Air con, power use?
Discussion
Hello guys. With the rescent hot weather we have been enjoying, I was wondering just how much power does my air conditioning use when on full blast. The other day I enjoyed a little `sport` with a BMW and was surprised that I was unable to deliver the usual comprehensive thrashing to said beemer. Afterward I noticed that the air con was on. The car seems to be running fine.
Thoughts please
Thoughts please
BG54COL said:
Hello guys. With the rescent hot weather we have been enjoying, I was wondering just how much power does my air conditioning use when on full blast. The other day I enjoyed a little `sport` with a BMW and was surprised that I was unable to deliver the usual comprehensive thrashing to said beemer. Afterward I noticed that the air con was on. The car seems to be running fine.
Thoughts please
Thoughts please
Said Beemer could have had more ponies than you?
Tuned M3 or 5 disguised as a standard one? 
Or you weren't quick enough on the draw?
In my experience you always have a little 'sport' with cars you woudl imagien you shoudl blow away and you don't. The difference with air con should not make that uch difference once you are pushing 400+ ponies. Th tuners say you need at least 20hp gain to 'feel' teh difference so in reverse does the air con sap 20hp+?
Obviousy the heat will probably affect the car more than the aircon I would have thought.
A 330i will crack 60 in uder 6 seconds and push quite hard so if we are talking actually only 0.5 - 1 second difference, at those speeds there is a knats tadgers difference in where you will be on the road in comparison.
I was surprised at how hard it was to despatch a merc c320cdi the other day but its mid range times are comparable with the C55AMG......its all about torque!
Only once we got above a certain speed did the gap open up significantly.
To obtain the claimed acceleration time is quite an art unless the manufacturer is being conservative which Porsche and BMW tend to be...and it thrashes the hell out of the clutch and transmission.
That is why having big power and torque (low down in rev range)is crucial to win real world driving contests (and balls the size of spacehoppers - Tiler I am thinking of you here!!)so you plenty spare and you hopefuly do not have to ring your engine out.
Although it is easy to claim you have a car capable of a 11second qtr but are you an 11 second driver.....(I'm not pretty sure of that)- more healthy debate...
Obviousy the heat will probably affect the car more than the aircon I would have thought.
A 330i will crack 60 in uder 6 seconds and push quite hard so if we are talking actually only 0.5 - 1 second difference, at those speeds there is a knats tadgers difference in where you will be on the road in comparison.
I was surprised at how hard it was to despatch a merc c320cdi the other day but its mid range times are comparable with the C55AMG......its all about torque!
Only once we got above a certain speed did the gap open up significantly.
To obtain the claimed acceleration time is quite an art unless the manufacturer is being conservative which Porsche and BMW tend to be...and it thrashes the hell out of the clutch and transmission.
That is why having big power and torque (low down in rev range)is crucial to win real world driving contests (and balls the size of spacehoppers - Tiler I am thinking of you here!!)so you plenty spare and you hopefuly do not have to ring your engine out.
Although it is easy to claim you have a car capable of a 11second qtr but are you an 11 second driver.....(I'm not pretty sure of that)- more healthy debate...
The Air Con turns off when you hit 80% throttle opening so it wont hinder you to much........
On our mapped cars we lower this figure to make sure you get all the power!!!!!
Just try pushing the throttle Wide open for a short burst and ypu will feel the air at the vents get hotter............
On our mapped cars we lower this figure to make sure you get all the power!!!!!
Just try pushing the throttle Wide open for a short burst and ypu will feel the air at the vents get hotter............
Le Sarthe said:
I was surprised at how hard it was to despatch a merc c320cdi the other day but its mid range times are comparable with the C55AMG......its all about torque!
Only once we got above a certain speed did the gap open up significantly.
Very true; mid range torque is what It's all about in the real world. My Saab 9-5 Aero only has c.255 bhp but the mid range (50-90mph) feels very rapid, even after the HSV. Loads of faster cars get caught out, despite having much quicker 0-60mph times than the Saab.
Back on topic, I never really noticed any difference with A/C on or off. When comparing the HSV's performance to other cars I always switched it off, just in case:-)
wortec1 said:
The Air Con turns off when you hit 80% throttle opening so it wont hinder you to much........
On our mapped cars we lower this figure to make sure you get all the power!!!!!
Just try pushing the throttle Wide open for a short burst and ypu will feel the air at the vents get hotter............
On our mapped cars we lower this figure to make sure you get all the power!!!!!
Just try pushing the throttle Wide open for a short burst and ypu will feel the air at the vents get hotter............
So thats why I thought mine wasnt working last week when having a little sport.....
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