The high cost of AC

[nickpiketx]

Made a 150 mile trip to a school reunion this past Friday. Left late at night and had windows down and no ac on. had 5mph crosswind and driving 65/70 on highway, got 37.7 mpg. On return trip Sunday 100 outside temp. had air on all the way and went to 30 mpg. Has anyone else experienced such a drastic drop when AC used?

[saskdiesel]

It cost a fair share of economy on any small engine.
But its better than sweating!

[WhiteNBlack08]

I've dropped 2-3mpg, but not 8. went from 43.5 to 40-41.

[stevenvillatoro]

See other post on same topic. Such large mileage variations usually mean that there were headwinds going one direction... even light winds can cause high MPG variations. Hills could be another factor.

[jwight]

Have been running the A/C constantly on my visit to Texas; mpg has suffered but there are other factors - wind, hills, city driving, using 89 octane that all certainly could account for the drop.

[4-2NV]

A/C costing 2-3 mpg loss here as well

[Flashman]

Originally Posted by nickpiketx

Made a 150 mile trip to a school reunion this past Friday. Left late at night and had windows down and no ac on. had 5mph crosswind and driving 65/70 on highway, got 37.7 mpg. On return trip Sunday 100 outside temp. had air on all the way and went to 30 mpg. Has anyone else experienced such a drastic drop when AC used?

How are you measuring the MPG? With a ScanGuage?

[bigbird]

Average 39+ without air,34 with,no wind.

[Smart Enuf]

I went on an 800 mile roundtrip to L.A. Going down there I averaged 46 mpg. Coming back I got 33 mpg. I filled up with premium at a gas station off the Buttonwillow exit on I-5 and immediately noticed a drop in power. It seemed that batch of gas was not what it was cracked up to be.

So the quality of any gas you refilled with on the return trip also may have played a role in your decreased mpg.

[flywithsean]

I have taken hits from the AC as well. However as was suggested by someone else on the forum I took a Jumbo sunshade and cut it down to cover the roof in the car and it made a drastic difference in the temp in the car.