[lurker]

Originally Posted by akshaykakkar

This thread also could serve as an answer to another thread doing the rounds about "European v/s Japanese cars".
A great AC is non-negotiable in Indian conditions. The Japanese seem to be doing better here.

\

Not really 'European cars' because the Linea/Punto have fantastic ac. It's only the Germans that have poor ac.

[sandeepmohan]

For the folks who owned Ambassadors and Fiats back in the day, do you not remember traveling in your own car or some relatives car which had a freezing air conditioning system. To me, they were like instant chillers. Its a different thing that the car will have half its already pathetic power when you turn on the Aircon and there is every possibility of the engine overheating. When the system cooled, it was awesome. Trouble is the moment the compressor cuts out, its instant warm air being pulled from the engine firewall area.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by Daewood

This realworld test claims otherwise. UVA's AC is rated the best.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post1842041

My own experience is that the Sail UVA (my daily drive) has an excellent AC.

But given the large glass area and big cabin (by hatchback standards) it can take sometime to cool it all.

It is however a good overall product.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Not Just Ecosport.
It happens with each and every vehicle with an AC

Every car except Hyundai's Santro

[Trust_In_Thrust]

1.) I think any car that has double fan on front condensers (like Baleno) or a single fan of large diameter's will not have trouble keeping cool in slow/crawling speeds. Since when vehicle moves large volume of air flows across condensers and ability to cool cabin increases exponentially . When standing still in traffic only the condenser fan ability to push air will be able to change the cabin temperature.
2.) Also compressor size(volume pushed per rotation) in relation to cabin air volume also affects cooling performance.

I have often found Ford's , Baleno , Bolero , Accent AC's to be much better in cooling prowess compared to City, Scorpio , Hyundai Santro I20 , Swift , SX4, WagonR.

[MARCUS_520i]

As someone has stated earlier, this is indeed quite a subjective matter.
I drove a Maruti Esteem for 11 years after which I directly jumped to a Honda Civic, which was like fullon royalty compared to the little Suzuki, so obviously I have no complains.

[nishantbhatia84]

Originally Posted by MARCUS_520i

As someone has stated earlier, this is indeed quite a subjective matter.
I drove a Maruti Esteem for 11 years after which I directly jumped to a Honda Civic, which was like fullon royalty compared to the little Suzuki, so obviously I have no complains.

Agreed! Ac comfort is extremely subjective as each individual has a different comfort temperature. IMO we should be looking at vehicles with proven poor Ac. Example: The old Zen, M800, etc.

[nik0502]

Hi Guys,

I have a carb Esteem. And the AC does not work even after spending 22K on it. I am planning an MPFI Esteem. Found many comments about the carb Esteem in this thread but could not find any comment about MPFI Esteem. Can owners let me know how effective MPFI Esteem's AC is in Delhi's summers. Would this fulfill my requirement or should i look for a Baleno. I am inclined towards Esteem as its really low on maintainence as compared to Balenno and parts are easily available.

nIk.

[lurker]

Just get a baleno AC and fit it on the Esteem. That should be possible no ? Since you spent 22K, I assume you must have changed the compressor, evaporator and the whole shebang. Then why not go for an entirely different setup. Also a baleno alternator if it is necessary.

[nik0502]

Thanks for the reply lurker

But I anyways need another car as my Carb Esteem is too old and except the engine everything is falling apart in it. My monthly usage is more than 3000 km. So I can't use my Fiesta everyday. What I want to know is how is the stock AC in an MPFI Esteem.
nIk

[JishD]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

That same friend's Laura also had a 'okayish' AC, certainly no match for the cars you've listed as having good ACs.

How is the Polo Tsi's AC?

The Polo Tsi's AC is pretty good as long as you keep it in recirculation mode. In my experience though, the erstwhile Palio 1.6 had a loud but absolutely smashing AC !

[coolkurt]

Honda Civic - no complaints, ever. Air-conditioning is a chiller. My other car however, Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol, aircon is strictly average, pathetic in start-stop traffic

[Aston Singh]

Here are my thoughts:

German cars have pathetic air conditioning!

Maruti/Tata cars are pretty good.

But Toyota is just way ahead in this league. My dad's Altis is like Antarctica in a car ! You can keep the climate control at 25 and it'll keep the cabin absolutely cool.
If the car has been parked out in the sun, keep it to 23 for 5 mins and you'll start feeling cold! Not kidding at all. Brilliant air con indeed. 9.5/10

My other cars:

Alto K10 has a fantastic AC as well. Yes, the car is tiny but the air con is superb. Chiller. So was my old (sold) Alto VX 1.1. ( I miss my car!) 8/10

The SX4 has a good AC. It does the job fairly well but it's not that impressive either. 7/10

[drmohitg]

Toyota rocks when it comes to superb AC. Both my Altis and Innova have excellent ACs.

Tata is another example in particular Indigo which has a very effective AC albeit at the cost of slight loss of engine power.

Germans I have no idea as to why they cannot provide a good AC unit even though they keep harping on there engineering skills. My only major experience has been with my BMW 320d and it is immensely disappointing in this area. For any amount of reasonable cooling, you ought to have the temperature set to 18 degrees and even then it is not chilling. On the other hand as someone mentioned above, I rarely need to go below 23 degrees in my Altis even in acute Gujarat summers and trust me the Sun here is so bad that most of the city shuts down in the afternoon during summers.

[pixantz]

I am a car A/c technician myself do up car A/c's as a hobby and my 5 personal favourites as of today's currently on-sale cars are:

1) Toyota
2) Honda
3) Ford
4) Hyundai
5) Maruti

These guys have chilling A/c's across their whole range of vehicles. It has to do with the manufacturers attitude towards aspects like A/c in the vehicle and these guys have got it spot on. Period. The reason why people could have varying experiences with the same car with respect to the Ac can be numerous. Generally people have an attitude that the Ac is a 'fill-it-switch it-on-and-forget-it kind of thing where you expect it to work virtually without any care or maintenance or any such thing. That is wrong. A normal car A/c HAS TO HAVE regular service jobs done and care taken to ensure optimum performance levels. Newer cars have it easier as you have a A/c cabin filter which has to be cleaned or replaced at their required intervals to ensure overall consistency in performance. That is almost never done. Even by the respective service centres. This leads to clogged up Evaporators(cooling coils) which kicks up a chain reaction of A/c malfunctions and/or poor performance/failure. That is one among several other things needed to be taken care of. A good A/c Garage/technician is also another vital necessity. People mostly rush to the cheapest available repair shops which are in turn full of shams. Result: trouble.