Gas Mileage - Effect of Air Conditioning?

[Woody14619]

Originally Posted by John_H

It is NOT DEFROST when I turn the vents up to the windshield. It's windshield airflow!!!! It's BOGUS.

I agree John, but that's how almost all cars have been doing it now for 10+ years. In my old Saturn I would just pull the fuse (or later the relay) for the AC compressor during the winter. In the smart I've just been careful to set it to 1'oc and close the cabin vents. Eventually I'll probably dig into the console and either rig up a switch or disable the contact in the dialer (if there is one) some time this summer.

[John_H]

I pulled my module many, many months ago. Trouble is, it's not obvious how to get in there to take a good, close look at the electronics. (At least not without potentially damaging the housing)

If anyone has a (non-functioning) temperature control module they want to get rid of, I'm interested!

[yatyat]

I bought my SMART in Oct 09 in Houston, and was only getting 25 mpg while running AC. And yes, not running it NOT an Option, 9 months of the year. I was not "clearly" informed of any "Maximizing Fuel Economy" brochure until I brought the car in to see why it was only getting 25. I use this car pretty much ONLY in city, stop and go--it is my errand put-putter. The service department produced the brochure, which they had on their computer and had received in August '09. They printed me a copy. The increased consumption of 30% correlates exactly in the drop from what I was expecting (30 in the city--reasonable amt lower than epa ratings). On my first tank without AC (NOV0-DEC), I got 32.5mpg. I am definitely going to have the AC checked, because it didn't seem to cool well, and recirc didn't help at all. Also, the vents blow warmer air than the outside temp, even in the cool weather now. I could use any help on preparing for the summer months. The only thing I've seen so far is a car cover. Reviews on solar car fans are horrible. Can we get a better, more efficient AC that doesn't draw as much from the engine? Frankly, I think SMART sales should be disclosing city/AC mileage before sales. 30% is a lot, and I am quite angry about it.

[yatyat]

I bought my SMART in Oct 09 in Houston, and was only getting 25 mpg while running AC. And yes, not running it NOT an Option, 9 months of the year. I was not "clearly" informed of any "Maximizing Fuel Economy" brochure until I brought the car in to see why it was only getting 25. I use this car pretty much ONLY in city, stop and go--it is my errand put-putter. The service department produced the brochure, which they had on their computer and had received in August '09. They printed me a copy. The increased consumption of 30% correlates exactly in the drop from what I was expecting (30 in the city--reasonable amt lower than epa ratings). On my first tank without AC (NOV0-DEC), I got 32.5mpg. I am definitely going to have the AC checked, because it didn't seem to cool well, and recirc didn't help at all. Also, the vents blow warmer air than the outside temp, even in the cool weather now. I could use any help on preparing for the summer months. The only thing I've seen so far is a car cover. Reviews on solar car fans are horrible. Can we get a better, more efficient AC that doesn't draw as much from the engine? Frankly, I think SMART sales should be disclosing city/AC mileage before sales. 30% is a lot, and I am quite angry about it.

[Old smart]

One thing that a few of us have found is if you put the temperature control on the last mark below 60, it passes warm air. On the 60 mark or a little above, the air is cool. ????

[SmartDigger]

Mine only drops about 3%

[SuperGeek]

The AC size is a compromise between economy (underpowered) and cooling (sucks engine power). My MPGs drop about 10-15% but my driving habits have been adjusted already so the worst-case mileage wasn't that bad. One of my driving habits is to choose alternate paths and times to avoid stop and go traffic; fortunately my job allows me that option. But on summer days where I'm stuck in city traffic with cars to the horizon, I'm lucky to get 15MPG per my ScanGauge. Same situation in my V6 Grand Am got me 12MPG, and 10-11MPG in my Explorer.

There's no way any other non-hybrid car's going to get more than 25MPG in stop-and-go city traffic. In a case like that, you'll really notice those hypermiling techniques. Leave an extra 10 feet in front of you as people bunch up together. Don't worry, be happy, save gas. What consumes gas isn't idling so much as hitting the gas for 5 feet, then the brake, repeating 100 times.