Anyone else noticed slight loss power when using the air conditioning. I understand that you do less m.p.g. but I notice jus slight hesitation when accelerating and loss of power as though its being starved of fuel. But without the A/C on its running perfect. I have the 1.4i titanium.

Yep. i have 1.25 and can tell the dif when i put my foot down!

+1, mk6 1.25 does the same. also takes the air con a minute or two to chill the air flow

Rather be cool than the extra 5 or so bhp to be honest. The 1.4 aint fast anyway so the loss of power is nothing.

Rather be cool than the extra 5 or so bhp to be honest. The 1.4 aint fast anyway so the loss of power is nothing.

Sorry Keith.

I am going to have to agree with you again :o

Air-con all the way! Everybody knows that its run off the engine, taking power and fuel. You're going to have to use the petrol anyway folks so get over it!

Sorry Keith.

I am going to have to agree with you again :o

Air-con all the way! Everybody knows that its run off the engine, taking power and fuel. You're going to have to use the petrol anyway folks so get over it!

A/C has been a life saver this week! I've only had my new Fiesta a couple of days and they happen to the be the hottest days of the year so far! My only worry is getting a sweaty steering wheel! Anything I can do to clean it?

...Not that I have sweaty hands, I just worry...

Rather be cool than the extra 5 or so bhp to be honest. The 1.4 aint fast anyway so the loss of power is nothing.

I had a 56 peugeot 307sw before this and didnt notice anythin like im finding on my ford when the air con was on. And as far as the speed goes that doesnt bother me if it did i would have got a faster car. Just wondered if it was normal and not a fault.

This is 100% normal for small engines, on bigger engines you wont notice it due to the amount of power the engine has.

A/C has been a life saver this week! I've only had my new Fiesta a couple of days and they happen to the be the hottest days of the year so far! My only worry is getting a sweaty steering wheel! Anything I can do to clean it?

...Not that I have sweaty hands, I just worry...

Just get a pack of cheap leather wipes, that should do it. You can always leave them in the glovebox.

Does anyone notice the AC isn't very good? It struggled to cool the car at 29'c earlier this week. Ok, it's hot, but come on - it's not that hot compared to somewhere like Spain or Italy!

I'm hoping it's just because it hasn't been used much since I got the car... No time to 'bed in'. At least since I've started using it the massive 'CLUNK' it makes switching on and off has started to quieten down. :)

Chris...

Does anyone notice the AC isn't very good? It struggled to cool the car at 29'c earlier this week. Ok, it's hot, but come on - it's not that hot compared to somewhere like Spain or Italy!

I'm hoping it's just because it hasn't been used much since I got the car... No time to 'bed in'. At least since I've started using it the massive 'CLUNK' it makes switching on and off has started to quieten down. :)

Chris...

It takes a while to get cold, once its cold i fine it fine. Ive only used mine for over 15mins about 5 times since ive had the car. Using it a lot more now its hot :)

Does anyone notice the AC isn't very good? It struggled to cool the car at 29'c earlier this week. Ok, it's hot, but come on - it's not that hot compared to somewhere like Spain or Italy!

I'm hoping it's just because it hasn't been used much since I got the car... No time to 'bed in'. At least since I've started using it the massive 'CLUNK' it makes switching on and off has started to quieten down. :)

Chris...

That's the good thing about climate control, you can leave the a/c on all the time and the climate control will decide when it's used. Icy cold for me when I've used it, no complaints at all.

They reckon anything up to 10% loss of power to drive and the fuel economy suffers by a similar amount when you use aircon - the options are turn it off or accept the consequences.

I've never had a car with A/c before so I've been using it this weekend. Brilliant! Even if I turn the AC off and just leave the blower on low (with the window up) its been good.

I've never had a car with A/c before so I've been using it this weekend. Brilliant! Even if I turn the AC off and just leave the blower on low (with the window up) its been good.

There's no reason to turn it off, in fact turning it off will do more harm than good. The specialists reckon it should be on all the time and it stops build up of bacteria and other problems. Also, with the climate control, that decides when the a/c is actually working as it's temperature dependent so In both our cars it's set to auto with a/c turned on, let the climate do the work for you.

That's the good thing about climate control, you can leave the a/c on all the time and the climate control will decide when it's used. Icy cold for me when I've used it, no complaints at all.

Yes, I have climate control - which basically means for any temperature below 18'c it'll ramp the fans to maximum power, which is... Noisy... But doesn't seem to cool any quicker.

