Best/Worst A/C Performance in a car?

[clinebarger]

I also found it interesting that car AC typically blows low 40F's. If a home did that I would expect icing up and serious condensation from the ductwork....

Far less interior volume in a car, No one taking showers, Washing dishes, Watering plants etc...

I do quite a bit of automotive A/C work & our humidity is pretty high this time of year. They start out making tremendous amounts of water out of the evaporator drain then tapers off a lot once the bulk of the moisture is removed from the interior.

 

[willbur]

I hate to speak in generalizations, but the Asian vehicles I've driven seem to have the weakest A/C, American cars seem to be the coldest. Even the modest Envista rental I am driving now will freeze me out (which should probably be considered Asian lol).

Yep- learned about asian ac in houston. Not up to the job.

 

[duck__dodgers]

Yep- learned about asian ac in houston. Not up to the job.

A lot of it is that electricity is more expensive over there so they have different expectations.

Their 79 - 81F comfort level is our 75. And I suspect, some OEMs don't bother spec-ing a USA-specific system unless their cost-benefit analysis gives it a green light. (even though a summer in Tokyo is just as dank as a summer in southern Georgia)

 

[Skippy722]

My Caliber has the best HVAC of any vehicle I’ve owned. Heat hot enough to borderline melt the plastic, ac cold enough to freeze you out. It’s also about the only nice thing I can say about a Caliber, other than it never left me stranded.

The Ram’s HVAC is also pretty good.

 

[willbur]

My Caliber has the best HVAC of any vehicle I’ve owned. Heat hot enough to borderline melt the plastic, ac cold enough to freeze you out. It’s also about the only nice thing I can say about a Caliber, other than it never left me stranded.

The Ram’s HVAC is also pretty good.

I remember those old Chrysler Aire Temp ac systems as the best in my Houston experience. Brrr.

 

[meep]

I remember reading that the BTU capacity of a gen IV long body town and country was adequate for a 2 bedroom apartment. Drivers need to cool the cabin from 120 to 70 inside of 10 minutes. A home may take 2 hours to come down from 90 to 70, but then it will stay there. A vehicle AC has to be oversized to dump the heat quickly.

Seems like when I was growing up, all of our cars did fine on fresh air settings. But everything new, or maybe I’m just more sensitive to it, needs to be on recirc. Granted, it’s as humid as balls where we live, but seldom is it practical to run it on fresh except on first start and after an hour on the interstate.

 

[Silverado12]

Everything GM has always been the best. My 2012 Silverado and my 2023 Caddy both have really good A/C. The worst has been the 2018 Jeep Cherokee as it takes a little longer to cool off. It's still decent, though.

 

[michaelluscher]

My personal favorites in slow moving, heat soaking, humid NYC traffic has usually been Ford's

That FS10/FX15 compressor in my '06 Taurus and '01 Villager cooled down fast, and stayed cold
They were also durable, lasted the life of the car

My work '24 Mach E has some of the best A/C I've ever experienced in a car
I just wish it wasn't in the shop

My '06 Camry was a slight step behind, but also very good performance considering the black leather interior & moonroof

Honda's (Civic/Accord) have usually been barely adequate to disappointing
My '09 xB isn't as good as the older Camry

GMs are hit or miss, the '04 DeVille and '08 DTS were good, the '12 SRX and '15 XT5 disappointed, '17 CTS was lousy
2020 XT4 I complained multiple times under warranty, they begrudgingly did and evac and recharge of the very expensive R1234yf it took, and it got a little better
The '24 CT5 now is pretty good

My ex '22 Bolt was also first class

Mopar has been a universal disappointment, whether a Compass/Patriot, Avenger/200/Caliber, RT Vans, they were all mediocre brand new, and if they broke they were even worse

My dad's '13 300 was acceptable, about the only system on it that didn't break

YF Sonata's and similar vintage Optimas usually have a bad compressor controller valve, but they cooled decent brand new
Later Elantra/Fortes are just okay

And I'm fussy with my A/C, I'll lovingly wash condensers, refresh evaporators, clean cowls, change cabin filters before even thinking about gauging up
I've caught a few low speed cooling fans inop causing poor performance before even reaching for the gauge set

I'm a bigger guy, forced to wear long sleeves/pants/hat during the working day in the field, I take my very seriously

 

[D1dad]

I can only compare Nissans for these 15 yrs, plus an 07 impala. The impala was horrible, to much cabin and not enough AC. My rogue works well, eventually, but could use a rear ac. My 21 Altima is perfect, while my wife’s 24 is insane. I took it to the dealer to make sure they didn’t install a unit from an NV. I just switched out the cabin filter yesterday for one that’s n95 and hepatitis rated to try and choke this thing down. Seems to have worked. We have to set the ac at 74 and use defrost as to not freeze us out.

