how msny people drive with their air on and if so, do you keep it on all the time. for some reason i always drive with my windows down unless it is raining or something. i think i do it because i always hear that driving with the air on kills your mpg. right now i get about 20mpg. what do you guys normally get when driving all the time with the air on.
thanks for the help. i am trying to get over my mpg fear so i can finally keep my windows up.
I usually only use A/C when its blistering hot and I'm stuck driving slow for whatever reason or I have a passenger in the car. Since I smoke the windows are down a lot so its kind of a waste to keep it on.
Without air I only get ~17MPG city so 20 seems pretty good to me
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2008 Vapor Silver GT Coupe
C&L Intake w/ Bamachips 87 octane tune
Spydershaft
BMR Billet LCAs
3.73:1 Ring and Pinion
see i live in florida on the beach so it's always blistering hot. my dad said that it really won't make that much of a difference in the mpg but for some reason i just can't grasp that idea. that's most likely becuase since i could drive, i have always had the windows down. i think i am ready to start driving with the windows up finally getting some use out of my tint. now driving the beach on a friday or saturday always requires the windows to be at least half way down if not all the way.
Well the a/c robs alittle bit of power i know that but someone told me driving with the windows down creates more drag and so it lowers the mpg a little bit....I dont know what is what but either way i just use the a/c when the temp. calls for it.
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'05 Mineral Gray GT Coupe
Premium Trim
Shaker 1000, Leather, IUP
I put the AC on when its hot and heat on when its cold and keep the windows down all the time except in the middle of winter. I get 24-25 mpg on average with 7K on my 05. Running the AC has only a small effect on mpg and I am somewhat fixated on checking it all the time although it hardly ever changes.
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2005 Ford Mustang V6 Premium
Automatic with most options
Redfire
17" polished bullits
color matched side skirts
GT take off muffler
GT rear swaybar
In older cars... Driving with the AC on did drasticly reduce your MPG.
However in newer cars the difference is so little you likely wont be able to notice or even gauge it.
I watched a program where they tested the theory on the MPG decrease with the windows down, and the decrease was so little they could not accuratley measure it.
So in reality, they both cancel eachother out. Unless you drive with the windows up and the ac off, then your not going to save any gas. Even so, its so little it doesnt really matter.
It will rob you of needed HP though if you are racing if you keep it on.
i tend to leave it on with the windows down. i've been keeping it off latly and it doens't seem to matter. i don't notice a power diffrence like i did in my on my old Nissan 200SX
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*note: post may contain sarcasm
I use the A/C quite a bit. However, I notice a funny odor the next time I drive. Not sure if it has something to do with moisture around the compressor or what, so I usually turn the A/C off a few minutes before arriving home, to give any moisture a chance to clear. Sounds stupid, but seems to help.
the windows down thing doesnt create enough drag at low speed to change much, but if you are accelerating hard or you are doing freeway speeds it will make a difference.
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I use the A/C quite a bit. However, I notice a funny odor the next time I drive. Not sure if it has something to do with moisture around the compressor or what, so I usually turn the A/C off a few minutes before arriving home, to give any moisture a chance to clear. Sounds stupid, but seems to help.
Ken
Does it smell like mildew? My ford ranger does that.
AC Question