Having said that it seems a bit better this morning, so I'm hoping it's just a 'give it time to bed in a little' thing. That and the fact the other day it was 29'c here and parked in the sun for a bit, so maybe it just didn't even get a chance to get cold!

Chris...

Absolutely love air con wouldn't be with out it, I don't notice any difference in power with it switched on as for fuel it will drop point 1 or 2 mpg that's all, well worth it. :)

I have the 1.4 Titanium and notice the power drop off. Have booked the car in to the dealers to be looked at as even set on low with the fan on highish, it only blows coolish air....should be chilled. Leaving on auto just keeps the fan on max.....noisy and no drop in temp !

I dont really use my air con that much I prefer to have my window open. I was sitting in traffic with a mate and decided to wack it on when i did we both heard this almighty clunk my mate thought the engine had dropped out lol I wudnt normally have noticed becuase I have my music loud but yeh looks like its normal =/

I have the 1.4 Titanium and notice the power drop off. Have booked the car in to the dealers to be looked at as even set on low with the fan on highish, it only blows coolish air....should be chilled. Leaving on auto just keeps the fan on max.....noisy and no drop in temp !

We had a problem with our focus air con it wouldn’t blow cold air just coolish air we took it to ford and they topped up the gas in the air con and it was fine after that.

My Mum left the A/C on all the time in her old fiesta and it broke within about a month! It used to sound like she had a crappy turbo coming up the road...no just the air con!

I dont really use my air con that much I prefer to have my window open. I was sitting in traffic with a mate and decided to wack it on when i did we both heard this almighty clunk my mate thought the engine had dropped out lol I wudnt normally have noticed becuase I have my music loud but yeh looks like its normal =/

It probably clunks because it hardly gets used.

Just a quick note about Climate Control - if you switch the AC on, the AC is on!

It doesn't matter if you set the temperature to something warmer than normal, the AC pump is still straining away and doing in your performance and fuel economy. If you run the AC continually, you can count on up-to another 8 - 10% on your fuel bill and the chance you'll bugger it. You can also look forward to extended mould growth on the matrix, as it's going to be flowing litres of water as it acts as a giant dehumidifier if it's not actively cooling the air.

The Ford climate control (a variation of the system in the Mazda-2) doesn't have a humidistat and hence will assume AC on while heating is a request to dehumidify; running the compressor at the same rate is if it was trying to cool the car.

So my advice would be to disengage the AC if you are not either cooling or demisting on humid / wet days.

Now having said that, it's a good idea to run the system for 10 minutes a week, rain, shine or snow - as this keeps the oil in the system moving - promoting healthy seals. Also, after a long period of running the AC, it's a good idea to switch it off and leave the fan running on high for a few minutes... This helps thaw and dry out the matrix - which helps stop mould growth and damp.

Chris...

Just a quick note about Climate Control - if you switch the AC on, the AC is on!

It doesn't matter if you set the temperature to something warmer than normal, the AC pump is still straining away and doing in your performance and fuel economy. If you run the AC continually, you can count on up-to another 8 - 10% on your fuel bill and the chance you'll bugger it. You can also look forward to extended mould growth on the matrix, as it's going to be flowing litres of water as it acts as a giant dehumidifier if it's not actively cooling the air.

The Ford climate control (a variation of the system in the Mazda-2) doesn't have a humidistat and hence will assume AC on while heating is a request to dehumidify; running the compressor at the same rate is if it was trying to cool the car.

So my advice would be to disengage the AC if you are not either cooling or demisting on humid / wet days.

Now having said that, it's a good idea to run the system for 10 minutes a week, rain, shine or snow - as this keeps the oil in the system moving - promoting healthy seals. Also, after a long period of running the AC, it's a good idea to switch it off and leave the fan running on high for a few minutes... This helps thaw and dry out the matrix - which helps stop mould growth and damp.

Chris...

Not this myth again about having a/c on all the time buggers it up.

They do sell cars with a/c in hot countries don't they? Think about it, that's what the thing is there for, to keep the car cool in hot conditions.

I've had 4 cars now over the last 8 years with climate and air con and over that time, they have all been set on, all the time, and guess what, never ever had a problem with any of them, no new compressors, no dodgy seals etc. As for the performance and mpg, well, the Fiesta has no performance to wain anyway and I'd rather be cool, have clear windows all the time all for the sake of 1 or 2 mpg. No big deal to me.

This is 100% normal for small engines, on bigger engines you wont notice it due to the amount of power the engine has.

Have to agree with you. Have a 1.8 and I don't feel loss of power at all with the air-con really.