Quote:
Originally Posted by Futaba
I notice quite a significant drop with the AC on, as its often over 100.f here it&s usually both passenger and drivers side set to "LO" and a notch or two away from full blast, on highway switching on AC makes the predicted MPG drop by 3-5mpg, if on full blast sometimes as much as 7!
Which AC panel unit does your vehicle use, the analog or digital?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
Just have the old school analog. We have had about a month of temps pushing 100 and my AC has been running on 2 or 3 pretty much all the time. My average MPG has not budged off 34 since spring when it came up from the winter average of a horrid 32 MPG. In fact just last week I mentioned to the wife how impressed I was that my milage had not dropped with how much I have run the AC this summer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
My experience is the same as @ Tcoat. Below is my average MPG by month since May 2012 through today. My AC runs pretty much full on late May through mid Sept in Atlanta. July and October are months I'm most likely to take long road trips in the 86, which accounts for the increased MPG there. |
I recall reading that there is a point where the additional drag from the windows being open outweighs the pull from the AC. If you do more highway driving it would be more economical to have the AC on, and if you're in the city open windows would come out ahead. I'll have to see if I can dig up the source, so there is a (greater than usual) chance I'm full of it.
ETA:
Article:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-e...dows-down1.htm
Study:
http://www.sae.org/events/aars/prese.../2004-hill.pdf