A/C or no A/C for daily driver?

[ToddM]

All of mine worked about as well as any 911, which is better than any BMW since the E36.. talk about worthless climate control

[fintstone]

Originally posted by LWJ
Hello,

First question of many, I suspect. I am wanting to move to a 911 daily driver...

If you drive your current daily driver comfortably all summer without using the A/C...it is likely that you will not need it in your 911. Otherwise you should probably expect to want it. All 911 A/C can be upgraded/modernized to work quite well if you spend the money. Even POS cars like KIAs have working A/C. Surely a 911 should.

[KFC911]

Originally posted by ToddM
...When the cell phone rings, you can't answer an important phone call with the widows down... .

When I'm driving with the windows down listening to the music from the premuffler/sport muffler, I can't even hear my phone ring...as it should be

[Tim Hancock]

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Open the windows, puss.

Ever flown a C-47 that's been sitting in the sun all day? I'm old enough to have...

No, but I used to have a Grumman with a bubble canopy that made me feel like an ant under a magnifying glass on hot summer days. I am 40 and have owned and driven many cars without AC. I have worked construction jobs, worn mop suits on hot days in the Army, raced MX in August etc etc. I just get a kick out of folks who because they don't know how to fix something, say that that component is worthless dead weight. Maybe you track your car or truly enjoy driving home 40 miles in 100 degree on the pavement temps. I myself chose the challenge of fixing my once defunct AC and I am more than happy with the results. Believe it or not, I am pretty old school when it comes to alot of the high tech crap put in cars these days and I have only owned a cell phone for two years, but AC has been around for a long time and if my car has it, I am going to use it.

I wonder how many folks who poo poo AC in daily driver cars have AC or whole house fans in their homes? Ok, we probably don't want to go there

Ultimately, I don't care what someone else chooses, but this thread asked for opinions, and he is getting them. I called you a liar, you called me a puss.....it's all good

[ToddM]

Originally posted by KC911
When I'm driving with the windows down listening to the music from the premuffler/sport muffler, I can't even hear my phone ring...as it should be

Must be nice to not have to be within a phone calls reach away at any time!

[KFC911]

Originally posted by ToddM
Must be nice to not have to be within a phone calls reach away at any time!

I used to be tied to my cell phone years ago... I don't miss those days

[the]

Originally posted by Tim Hancock

I wonder how many folks who poo poo AC in daily driver cars have AC or whole house fans in their homes? Ok, we probably don't want to go there

Ultimately, I don't care what someone else chooses, but this thread asked for opinions, and he is getting them. I called you a liar, you called me a puss.....it's all good

If this man and this car can have working AC, then so can you!

[Joeaksa]

Drove my 85 model daily for 5 years in Dallas where its hot and humid. Then moved to Phoenix where its an oven in the summer and drove it daily for another 2 years. Could it have been better? Hell yes but it worked and did a descent job.

Agree that the 86 and newer models are better in this area but find a good car in the 85 or newer area and you should be ok. I say 85 and newer as 1984 was the first year of the DME cars and I like to stay away from any "first year" car.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Open the windows, puss.

Ever flown a C-47 that's been sitting in the sun all day? I'm old enough to have...

Ahhh puss and boots, the hearing in my left ear is down 8% from flying DC-3's and listening to the wind noise and radial engine throbbing 3 feet from my head for many years. Believe that I might have a bit of experience here from this.

Close the window and turn the A/C on! The reason why the "Diesel 3" did not have A/C is that you can climb to an altitude where its cooler. When your 911 sprouts wings pls show us otherwise we can do without the puss comments.

Not all of us live in a forest in upstate NY. Those of us who live in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, LA and Florida do not have much choice during summer and need A/C.

[rnln]

Hi Tim,
I finally got some cold air now. And yeah, only on the freeway with high speed moving. On local road, it's just cool, not cold. Why?
I got 134 now and the condensor on the engine lid is the "procooler" or something like that, not the stock one. I also add a big fan inside the tea tray tail, blowing air into the engine through the condensor. Honestly, I don't feel the fan helps.

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
Living in Ohio, with many 90 degree humid summer days and the fact that my '79 SC has a black interior and sits in the sun at work, I would not drive it the 40 miles each way very often if the AC did not work. My AC is stock except for the 134. It blows cold once on the highway even on hot days, but it only blows cool in town on 90 degree days till I get on the highway. Blowing cool air is much nicer than sitting in traffic on the hot black pavement with the windows down with the 100+ degree asphalt heated air roasting you.

