Kizashi Club

I have been impressed by how quickly and powerfully the heater works in sub-freezing temperatures, but I haven't had a chance yet to see how well the A/C works in hot weather. Has anyone from a hot climate had any experiences with their A/C, either good or bad?

I'm in southern California, so I've had to use it in 70 degree weather. It works. I've felt colder in other cars, but it does do its job. I'll see how it does once summer really hits with blistering heat this August / September. I definitely need to get my tint done before then!

I've thought about tinting the windows out, mostly to keep the car cooler, since I have a dark blue exterior, but my DW claims that the only people in Springfield who tint their windows are drug dealers. I don't necessarily buy that, but I do have to live with her...

I'm in Philadelphia, but it got pretty hot last summer. I found the AC to be very good.

I think the A/C is pretty good. At about 1 pm, just north of Tampa (US 41 & SR 54) it was 81 degrees in direct sunlight. Working at normal idle speed, it took about twenty seconds for noticeably cooler air to come out the vents. After two minutes or so, the car no longer felt hot.

I usually leave the fan on second speed (two bars). The temp knobs are both at 70. I don't use "Auto" at all. It won't tolerate any interference from the driver, so I leave it on just "A/C".

When things begin to warm up around here to the usual 90+ mid-day temps, I'll give you an update on how fast things go. Also, I have an old a/c thermometer to stick into the vent openings, so I'll tell you about Output Air Temp. too.

We had our first real warm day here in Western MA today, where the temps reached 86 degrees (30C). I found that the AC worked quickly and efficiently, with no uncomfortable drafts: AMEN

I have been SUPER impressed with how fast the AC cools down on the multiple 90+ sunny days here in Houston. Pop the sunroof, and it's practically instant.

My only complaint is the AUTO setting ain't so much ...

~tc~ wrote: My only complaint is the AUTO setting ain't so much ...

I feel the same! Climate control on my last Mazda 6 seemed to do a much better job on Auto (here in western australia it gets pretty warm in summer and I think the A/C on the Mazda6 was more efficient too), I stick to manual control in my Kizashi now.

tigerbangs54:

"Has anyone from a hot climate had any experiences with their A/C?"

I got the thermometer (a/c in-dash from AutoZone, $6.99) and a watch and found the following:

It is just past noon, and the car is parked on black ashpalt, windows closed. The dash readout indicates 91 F. The a/c thermometer reads approximately 130 F. The steering wheel is too hot to touch at the top of the wheel, and is wrapped in a do-it-yourself leather cover from AZ.
Time is 12:03 PM. The blower is on 3rd speed

At 1 minute, the output air is reading 110 F. At 2 minutes, the temp. passed below 80 F. There isn't any doubt the A/C is working fine. At four (4) minutes the reading is 58-60 F. It now feels really good. When I got to I-275 SB, and up to cruising speed, it settled into a steady 48 to 50 degrees, and stayed there.

This "test" was done on the manual a/c setting. I don't use "Auto". The blower stayed at 3 bars (third speed) at all times. Finally, I keep both sides of the temp-selector at 71 F. and do not use "Dual" at all.

So... Does the Kizashi A/C system work?? You bet your sweet (***) it does. I don't really know how you could improve it.

Question for you: when you ran your test, sis you have the AC in the RECIRC mode, or in the fresh-air mode? The RECIRC mode usually cools the car off a lot faster.