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That's odd! I have a bigger, heavier Grande Punto with the 77bhp 1.4 8v, and I don't notice any difference at all with the aircon on.
General Air Conditioning???
- Thread starter Joe Dolce
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General Air Conditioning???
That's odd! I have a bigger, heavier Grande Punto with the 77bhp 1.4 8v, and I don't notice any difference at all with the aircon on.
Interesting thread.
My wife has a 14 plate 1.2 with manual heating control and A/C. The A/C is on all of the time whether cooling or heating the car, a few pence more on fuel is better than £1000+ to fix the system being the theory behind this.
Anyway from my observations there is no difference in power or acceleration whether the A/C is on or off, also for my driving style the mpg hovers at 47mpg over a full tank of fuel ( I'm not exactly light footed).
Another thing I have noted is that the A/C compressor doesn't run all the time, it kicks in and out in the same manner as my Jag which has Auto climate control. So unlike the old A/C systems there must be some smart sense to even the basic manual controls in the 500.
I'll be able to compare the 1.2 to a 105 TA when mine eventually turns up !
My wife has a 14 plate 1.2 with manual heating control and A/C. The A/C is on all of the time whether cooling or heating the car, a few pence more on fuel is better than £1000+ to fix the system being the theory behind this.
Anyway from my observations there is no difference in power or acceleration whether the A/C is on or off, also for my driving style the mpg hovers at 47mpg over a full tank of fuel ( I'm not exactly light footed).
Another thing I have noted is that the A/C compressor doesn't run all the time, it kicks in and out in the same manner as my Jag which has Auto climate control. So unlike the old A/C systems there must be some smart sense to even the basic manual controls in the 500.
I'll be able to compare the 1.2 to a 105 TA when mine eventually turns up !
Piccolo Nero e Bella
Prominent member
The old-style electro-mechanical A/C systems employed sensors in the evaporator to detect when the temperature was nearly at 0.0C and cut current to the compressor clutch via a relay to prevent freezing of condensed water on the evaporator coil - thus the compressor would cut in and out in a fairly regular pattern while the settings and ambient temperature were unchanged. Comfort settings controlled fan speed and airflow only. I daresay the FIAT manually controlled system is more sophisticated these days (one would hope so...) and certainly more efficient but basically similar.
These numbers tie in with my own real-world observations.
On a typical UK summer's day, on the motorway at a steady 50mph, running a 1.2 with manual A/C on increases fuel use by about 15%.
I've made the observation many times, on both the 500 & the Panda, and the result is always similar.
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ahmett
Prominent member
Exactly! More work for the engine due to compressor = more fuel used. It's simple really! Mind you i still need the ac as its 34c here these days.
