# A/C absolutely KILLS engine power and other issues...



## Tonka (Mar 27, 2012)

I have a 2012 Eco with the 6MT with ~8900 miles on it.

When I turn on the A/C, the car loses almost all it's power. Hills I could cruise up in 5th or 6th have to be taken in third. Putting the pedal to the floor in 5th or 6th on the highway makes the A/C compressor turn off. On top of that, the A/C doesn't blow that cold to begin with. Also, when that is all going on, some of the electronics will seem to freak out. I was at a stop sign, went to accelerate, and the speedo jumped to 30 and back. Radio will intermittently change functions or stop reading the USB at the same time.

I'm thinking over-charged system or bad compressor is causing the engine to bog down. 

Ideas?


----------



## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Check your spark plug gap. A/C will rob a lot of power, but many have noted that this problem is particularly bad with incorrect spark plug gaps set, which 100% of them seem to be from the factory.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

If you're running 87 octane with bad spark plug gaps, the car is an absolute pig with the AC running. 

I've found I get pretty similar performance to how it normally behaves without AC by running 89 with gaps at .035".


----------



## GoldenCruze (Dec 18, 2011)

Am I the only one who is not experiencing real power loss with the AC running? And on top of that it is plenty cold.


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

GoldenCruze said:


> Am I the only one who is not experiencing real power loss with the AC running? And on top of that it is plenty cold.


What's your secret? lol


----------



## GoldenCruze (Dec 18, 2011)

> What's your secret? lol


 No secret. Perhaps it is because I'm not trying to get high performance out of an economy car, so I drive it normally. And I set the fan for the AC at 2 or 3 (usually 2) after cooling on speed 4. And I use recirculate. Or perhaps my car is a lemon compared to the rest of the fleet.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

GoldenCruze said:


> Am I the only one who is not experiencing real power loss with the AC running? And on top of that it is plenty cold.


I'm not having any problem either and the temperatures have been in the high 90s to low 100s (oxymoron alert - "low 100s"). I have regapped to 0.035 and run 91 octane. When the temps drop back into the 70s I'll switch back to 87 octane. 89 is hard to find on my daily commute.


----------



## TwelveCruze (Nov 24, 2011)

GoldenCruze said:


> Am I the only one who is not experiencing real power loss with the AC running? And on top of that it is plenty cold.


I have a manual and with A/C I have to downshift sometimes to a lower gear than when the A/C is off. No big deal to me. I have always driven cars that have less thrust with the A/C on. I am used to it, I guess. I am recently out of a 6 cyl. vehicle so I certainly notice the difference in both power and gas mileage :yahoo:.


----------



## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

Our little 4cyl power is impacted a bit by running the A/C. I do have to say since last summer when I first got my ECO MT, it is now way better at managing the A/C load. Last July the car would bog dangerously from a dead stop. Now with tune, 93 octane, spark plugs regapped and drop in K&N filter the car does fine. I have owned in the past cars with bigger 4 cylinder engines (2.3 to 2.5 litres) that seemed to be less affected by running A/C.


----------



## varkwso (May 6, 2012)

It is noticeable on mine also. The speedometer jump sitting at red light has occured to me. Gets your attention. Any idea on cause?


----------



## upstater (Feb 22, 2011)

My 2011 2LT was horrible when the a/c was on. And, yes, it does not blow anywhere near as cold as my other dozen or so cars I've owned. Then last week I regapped the plugs from .024 to .035 and it runs much better with the a/c on. Still running 87 octane but will run a tank of 89 through next to see if it helps even more.


----------



## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

GoldenCruze said:


> No secret. Perhaps it is because I'm not trying to get high performance out of an economy car, so I drive it normally. And I set the fan for the AC at 2 or 3 (usually 2) after cooling on speed 4. And I use recirculate. Or perhaps my car is a lemon compared to the rest of the fleet.


X2

Mine dont seem to have any issues either...


----------



## cfordg57 (Feb 26, 2012)

I will say that it is great on gas (40 mpg in rural NH driving with lots of hills) but the performance with the a/c on is terrible. I have the Eco MT and coming out of a traffic circle at about 10mph I shifted down to 2nd and tried to accelerate out and it stalled. Absolutely no power until you get up to about 2500rpm. Just took it to the dealer today complaining about this and the lack of ability to cool the car. They adjusted the plugs (found at .025 and they adjusted to .033) after I said I had read and brought in the spreadsheet you guys put up here. They agreed the plugs were not set right and covered it under warranty. Of course I don't know for sure what they did. I also mentioned that some have found the a/c to be undercharged. They said they ordered a new pressure switch and connector. Does anyone know if this will help? I tested the air from the vent the other day when it was 95 outside and the best digital reading it recorded was 51 degrees. My wifes 2008 Honda Civic was able to get to 42 degrees. I had both on recirculate and the highest blower setting after the car had been run for 25 minutes from work.
I guess the next step is to step up to a higher octane gas for the summer but a an additional 17 cents a gallon that is kind of defeating the gas savings. The dealer actually told me about the recall and ordered the part (some kind of shield I think) so I can hopefully get everything done the next visit.


