i find my a/c works the best at night, it strains during the day

streetlethalxb

yeah, I agree, I think it definatley struggles in the heat, at
night i actually don't notice it too much, during the day it
bothers the heck out of me.. maybe the cooler intake air at
night provides a half a pony to make up for the strain.. i dont know

streetlethalxb

Ha! So my a/c compressor exploded. I can now conclude
that it was the reason for such a power loss this whole time..
I only have 3600 miles on it. And, others with an 06 and low
miles have also had the same happen. This has been an
issue scince day 1 with it (I now see). So, those of us with a
power robbing a/c in the 06, that symptom may be the precursor to compressor failure.. I don't know, but we'll see
how the new one acts.

TJ

A/C = slug for my 04 box. It doesn't help that i'm at 4500' elevation either.

GarmaZed

Yeah, this makes sense actually.

If I remember correctly, part of the A/C depends on the engine (?the compressor?); it draws its power from the engine directly through a belt. So, if you turn off the A/C, the compressor won't need to run, and that leaves the engine with one less pulley to work on the belt. It's kind of like division:

Total Power = 6
Pulleys = 3 or 2

6 Power % 3 Pulleys = Total force of only 2 Power
And when the A/C is off...
6 Power % 2 Pulleys = Total force of 3 Power

(This isn't the actual math for it, it's just a demonstration of the concept)

This should work with just about any car, unless the engine (or A/C) was developed to operate in a different way.

Tomas

OK, The tC has a different A/C compressor setup than the xA and xB. The tC is just like the traditional automotive A/C setup with an electric clutch on the compressor pulley.

The xA and xB, however, do not have a clutch in the pulley, the compressor shaft turns 100% of the time.

The compressor is a "smart" compressor and is "variable displacement" via an adjustable tilt swash plate controlled by an external control unit that talks with the engine's ECU.

The compressor shaft always rotates, but the control unit keeps the swash plate flat unless A/C is called for. When A/C is needed, the control unit determines how much is needed and angle the swash plate to cause the pistons to go in and out of their cylinders - more movement for more compression, less movement for less.

When the engine's control unit demands more power, the A/C control unit flattens the swash plate so the compressor is just free rotating - no compression.

That's the way it's supposed to work, and in fact the way mine does work.

Here's a description of a generic Denso variable displacement compressor:

http://www.globaldensoproducts.com/c...ompressor.html

Here's some info on some of Toyota's units:

http://www.toyota-industries.com/pro...html#variable2

Tom