Is this normal - Hot air blowing in through vents?
 

Not sure if this is normal or not for our cars. When I have the AC/Heat off completely there is a lot of hot air flowing out of the vents, mainly when in motion of course. I have never noticed this on any of my previous and current cars, but this is my first Subaru so I am not sure if this is common.

Any input??

Thanks!

unfortunately yes

Awesome. Guess I have to get used to closing the vents while the windows are down and at the track.

Thanks pistol

I have noticed this in all of my cars, but only when the heater was the last thing that was on. If you put on the AC and then turn off HVAC, it doesn't leak heat.

It has been doing it after the AC has been running. I've only ran the system with the AC on.

If you hit the Recirc button before you turn off the AC that should stop the airflow :thumbup:

+1 for turning on the recirc. All cars do this to varying levels, since they always let some amount of outside air into the car for ventilation purposes. Turning recirc on mostly stops outside air from coming through the HVAC system. It's maybe more noticeable in the BRZ due to the design of the cowl and the how close packed the car is.

I've read this a couple times now. Being from PA we have very similar weather so I'm surprised it'd be so different...

If you turn the dial to "low" and keep it to the first few fan clicks I find its nice, especially on the highway.


I have a sport tech (dual zone) so I'm not sure if maybe there is a difference?

yup. just hit the recirc and no mo hot air.

Thanks guys! Will give it a shot.

Yes, recirc button willl close the vent allowing outside air to go in. :thumbsup:

It is a design flaw on Subaru's part. You can do this. If you feel hot air blowing into cabin, turn on the AC, set temp to 62, then turn off AC. the air will blow cold from now on.

Basically if you want warm air, the car should open a channel for the air to enter heat core and then enter cabin. If you turn AC system off, the car should shut down that channel. Obviously, Subaru engineers forget to do this. So when you turn off AC, they still let that channel to heat core open. This will only happen when you turn on AC but set it to a warm temp in the morning. Then when you drive it during afternoon w/o AC on.

Still doesn't help in my case. This is my first subie where this has been an issue.

When it was much cooler, no problem. I normally wanted some warmer air anyway even if I wasn't running the heat. Now, though, it gets annoying. Usually I have to run the temp up to just about where ambient is (set HVAC to auto, and roll the temp up till the fans drop to a low fan speed) and hit the A/C and recirc. If I have the windows down, I hit recirc and turn a/c off and drop the temps down. Still end up with way warmer air than what is coming in through the windows.

I think it's b/c our engine bay runs hotter than normal anyway, so wherever the cabin air is being pumped in from fresh (or even near the firewall), is where it gets heated up more than normal.

I bet if one is able to ventilate a good bit of the normal bay heat, the issue will decrease.

If only the fender vents were functional from the factory.....