 

[PontiacHO]

The best-1969 Chevy Bel Air. Frost on the AC vents in 90+ weather.
The worst- 1997 Volvo 960. AC worked intermittently. Several Volvo dealerships never found the problem. My wife drove it to Savannah in August and it decided to quit there. Not only did the AC quit the heated seats engaged without the activation switch. Unplugged the seats, rolled down the windows, headed straight to Charlotte to trade it in. Absolute junk…

 

[D1dad]

I can only compare Nissans for these 15 yrs, plus an 07 impala. The impala was horrible, to much cabin and not enough AC. My rogue works well, eventually, but could use a rear ac. My 21 Altima is perfect, while my wife’s 24 is insane. I took it to the dealer to make sure they didn’t install a unit from an NV. I just switched out the cabin filter yesterday for one that’s n95 and hepatitis rated to try and choke this thing down. Seems to have worked. We have to set the ac at 74 and use defrost as to not freeze us out.

Hepa filter lol. Auto correct and not proof reading equals a cabin filter that prevents hepatitis I guess!

 

[Egg_Head]

Best description of poor AC performance in a car I ever read was by a writer who was reviewing a 1975 BMW 2002. He said the AC was as effective as a hampster blowing over a snowcone.

 

[willbur]

My personal favorites in slow moving, heat soaking, humid NYC traffic has usually been Ford's

That FS10/FX15 compressor in my '06 Taurus and '01 Villager cooled down fast, and stayed cold
They were also durable, lasted the life of the car

My work '24 Mach E has some of the best A/C I've ever experienced in a car
I just wish it wasn't in the shop

My '06 Camry was a slight step behind, but also very good performance considering the black leather interior & moonroof

Honda's (Civic/Accord) have usually been barely adequate to disappointing
My '09 xB isn't as good as the older Camry

GMs are hit or miss, the '04 DeVille and '08 DTS were good, the '12 SRX and '15 XT5 disappointed, '17 CTS was lousy
2020 XT4 I complained multiple times under warranty, they begrudgingly did and evac and recharge of the very expensive R1234yf it took, and it got a little better
The '24 CT5 now is pretty good

My ex '22 Bolt was also first class

Mopar has been a universal disappointment, whether a Compass/Patriot, Avenger/200/Caliber, RT Vans, they were all mediocre brand new, and if they broke they were even worse

My dad's '13 300 was acceptable, about the only system on it that didn't break

YF Sonata's and similar vintage Optimas usually have a bad compressor controller valve, but they cooled decent brand new
Later Elantra/Fortes are just okay

And I'm fussy with my A/C, I'll lovingly wash condensers, refresh evaporators, clean cowls, change cabin filters before even thinking about gauging up
I've caught a few low speed cooling fans inop causing poor performance before even reaching for the gauge set

I'm a bigger guy, forced to wear long sleeves/pants/hat during the working day in the field, I take my very seriously

Yeah, cleaning condenser made big improvement on my rig

 

[speedracer0626]

Worst one for me has been my wife's 2012 Kia Optima. I have battled the dreaded valve sticking issue on the VS16E, and no condenser fan motor from factory is just a very poor performer here in the south. You can't even dial it in because the pressures are so unstable, but I have a fan motor to install, and we will see. Best one is my 2012 Impala as I have it dialed in, and you can hang meat in it

 

[michaelluscher]

Best description of poor AC performance in a car I ever read was by a writer who was reviewing a 1975 BMW 2002. He said the AC was as effective as a hampster blowing over a snowcone.

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vin...i-everything-a-luxury-sports-sedan-should-be/
"Except the air conditioning system. It was a German Behr system, and not up to US conditions. A well-known legend is that, in an attempt to convince BMW that a better air conditioner was needed, two BMW engineers were treated to a long trip to Texas in the rear seat of a black BMW 530i with the power windows disabled."

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Worst: 2015-ish Ford Escape rental car with about 5k miles. AC was okay when driving but would blow warm or hot when at a stop. It was 90 out but still.

 

[diesellover]

Worst: 2015-ish Ford Escape rental car with about 5k miles. AC was okay when driving but would blow warm or hot when at a stop. It was 90 out but still.

Could be an engine fan issue causing incorrect pressures on the high side of the a/c system. Or obviously low refrigerant charge etc!

Parents had a 2003 escape since new. Great a/c. Never got touched at all and worked like new! Left wheel broke off at the frame or lower control arm broke off at 180k miles due to Michigan salt! Still ran fine, but I've heard about so many people having issues with the escapes. The maintenance was kept up with on this one.

 

[Egg_Head]

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vin...i-everything-a-luxury-sports-sedan-should-be/
"Except the air conditioning system. It was a German Behr system, and not up to US conditions. A well-known legend is that, in an attempt to convince BMW that a better air conditioner was needed, two BMW engineers were treated to a long trip to Texas in the rear seat of a black BMW 530i with the power windows disabled."

Upon further reflection, I think Mike Miller, the great BMW tech writer, may have written about the hamster & snow cone.

 

[Snagglefoot]

The AC in my 2005 Ford Taurus has been excellent and has never been touched.

 

[JDenyer232]

The best ones I experienced were vehicles with the old R-12 systems.

R12 was an awesome refrigerant, I miss it. Although both of our mazdas have the new r1234yf, and they both get ice cold.