Holy s**t, how much power do you think and A/C compressor really takes to turn? It's about ten horsepower at the most. It's not like you turn on the air and suddenly you lose 150 horsepower. Think about it for a minute. You turn on the air at idle, and you can feel the engine load a little. If the compressor took that much power to turn, the car would die every time the compressor clicked on. Truthfully I can't even feel any difference whatsoever at part or full-throttle(obviously, because the ECM commands the comp. OFF) when the air is on. Anyways, using the A/C as an excuse or to bolster a win is completely ridiculous. Having a 50 pound backpack in the back seat makes just as much difference.

 

You would have to go WOT for several seconds (I'm thinking at least 30) in order for the air coming from the vents to get warm after the compressor turns off.

I don't know about you guys, but a 30-second WOT run in my car is pretty much guaranteed to be illegal, even if I start out going 40mph and leave it in 6th.

 

No. 10% is ridiculous.

 

It takes 3-5hp to run a modern air conditioning compressor. On an LS1, that's 1-2%.

Older compressors took more power -- find a 1975 anything with factory A/C and see for yourself. Probably 15-20hp, which was 10% in many cars from that era.