air con = less mpg ?????

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mozz smith

mozz smith

Well-Known Member
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tameside manchester
:welcome2:hi all, probably daft question of the week , but who cares ,, here goes .. after fueling up on friday 4.6 v8 vogue + lpg ,i noticed this morning that both fuels gas and petrol were low AGAIN !!! the wifey had been using it all weekend :doh:. soon put a stop to this !!!!! anyway noticed that the air con was on full blast:cool: . she said she only put the demister on to clear the windscreen .then looked at me with a blank stare :confused::confused::confused:that only women can do !! so i presume that the air con uses double the fuel with a/c on either gas or petrol ?? so i was wondering that if i pull the fuse for a/c will that be ok ??? or will it cause becm problems or is there another way to stop it working as we dont get summers here to warrant the a/c being on for too long and it will save me money . i know u all will say get rid opf wifey it will be cheaper in the end ???? but i love her really .. any help would be appreciated cheers manchestermozz:):)
 
air con compressor is driven by injun
injun uses power to drive compressor..
ergo air con on = injun using more fuel

but not twice as much - more likely to be heavy rite boot of wife.

not a good idea to disable the air con - use it at least once a month to keep the system lubed and working correctly. If yu dont use it, yu can get all sorts of nasty bugs in the filters n stuff - by nasty I mean legionnaires disease etc :eek:.
 
Air con typically uses about 10% more fuel. Obviously it will vary from car to car but that's the typical estimate.

It's possible that your wife's driving style contributed to increased fuel consumption. Driving styles can have a huge impact on fuel consumption and many people do not realise this. For instance, my father always revs excessively and uses a lot more fuel because of it. Anyone would think he's a mission to get to break a world record. The trick is to keep the revs down.
 
mozz smith said:
:welcome2:hi all, probably daft question of the week , but who cares ,, here goes .. after fueling up on friday 4.6 v8 vogue + lpg ,i noticed this morning that both fuels gas and petrol were low AGAIN !!! the wifey had been using it all weekend :doh:. soon put a stop to this !!!!! anyway noticed that the air con was on full blast:cool: . she said she only put the demister on to clear the windscreen .then looked at me with a blank stare :confused::confused::confused:that only women can do !! so i presume that the air con uses double the fuel with a/c on either gas or petrol ?? so i was wondering that if i pull the fuse for a/c will that be ok ??? or will it cause becm problems or is there another way to stop it working as we dont get summers here to warrant the a/c being on for too long and it will save me money . i know u all will say get rid opf wifey it will be cheaper in the end ???? but i love her really .. any help would be appreciated cheers manchestermozz:):)
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Switching the aircon off could be a good move. In California Swartzathingy was considering banning black cars to reduce emissions, because they heat up more in the sun and need aircon all the time. So as long as your five litre engined car is not black it's environmentally friendly according to the Yanks. And you can run your aircon as much as you like. You could not make it up.:D:D:D
 
Yes, it does use more fuel, but not double. Could be how she drives it, women tend (NOT ALL) to use more fuel driving due to lots of factors. Some only apply to manual cars but still: they stop more often, so more standing starts, they slip the clutch and rev excessively (and burn out clutches) they often don't drive smoothly they will pulse the throttle so the engine is often throwing in more fuel that if it was just allowed to cruise, they select the wrong gears then sit for 10 miles doing too many revs, or floor it and nothing happens generally wasting fuel. In auto's they don't drive that extra mile or two faster so that the gearbox will shift up, so the box stays in a lower gear burning more fuel.

Now for the PC bit, there are also plenty of guys who then drive too fast and brake all the time wasting fuel, but there is a good in between.
 
Imo people should ideally drive a 4x4 as if they were driving a bus.

- Take corners slower
- Go easy on the revs
- Drive at 60 instead of 70 mph on dual carriageways / motorways
- Park at bus stops
- Move off while people are trying to pass you
 
discomania said:
Yes, it does use more fuel, but not double. Could be how she drives it, women tend (NOT ALL) to use more fuel driving due to lots of factors. Some only apply to manual cars but still: they stop more often, so more standing starts, they slip the clutch and rev excessively (and burn out clutches) they often don't drive smoothly they will pulse the throttle so the engine is often throwing in more fuel that if it was just allowed to cruise, they select the wrong gears then sit for 10 miles doing too many revs, or floor it and nothing happens generally wasting fuel. In auto's they don't drive that extra mile or two faster so that the gearbox will shift up, so the box stays in a lower gear burning more fuel.

