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The deflectors in the air distribution system (the vents) are vacuum operated. If the car has a vacuum leak, then when it is operated at wide open throttle the vacuum available to the vents disappears. And the vents default to the "Defroster"position.
It could be that the cold air that used to be coming out of the AC vents is now coming out of the defrost vent. And the driver misinterprets it and thinks they are blowing warm air.
We have a 96 Dodge Ram that forces air through the floor during acceleration. Then you hear some plastic flaps closing and it goes back to head. For my car air is definitely just plain warmer when warming up.
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Originally Posted by chiluvr1228
My Kia Soul not only loses the cold air upon rapid acceleration but only gets noticeably warmer at traffic lights, mostly in the first 15 minutes of driving. I also live in Florida and when I'm dressed up I don't want the air to get warm at all!
A/C works better with more air flow. Works great doing 70+ on a freeway. When you're going slow or stopping a lot you'll get a lot of hot air from the engine collecting and making it harder for your AC to work.
My Kia Soul not only loses the cold air upon rapid acceleration but only gets noticeably warmer at traffic lights, mostly in the first 15 minutes of driving. I also live in Florida and when I'm dressed up I don't want the air to get warm at all!
Many cars have a supplemental electric fan to cool the A/C condenser coils when airflow is low - make sure yours is working?
I did have one car with a narrow grill opening which seemed to struggle with A/C at stoplights and slow traffic no matter what - poor design I guess.
I recently rented a chevy cruz, and this happened. It was quite annoying. You basically had to let off the brake a bit, then the air would come back on full blast.
Don't know about the loss of cooling when accelerating, but I feel many cars today have inadequate A/C systems. Performance at highway speeds is okay but the shortcomings come out on humid days when stuck in traffic. This is where powerful cooling fans are needed to make up for the lack of natural airflow. Systems today hold less refrigerant, have smaller condensers and have cooling fans focused more on quietness rather than efficiency. Many 90's domestics had A/C that would freeze you out on the hottest & muggiest of days.
Don't know about the loss of cooling when accelerating, but I feel many cars today have inadequate A/C systems. Performance at highway speeds is okay but the shortcomings come out on humid days when stuck in traffic. This is where powerful cooling fans are needed to make up for the lack of natural airflow. Systems today hold less refrigerant, have smaller condensers and have cooling fans focused more on quietness rather than efficiency. Many 90's domestics had A/C that would freeze you out on the hottest & muggiest of days.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I guess I'll never know on my Challenger. If I go WOT I'll either be burning up my back tires or running 140 mph, and get a big fat ticket. I really wouldn't consider this much of an issue. I did try it on my wife's Escape 1.6 turbo, going up a steep, .75 mile long hill yesterday. Sure enough, the air did come out warmer at about 1/3 of the way up.
Mercedes has excellent climate control systems, so one would not feel the issue as much. I do not even think I noticed a cut out with a CLA250 loaner car that I had that is not overpowered, when entering a New York parkway with a stop sign at the end of the entrance ramp and a very short acceleration lane to merge into traffic that is flowing quickly. I have had a Prius rental car and did not notice the hot air blast under heavy acceleration.
However, the 4-cylinder Subaru does tend to suffer from this problem, and it's one of the features that is not as well thought out as an Audi, Volvo, or other competitive AWD station wagon. With the H6, it's not an issue as the car has enough power, but interior comfort is not a priority for Subaru, and if you want a good interior, you buy a Volvo or Audi wagon, since the H6 is around $40k in top trim.
I usually notice the issue on a smaller car with a small engine, but have never noticed the cut out with a car that had adequate reserve power. Some cars are underpowered such that any time you merge or have to pass, you will get a blast of hot air that then seems to take a while to cool. I notice it because I like the car to be cool to cold, and an inadequate air conditioner is unacceptable to me, especially with 90-100 degree temperatures and humidity.
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And how long would someone actually be at WOT. Say you are at a dead stop and you want to accelerate to 60mph at WOT. You would get there under 10 seconds (pretty much any car on the market) at which you let off the throttle and the compressor kicks back on. Also, keep in mind that when the compressor does shut off, it isn't like it immediately starts spitting out hot air. If people are truly complaining about this, I think they are just complaining for the sake of complaining. I know there are some people on this forum who treat red lights as their own personal tree at a drag strip and floor it from red light to red light. Those types of people might notice that there AC 'isn't cooling fast enough'.
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