Magical random power increase

[-T8-]

I notice aircon saps power in the following situations:
1. I'v had aircon on going up steep hills and then turned it off halfway up... Then its very noticeable it and get a little power surge..
2. During heavy acceleration if you have air con going full blast then turn it off halfway through the rev range then you can feel the car pulling a little harder

I never drive around using the aircon except when the front window needs defogging, so i do notice the little power loss when its on... but its defs not as significant as how you have described it

 

[smitty]

OK so maybe I got a little carried away in my description:001_unsure:

*stares sheepishly at the floor*

But there's definitely a noticeable gain, it felt more than just a little bit punchier.

 

[ashneel]

i thought when boost kicks in or if you accelerate hard your AC should cut off for the period your engine needs extra grunt.

my R34 does that (so did the R33). i drive with my AC on most of the time and when it comes to planting it the AC cuts off until the car stops accelerating.

guy at work has a chaser and his does the same so i thought the same feature would be in a legnum/galant also.

 

[frozen]

Ashneel, thats really clever.. but yeah i never drive with the air con on due to the power difference... now i have a gas leak anyway so i dont get a choice

 

[SiliconAngel]

A/C only makes a marginal difference to fuel consumption under gentle (such as highway) driving, but if you're giving it a bit of stick it does make a measurable difference of 10% or more. I get noticeably higher fuel consumption in the summer months, and while a small amount will be due to higher charge temps, most is due to the A/C running flat out. You can definitely feel the power difference when taking off, too, but that also comes from knowing the car intimately - I can tell the difference when there's 40kg of extra weight in the car, too.

 

[jet150]

Is it possible that there could be something wrong with the A/C compressor?

If the comp or the clutch in the comp is stuffed your engine will have to push harder to run the buggered A/C comp.

I don't think it's a boost issue I think it's something to do with A/C.