Is The Aircon In Fiesta Ecoboost Just Poor ?

[nath.mk7.st]

I was stationary and put the instant mpg trip on n it was 0.1g/h when I switched AC on went to 0.3g/h.

don't know if this theory works.

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[Jeff4155]

I have not had the chance to use the aircon at full blast in mine sins it's winter here, but I did have a bad smell come from the pollen filter that I had replaced, all gone now, but couldn't this also be the problem for lack of cold air if its cloged up?

[NQbbe]

I haven't noticed any real decrease in MPG when using aircon a lot during this summer, but then again I also mostly do short trips, so my MPG are always kinda low (about 40 on average)

[PaddyWhack]

Mine isn't all that cold. My dads mondeo is miles better. My engine is remapped and i do notice power drop when the AC is on. It doesn't help that the power is down at the min anyway with the 30c heat. Anyone else with the 1.0 noticed this? At night it drives like a different car.

[NQbbe]

Haven't noticed any loss of power due to the heat no, but here it's still above 20c at night, so it's not that big a difference (30c at day)

[FOCA]

Mine isn't all that cold. My dads mondeo is miles better. My engine is remapped and i do notice power drop when the AC is on. It doesn't help that the power is down at the min anyway with the 30c heat. Anyone else with the 1.0 noticed this? At night it drives like a different car.

It happens to many cars, particulary turbocharged ones, its a "double whammy" the air going into the air intake is already hotter than usual, then the temp drop across the intercooler is less, i notice a big difference in power when the weather is cooler on my car

some cars are affected more than others, but i remember even my NA petrol mk2 Mondeo was affected with a noticable loss of power when the weather was hotter

[NQbbe]

I'd actually expect a NA engine to lose more power than a turbocharged one, since the intercooler should help drop the air temperature a bit.

But I've no idea whether this theory holds true.

[MattDRX]

NA cars have a much lower inlet temp no? And lol at the power loss it's nothing, it should use around 5% and nothing more, think that's bad my old astra was having idle valve issues as all VX's do, I turned the ac on and it stalled the engine, that was power drain.

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[Phil 87]

I never really thought about the affect of the outside temperature on the power of the engine, but it makes sense when you think about cold air intakes. Does this mean that in winter cars should me noticeably more powerful than in summer? And what about fuel efficiency? I'd think if cold air is better then MPG should go up in winter at least once the engine is up to temperature, but I've heard cars are supposed to use more fuel in winter, I never really noticed myself.

[FOCA]

I'd actually expect a NA engine to lose more power than a turbocharged one, since the intercooler should help drop the air temperature a bit.

But I've no idea whether this theory holds true.

As per post no.31 - The intercooler temp drop is less - the intercooler does not work as efficiently in hot weather as the temprature differential is less - its basic phyisics - say the ambient temperature is 0 degrees C, the intercooler core starts at 0 degrees C, and the air flowing through the outside of the intercooler is 0 degrees C, say the air going into the intercooler is 60 degrees C, the temperature differential is 60 degrees C, if the ambient temp is 25 degrees C the differential is then only 35 degrees C

+ the intake air is at a higher temp - the "double whammy"

This affects all cars, including NA but especially turbos, highly tuned cars that are close to their detonation point are more likely to be affected, it depends how hot it gets, problems like heatsoak making things worse, and the engine setup (compression ratio, timing, mixture, fuel octane etc etc)

The ECU compensates to a certain degree and you may not notice if you are using a bit more throttle, the type of driver you are (and how perceptive you are) will make a difference - if you are driving at 10/10ths, redlining it through the gears, you are more likely to notice a power drop than someone who is "pottering about"

i have to turn the boost down in hot weather, (adjustable boost controller) even if im using the intercooler waterspray

[PaddyWhack]

Yeah i can certainly feel a drop in power. Not like i'm suddenly a liability on the the road or anything, it just doesn't take off as well when you boot it. Normally it squirms under full load in 2nd, in this temp it feels a bit more sluggish to get going. I suspect i'm affected more because of the remap. The intercooler on the 1.0 probably isn't up to the job of a remap and hot conditions.

[MattDRX]

FOCA you got a water spray on a Mondeo? HERO!

