[dsx2b]

Turning on the aircon doesnt normally 'slow down' my car previously. But now i notice that it makes the car accelrate a bit sluggish. What can be done to make the effect of the aircon to the car less noticable?(or completely gone)

 

[soomo]

turn it off? lol no seriously, mine doesnt really effect it at all, only a very slight bit but nothing really noticable

 

[jarhedch]

it's more likewly to do with a problem causing a lack of power, and not your airconditioning causing the problem.

 

[istvanlaszlo]

My AC took a lot of power too!! Eventually the AC compressor seized and I had to get a new one which took a lot of power for about 2500 km. After this no more acceleration/power problems.

 

[dsx2b]

Yes it very slight on mine too..but it's still noticable.

 

[ConcreteMonkey]

It shouldn't really cause the car to slow down. It uses more power, so you should see a slight increase in REVs, but no real loss of power.

If you have a facelift model with the digital AC rather than the three dials, then it is Climate Control, which can use more power some times. The climate control will use more power at first as it attempts to reach the pre-set temperature, and then less as it only needs to maintain the temperature.

Have you checked the Battery? It could be a problem with power supply as previously mentioned. I would ask your Mechanic to do a battery check, but then again, Kwik Fit or similar usually do a free Winter Check this time of year that includes a battery test.

Just noticed your audio in your signature. While it isn't too big, it will be using more power than the standard stereo. Do your lights dim slightly when the system is on loud?? You may find you need a power-cap. As the audio system is also using more power and then you throw the AC into the mix, you could be asking for too much power.
Maybe you could disconnect the Amp from the battery for a little while and see if things get better. Would be a quick way to find out if you need a power cap or not.

 

[mondeoman]

Mine takes the edge off the bottom end of the rev range, definately more sluggish in response.

 

[dsx2b]

It's noticeble kinda like hitting a flat spot whenever i turn on the aircon while accelerating. Though i have the audio stuff in my sig, i've long disconnected it, i even took out the subwoofer (and the spare tyre) to save weight, since i'm not listening to anything for weeks now. So it should not be the stereo since it havent been turned on.

It's the 3 dail aircon fyi.
Actually replaced the battery a month or so ago... The kinda battery which u have to check the water level every 2 weeks or so :kaffeetrinker_2:

Will top up the battery if required later.

Thanks for the replies so far. Still open to suggestions to fix the flat-spot-on-demand problem of mine

 

[Strawbs]

Since aircon is belt driven, you can reckon on losing around 10bhp whenever it's switched on! fuel consumption increases too.

V6 drivers won't notice the draw so much, as the engine has the torque\power to mask the effect.

it's not just a Ford thing either! it's the same with all aircon - that's why they only used to put it on bigger engined cars, now it's a must have on everything.