Now for the PC bit, there are also plenty of guys who then drive too fast and brake all the time wasting fuel, but there is a good in between.
Click to expand...

Very true break the speed limit slightly use less fuel. Driving my DSE auto around town at or less than 30mph drinks the stuff.
 
discomania said:
Yes, it does use more fuel, but not double. Could be how she drives it, women tend (NOT ALL) to use more fuel driving due to lots of factors. Some only apply to manual cars but still: they stop more often, so more standing starts, they slip the clutch and rev excessively (and burn out clutches) they often don't drive smoothly they will pulse the throttle so the engine is often throwing in more fuel that if it was just allowed to cruise, they select the wrong gears then sit for 10 miles doing too many revs, or floor it and nothing happens generally wasting fuel. In auto's they don't drive that extra mile or two faster so that the gearbox will shift up, so the box stays in a lower gear burning more fuel.

Now for the PC bit, there are also plenty of guys who then drive too fast and brake all the time wasting fuel, but there is a good in between.
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thanks disco didn't know youv'e met my missus :D:D:D cheers for info ,,she's goin
 
mozz smith said:
thanks disco didn't know youv'e met my missus :D:D:D cheers for info ,,she's goin
Click to expand...

My DHSE usees more fuel in winter when the aircon compressor rarely runs even though its on all the time, than it does in summer. Switching the aircon off in summer makes just over 1mpg difference:D The V8 is so juicy I doubt you would notice the difference:p
 
Id the aircon is set to Auto but the cabin temp set to 21 degrees plus, is the air con still working or is the heater just doing its stuff and the aircon clicks in at lower temps?

I leave mine on Auto mostly but will turn it off and just have the heater if it makes a difference.

Also, when I had a disco 3 the city/town driving MPG figures were normally better when driving in Sport mode. Anyone tested the P38 in this way?
 
mozz smith said:
she said she only put the demister on to clear the windscreen .then looked at me with a blank stare that only women can do !)
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Heh, don't be too harsh on her..........

When I demist my car it switches on the fecking air con on too - Never really been able to figure that out - does it in the wifeys Mini as well.

So, she might well be telling you the truth - she never did touch the aircon, it came on by itself. Fer whatever reason.
 
milonic said:
Heh, don't be too harsh on her..........

When I demist my car it switches on the fecking air con on too - Never really been able to figure that out - does it in the wifeys Mini as well.

So, she might well be telling you the truth - she never did touch the aircon, it came on by itself. Fer whatever reason.
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Aircon comes on in demist mode because the aircon removes moisture from the air thus aiding demist:D
 
There's nothing wrong with the car


however


might I suggest that you trade in the missus for a newer model and then train it to drive the car properly.
 
My aircon costs about 2 mpg, or did when it was working. I guess that's around ten percent.

If you want to disable it, undo the multiplug at the compressor - easier than finding the fuse?

FOr the cost of the divorce, the new courtship and the retraining, you could buy a lot of unleaded...
 
Last edited:
Datatek said:
My DHSE usees more fuel in winter when the aircon compressor rarely runs even though its on all the time, than it does in summer. Switching the aircon off in summer makes just over 1mpg difference:D The V8 is so juicy I doubt you would notice the difference:p
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i think datatek is spot on !!!
the ac is on all the time unless you press the ac off button,
the ac works on both hot and cold ,you will find on warm /hot it will clear the windows faster as the ac helps remove moisture from the air
i have tested the ac on both my p38s ac on and ac off and i can say i cannot tell the difference in mpg
the range rover was designed as a luxury motor car with ac so i say use it :)
 
Goodfella said:
I

Also, when I had a disco 3 the city/town driving MPG figures were normally better when driving in Sport mode. Anyone tested the P38 in this way?
Click to expand...
Interesting point Goodfella, I often put mine in sport mode as i prefer the gearbox mapping, its more like i would drive if it were a manual. If it were to improve MPG that would be a real bonus
 
discomania said:
In auto's they don't drive that extra mile or two faster so that the gearbox will shift up, so the box stays in a lower gear burning more fuel.
Click to expand...

My '87 Classic shifts into o/drive & lock-up at 40 mph on normal throttle, bit of a pain if you are merging with fast traffic (then you have to use more boot to hold 3rd a bit longer) but I'm rarely in a hurry & that setting is generally ideal for the country lanes around here when you can cruise as low as 40 & still be in fuel saving OD.
 
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