Vehicles with the Coldest A/C Systems?

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Nukeman7

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Sep 23, 2006
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Location
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Now that we are in the heart of summer, what vehicles that you have driven (or ridden in as a passenger) had the coldest air conditioning system? I'm particularly interested in hearing the impressions of the vehicles that were used in the extreme heat locales like Arizona, Florida, Texas, Middle East, etc. Hoping that we can collectively identify the BITOG top 10 "meat lockers" on wheels.

Let's limit each list to your top 3 vehicles as the list can be extensive. I'll kick it off with my top 3 (YMMV):

(1) 2003 FORD Expedition Eddie Bauer Edition (w/ dual A/C)

(2) 2000 NISSAN Xterra XE

(3) 1998 FORD F-150 XLT
 
They started going downhill with r134a (vs r-12)

but a properly designed system will still freeze you out.

the coldest car I'd had in recent memory(2010+) was the loaner 24 elantra SEL. It would just about put frost on my legs.
My recent subarus -22forester FB25 24 outback FA24DIT- haven't been terrible but they definitely take a few mins longer to be comfortable in a "heat soaked" interior.

Surprisingly one of the worst has been the 2020 ram. Even with a fresh cabin air filter.. I had it cranked almost the whole Canada Trip even though it was driving at night. Might have to check and see if its full of bugs.
 
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My 1988 VW Jetta GLI 16v was so extreme in HVAC. The heat would nearly burn you and the AC beyond cold, you would actually see the vapor blowing out on humid day.

My 2015 Pilot has a decent system. The best recent I hav been in is VW Phaeton (shared bits with Bentley) where on a 90F day in full sun car would nearly instantly blow ice cold air.
 
The best way to prove all this is to place a thermometer in one of the vents and report the temperature. I placed a thermometer in a vent and I’m monitoring it to see if I need to load in another can ( small leak somewhere in my dual evaporator Suburban). Currently it’s reading 50 F which is comfortable but we are getting above 90 F later this week.
 
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I measured as for some reason I didn't "buy" the 41F I saw on YouTube. Sure enough my LS430 puts out about that at the vents.

BMW is not supposed to have great AC but I am cold when I drive my 2007 335.

Our 2011 Enclave by far has the worst AC. I tried to recharge it just in case, to no avail. It is through this vehicle that I found a big difference at 2000+ rpm than idle. 59F to maybe 48F if lucky. I'd rather not think about it I'm sure people are thinking 50F? no good lol

The rear evap does not have a huge puddle by the rear right wheel, as it did when new.....and the system did break when the car was relatively new and had 30k....
 
The coldest AC I ever felt was in a new Honda Accord my wife and I rented for 4 days in Corpus Christi TX maybe 10 years ago in the summer. It was blazingly hot outside, I mean the kind of heat that kills people, and the AC was so cold we had to turn it off sometimes. I mean it would really freeze you out. I was totally shocked.

I had the AC completely replaced in my first year Miata a few summers ago and it works very well, considering the car is 35 years old with a small motor, compressor, and condenser. Kept us comfortable yesterday here in the south in 95+ degree temps. But.. it didn't freeze us out like that Accord did, or several big American vehicles I remember from years ago. The AC in my wife's 2015 X1 works well too, but does not absolutely freeze you out. I agree with the comments about 134 not cooling as well as r12 generally. It can cool as well, but requires a more involved set up. That's why you here stories of people converting their r12 systems to 134 and it not working very well. The shop that did mine also put in a larger condenser in my Miata during the conversion. Had they just changed the fittings and charged it with 134 I don't think it would've worked nearly as well as it does.

I've always thought it would be cool to have a much bigger compressor and condenser custom installed in my Miata, something that would make the car like a meat locker even on 100 degree days. The thing is the tiny 1.6 motor already get's worked just using it's factory size compressor, so I know it wouldn't be able to turn a large one. If you have a vehicle that has some extra HP though I've always thought putting in a larger system would be really neat.
 
Coldest I've experienced was the '91 S-10 pickup I had for a few years. R-12 plus a tiny cabin meant it got really cold, really fast.
 
Had a 1987 Dodge Lancer that was ice cold. The AC compressor was half the size of the engine, felt like it took half the engines power to drive it too, LOL.

My 2021 Chevy Traverse is pretty darn cold as well.
 
Definitely not a 2018 Subaru Forester :rolleyes:

My 2001 Taurus was a refrigerator. We were in Alabama one year and it was 90s and 100% humidity and we were shivering in the car. Then we stopped and got out and couldn't breathe it was such a change.

That would blow barely above freezing nomatter the temperature!

Seems that a lot of Ford products of that era have great AC.
 
Hands down when they worked , 73 new Yorker / 75 Imperial . honestly felt like you were walking into a meat freezer.
 
Definitely not most of the R1234YF systems of today, with the wimpy compressors, etc.
 
JTK said:
Definitely not most of the R1234YF systems of today, with the wimpy compressors, etc.
Click to expand...
Fe regs to blame. A system that puts out more btu's requires more to run it. They've pretty much calculated the efficiency of having a bigger system run less frequently compared to a small one running for much longer. Probably because of engine load stability. I love a nice cold ac but as I don't sweat in peak summer temps the weaker ac system is acceptable for me.
 
I really liked the ac my 3 old single cab trucks had. Little volume to cool down is a big benefit of a single cab.
 
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