So took my car to the track to see what it could run and I forgot to turn off the A/C twice!!!

The weather was pretty crappy.. We had a head wind of something like 45km/h. It was brutal plus it was hot and humid.. But ahh well what can ya do about it..

anyways...

I was running 14.1s and 14.2s @94-95mph all day..

Heres the results on with the a/c on

1st run
14.510@93.5mph

2nd run
14.550@93.5MPH

I lost about 3-4tenths and 1-2mph just from A/C!!!

 

Well, here is the deal... The A/C will shut itself off under full throttle, so I don't think those times are the A/C's fault. Unless you run partial throttle in the 1/4 mile. We will blame it on the crappy weather conditions.

 

Dont our cars have something where when you are accelerating under WOT that it shuts off the AC? Maybe not, maybe its just the GTP's that I remember reading about that. Oh well. That sucks you forgot to turn it off, you freaking idiot! Hehe Jk

 

you know i dont consider that so bad consider just how much of a straing the AC is on the engine. heck if im not careful i take off so easy that sometimes i forget the AC is on and almost stall the car. i dont use it that much so it catches me off gaurd. trey

 

i've never done it at the track with my A4 but when i had my M6 my times dropped about 4 tenths when i had the AC on. yeah, it shuts off at full throttle, but who leaves the line at full throttle with an M6? you have to feather the clutch and throttle just right so you don't lose traction or bog it down. running with the AC on definately slows you down.

 

I bet the difference was that your motor started at a slightly warmer temperature each run because you had the AC on. Maybe thats why you were down on power, not because of the AC being on (off WOT)

 

With AC on it keeps the Engine Tad bit cooler
AC get turn off at WOT!

 

??? The AC on makes the car run warmer. Not cooler.

 

It make your Both Fan run in heuristic mode. Your Engine, and Inke Temp is lower.

 

Hmmm, but what if your fan was running already anyways?

Running the AC means the condensor is another heat source right aside of the radiator and you need a great deal more air to compensate for that.

-Brent

 

THE A/C DOES COOL THE CAR DOWN. When it's on, it turns the electric fans on sooner. I almost always kick the A/C on when I'm at a light for a long time to keep my temps down. Without A/C my temp will easily get to 210F+. With the A/C on, it will stay about 160-180F because of the electric fans.

Dan

 

The A/C doesn't cool the motor down, the fans do.

 

O.k., whatever. I should have said, TURNING ON THE A/C COOLS THE ENGINE DOWN. Whether it's directly or indirectly, the end result is the same. The car runs cooler with the A/C on. Yes, the A/C causes more drag on the motor i.e. more heat. But with the fans kicking on, the engine runs cooler. How does it do this? by reducing the temp of the coolant just like the when the thermostat opens to allow more circulation to cool the engine.

Dan

 

The fans can be programmed to come on whenever you want, or get a manual fan switch, thereby leaving the A/C off, making the engine run cooler yet.

 

True. That would be a better option.

I haven't gotten around to wiring up a switch. I've seen the install/wiring guides. I just need to follow up and do it.

I don't have access to a programmer, so that option is out right now.

Dan