vrs a/c on a hot day

[nyc863]

Are new VRS owners happy with the A/C ?

here is what mine does. On a stinking hot day, while driving it can't cool the interior to less than about 24 degrees C, I'd say. With t-shirts this isn't uncomfortable but it isn't chilly by any means.

The odd part about it is when the temp is set to, say, 21 degrees, the fan goes down to two bars. When setting lower, to 19, it rises to maybe 4 bars. Only goes to max speed when setting to the minimum position. If it were calibrated correctly it should realize things are not going well if set to 21 and interior is above 21?

However, when I manually change fan to max, it still doesn't get the temp down to less than 23-24 ..

I would hope that an a/c can make the car frigid, if necessary. I don't mean ice, but I mean "cold airconditioned shop" type temps.

All my windows have heavier than legal tint and the sunroof panel is shut so it is really only competing with the outside air and the dashboard, which does soak a lot of heat.

[woofy]

Mines been fine, and thats going by the 45 C days in Melb last summer. Is it temp or humidity that you are finding...its usually dry heat here where I have found it ok. Although A/C usually works better for humid places anyway.

[spellbound]

I always just leave mine on 21c works fine , my shop is set at 23 c refridgerated and is nice cool similar feel .

However when heading north during the day i feel the heat soak through the windscreen , then i put the vents right on my face /body , and i have dark tint .

Air feels same as my old golf and hondas .

[woofy]

Mine is pretty much 22 C in both summer and winter, only difference is that I put it on auto and turn off economy when it gets hotter so the A/C is actually on.

[mrx]

I agree with the OP, high thirties/low forties the air-con struggles. It's not icy cold, although much more pleasant than being outside! Our car is the wagon and is black with dark tinting. Given that it has the same air-con as a golf but has more interior space & window area to cool down I guess it stands to reason.

[nyc863]

It doesn't seem as capable as it was in my old golf which was adequate but not icy. Although the golf had less space to cool, it wasn't tinted, so i feel that is an even trade.

My main complaint is if I leave it on 22, it doesn't appear to try much harder when interior temps rise due to driving into the sun, or having a hot dash radiating heat everywhere. Driving north into the sun from nsw to qld we were always at the risk of family complaints "I'm hot in the back!".

[PassatB6]

I have the same issue with my 06 Passat wagon. BTW is it only wagons which have this issue?

[K1W1]

I have seen plenty of instances in the past where vehicles (many brands) have not had the AC gases correctly installed at the factory. Next time you take the car in for service or sooner if it really bugs you get the dealer to test the AC system to make sure it's performing up to spec. Often they just need to top up the gas then all of a sudden the system works as expected.

If you are really, really worried get the vehicle checked by an AC specialist.

[nyc863]

guess I'll get the a/c gas level checked first.
I took a brief look online and the delphi model compressor appears to be the same one in the golf gti, tiguan and passat. So it shouldn't be worse than other mid size VWs, unless they skimped on the insulation for the refrigerant lines! Maybe the climate control needs re-calibration.

[gregozedobe]

Generally speaking the A/C on VAG vehicles doesn't have a reputation (in Oz, anway) for being particularly powerful, and neither of mine have been anywhere near as effective as my last two Toyotas had (very quick AND very cold).

That said, I would rate my Van's A/C as "good", and my Octy's as "adequate".

If you have climatronic A/C it is possible to get it into a diagnostic mode which will tell you the temperatures at various places in the A/C system - that might be useful in showing up any particular deficiencies.

Post #3 has a whole lot of details (but don't ask me what they all mean)

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=8175

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

I use the air cond manually ie turn on the A/C, set the coolest temperature and regulate the fan speed myself. Works well in 40+C temperatures in Mildura even after sitting in the sun all day.

I find it's better than the 4 cylinder Japanese cars I've had in the past and the Octavia doesn't warm up when you're idling at the lights. But on the flip side its not as good as the Pajero we once had - now that was a fridge.