Surprised not many people wondered why their cars are always faster on a cold morning, cold engine etc. makes a huge difference.

Suppose I should also refer people to buying petrol at night time, being the ground is a lot cooler the petrol will be more dense therefore more fuel in weight for your buck.

Technically speaking if the fuel lines are warmer than usual due to hot weather than that should in theory make a difference, although unsure if ECU's work on a weight of fuel or volume basis.

Also warmer tyres = more resistance, going down some sections of the A3 yesterday, 28C then you go over the newly resurfaced parts and the outside temp jumps to 33C so the surface must be scorching hot if that's the air temp.

Problem to follow in a new post now.

[NQbbe]

I never really thought about the affect of the outside temperature on the power of the engine, but it makes sense when you think about cold air intakes. Does this mean that in winter cars should me noticeably more powerful than in summer? And what about fuel efficiency? I'd think if cold air is better then MPG should go up in winter at least once the engine is up to temperature, but I've heard cars are supposed to use more fuel in winter, I never really noticed myself.

The reason MPG goes down in winter is largely because the engine takes longer to warm up, and thus you drive longer with auto-choke enabled.

Furthermore you usually have the heater all the way up, which further prolongs the engine warm up (the heater "steals" the heat from the engine), and finally heated windows use a lot of power, so the generator has to work harder, which in turn also costs fuel.

[MattDRX]

^ ST is far less prone to this ( I know the feed is about the 1.0 ) but the 1.0 takes god damn forever to heat up on a freezing cold morning, the ST takes less than half the time to get up to temp. might be why it's so good on fuel tbh, I do about 500M at present and it's at half way lol brilliant stuff.

[Phil 87]

I thought I read somewhere that the 1.0L Ecoboost was designed to heat up faster, something about some parts of the engine being made from one block of metal instead of several, so that heat transfers faster. Correct me if I'm wrong. And I thought the engine in the ST is based on the 1.6 Ti-VCT engine used in the MK7?

[nath.mk7.st]

Totally different I think but I used to have a ktm moto-x. Was all race preped etc. My uncle moved to Spain so as we never got out on it any more we sent it there so when we was on holiday we could use it up the mountains etc. A week after it been there on it's 1st run it seized up. We had it repaired and was told that it was caused because of the higher temps/altitude. they altered it from air intake to liquid intake or other way can't really remember now

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[MattDRX]

Phil, it's not to heat up quicker it's to retain heat, it's a cast iron block which will take a lot longer to heat up but it'll stay warmer and retain it's heat for ages, ST is an Ally Block ( lighter too )

I guess the design had Eastern European and North American markets in mind as they have much wilder climates than ours, not like we ever go driving in blizzards which cause the engine to freeze up.

[NQbbe]

Actually they did do some work to have it warm up faster as well according to Ford's press material: http://1l-ecoboost.fordmedia.eu/documents/factsheets/FS_Ford1.0-litreEcoBoostEngine_EU.pdf

"A compact cast iron cylinder block design

features a small cylinder bore (71.9mm)

and a long stroke (82.0mm), contributing

to impressive torque figures. It’s also

extremely strong, allowing a gap of just

6.1mm between the cylinders – helping

achieve faster warm-up and improved

fuel economy."

But yes the iron will warm up slower than aluminium, and retain the heat longer.

[zed550]

Just reading the topic. Mine is a 1L 100HP ecoboost, and the aircon only cools the cabin to a solid level, not to a cold level. Was wondering if someone else had the same issues, it's good to see it's not just me.. So does the gas refilling not help?

[Willy]

I'm happy with my air con :) I don't use it much though.

[FOCA]

The reason MPG goes down in winter is largely because the engine takes longer to warm up, and thus you drive longer with auto-choke enabled.

Furthermore you usually have the heater all the way up, which further prolongs the engine warm up (the heater "steals" the heat from the engine), and finally heated windows use a lot of power, so the generator has to work harder, which in turn also costs fuel.

Agreed, the longer warm-up probably has the most effect on economy, compared to other factors, especially on a diesel that runs more efficiently at higher temps, there are other factors like the deavier air density increasing drag, which probably has a smaller effect