[911nut]

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
Air conditioning is for pussies, unless you live in Houston or Florida or the like.

A/C is necessary even in Michigan from June to September. It frequently in the 90's and 90% humidity. I do a fair amount of e-way driving and I don't care to go deaf on account of wind noise when I'm doing 100.

[ToddM]

You should be out here in CA today.. I had A/C on the entire time.

I also find that A/C works great for quick window defogging in the winter

[CarreraDan]

Guys,
My ac in my 88 never really worked so one nice fall day I removed it--all of it. Last Sunday we went on a 4 hour drive through the mountains and it was in the mid 90's with humidity in the 90's. The future wife was miserable and honestly I wished we had taken the Jeep with its wonderful ac. I was just glad that it wasn't my idea to drive the Carrera. So, this is the last summer I am going to suffer through without the ac. This fall I am going to get the Rennaire system with new hoses and put it all back. For me it will make the car that much more enjoyable even if I do add 50lbs back into it.

For those of us in the south you really don't have a choice unless you just don't drive the car from the end of June to the first of September. Night runs are ok but if you get stuck in traffic--which we have more of everyday you will get drenched in sweat.

[ToddM]

Hell, she probably won't marry you until you get the A/C back in... I'd leave it out.

[Driver Ed]

I'd say those of us in the south still DO have a choice. My '82 is a daily driver and I pulled out the AC a few years ago. I think it depends on your expectations and preferences. I live in North Carolina, and the windows to my home office are open right now, and I the only reason I've had the top on my Targa all week is because of a little rain this afternoon. My wife, OTOH, almost always has the AC on in both the car and the house during the summer here.

Ultimately, I think it depends on your preferences. If you imagine a 90F humid North Carolina day in the summer, imagine yourself with a 911 Cabriolet with the top down and the windows down enjoying the wind. Now imagine yourself in a 911 coupe with the windows up, enjoying the sound of the engine and 72F interior temperature. Which would make you happier?

[ToddM]

the targa and cab are only good for when you are actually rolling forward. sometimes i am stuck in over an hour of 5-20mph crawling

[hytem]

Originally posted by Formerly Steve Wilkinson
I live about 60 miles north of Manhattan, in the Hudson River Valley. We have a new Volvo V50, a 2005 Boxster, an '83 SC and a 2000 Audi A4 wagon that our daughter has actually taken off to San Francisco. Never used the a/c in any of them, other than running it every once in awhile to keep the seals lubed. (Actually, the SC lost its a/c totally while I was rebuilding it.)

Air conditioning is for pussies, unless you live in Houston or Florida or the like.

Use the sunroof on warm days. And run the ac blower w/o refrigerant to push fresh air through the center vents--which only operate thru the ac blower. AC heats up your engine, and you don't want that unless you are efficiently cooling that oil with a good heat exchanger on the front end. The "trombone" type I had on my SC is inadequate on hot days(Adrian Streather agrees in his SC book), and ultimately probably accounts for a lot of the oil leaks in older SCs.

Enjoyed your book, Steve, and agree that the 911 is more oil-than air-cooled. Though I've been told the cylinders are air-cooled. I wrote a thread on Rennlist about the importance of oil cooling vs oil leaks, which Steve Weiner seemed to agree with. You want to avoid oil temps much over 200F, or sooner or later (25 years!) the seals will go. Water cooling is more efficient than air or oil, which is one of the reasons I traded my SC for a Boxster. The Boxster is a heckuva car.

[ToddM]

If you get a real front oil cooler with a fan, youre temps will drop dramitically.. even with my 3.6 and AC on I'm still barely over the first bar. The thermostat was even hot water tested for accuracy and it's dead on.

[dentist90]

When it's 90 degrees outside opening the windows/sunroof only help turn your car into a CONVECTION oven. The black interiors seem to keep themselves disproportionately warm on sunny days somehow. There's nothing wrong with A/C for a daily driver. If you're tracking your car and only have to worry about 1 Hr sprints with ball-sweating, brain-baking heat then don't have it. If you have a 1hr commute in traffic after a hard day at work... keep the system charged, I say!

Addendum: I always switch mine off when getting ready to pass vehicles or driving thru a 'sporting' section of road. Need that extra 5 HP.

[fintstone]

The A/C in my '74 works so well that I can drive with the targa top off at 95 and still be comfortable. Having a lot of 35 degree air blowing on you sure makes a difference.
If you have a good working A/C...youi can always choose to turn it of...but if you pull it out...you sure cannot turn it on.