----------



## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

cfordg57 said:


> I guess the next step is to step up to a higher octane gas for the summer but a an additional 17 cents a gallon that is kind of defeating the gas savings.


I have kept track of every fill up so far I average 2.5mpg better running midgrade(89octane). seems to get a couple more on premium, well worth the extra cost. Especially when its hot out, I loose 5+mpg average running regular gas on my usual routes when its 85+ outside.


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

cfordg57 said:


> I will say that it is great on gas (40 mpg in rural NH driving with lots of hills) but the performance with the a/c on is terrible. I have the Eco MT and coming out of a traffic circle at about 10mph I shifted down to 2nd and tried to accelerate out and it stalled. Absolutely no power until you get up to about 2500rpm. Just took it to the dealer today complaining about this and the lack of ability to cool the car. They adjusted the plugs (found at .025 and they adjusted to .033) after I said I had read and brought in the spreadsheet you guys put up here. They agreed the plugs were not set right and covered it under warranty. Of course I don't know for sure what they did. I also mentioned that some have found the a/c to be undercharged. They said they ordered a new pressure switch and connector. Does anyone know if this will help? I tested the air from the vent the other day when it was 95 outside and the best digital reading it recorded was 51 degrees. My wifes 2008 Honda Civic was able to get to 42 degrees. I had both on recirculate and the highest blower setting after the car had been run for 25 minutes from work.
> I guess the next step is to step up to a higher octane gas for the summer but a an additional 17 cents a gallon that is kind of defeating the gas savings. The dealer actually told me about the recall and ordered the part (some kind of shield I think) so I can hopefully get everything done the next visit.


I would probably skip getting the new recall shield if i were you. They have hacked it up into two small pieces that will most likely leave a big portion of the underside of your car exposed now.


----------



## cfordg57 (Feb 26, 2012)

Would that require signing a release for declining the recall? Also I thought I saw something about another or maybe the same alteration for Eco's with the M/T? Do you know anything about this?

I think the next fillup I will try the 89 octane to see if it helps with power as I see using the a/c for the next few months a lot. Would be worth it especially if the mpg goes up as well.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The MT versions of the Cruze will have some additional work done to reroute wiring/tubing so that a possible worn clutch related high pressure leak from the clutch housing doesn't spray on it. Although seperate from the chopping of the belly plate, it may be part of the reason the belly plate chop is so extensive. (Where does this leak end up?)

I wonder if some of the few outright failed clutches GM has had to replace showed this leak.


----------



## dannylightning (Jun 24, 2012)

i just picked up a 2012 eco, MT 1.4 liter. i have no issues with the AC being on, the AC is cold, the car seems to have just as much power with the AC on as it does with the AC off, i do notice when i shift gears the AC will go to a lower power for a second and after i am done shifting it goes back to full power, i was told its made like that so it does not rob the engine of power when you need it. not sure of the 2011 or any other model of cruse is like this or not. 

the AC in my cruse is nice and cold, 93o out and after about 5 or 10 min of driving the car had cooled down and, i had the AC on high and had to turn it down to the second lowest setting cus i keep the AC vents blowing directly on me and it was a bit to chilly, the car stayed nice and cool for the rest of my drive with the AC on the second lowest setting..

i ran out half a tank of gas (only had the car a few days) and i filled it up with 93, i am sure the dealer put 87 in there. so i guess that would be like running 90 octane gas, i notice a huge difference in the way the car drives as far as how much power the car has after sticking half a tank of 93 in there. the next few fill ups will be with 93 octane. this is a turbo charged car, i know GM says its made to run on 87 but i don't care what they say, you should be running at least 89 octane in a turbo charged car IMO. i have had a couple Merkur XR4Ti 's 2.3 liter turbo, so i am pretty familiar with a turbo charged car and after seeing the difference it made putting half a tank of 93 in there i do not agree with putting 87 octane in my car.

my non turbo cars did not benefit one bit from higher grade gasoline, but my Merkurs did and this car like higher octane gas as well, that's got to tell you something right there.


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Tonka said:


> I have a 2012 Eco with the 6MT with ~8900 miles on it.
> 
> When I turn on the A/C, the car loses almost all it's power. Hills I could cruise up in 5th or 6th have to be taken in third. Putting the pedal to the floor in 5th or 6th on the highway makes the A/C compressor turn off. On top of that, the A/C doesn't blow that cold to begin with. Also, when that is all going on, some of the electronics will seem to freak out. I was at a stop sign, went to accelerate, and the speedo jumped to 30 and back. Radio will intermittently change functions or stop reading the USB at the same time.
> 
> ...




Tonka,
I would suggest that you take your vehicle into your dealer and have them look into this for you. Please keep me posted on this issue. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## cruzin2012 (Jan 12, 2012)

Mine is a dog with the AC on also. Let us know what the dealer says.


----------



## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

I stall my car almost daily with the A/C on. I just started using the A/C this week because i prefer to just open the windows, and off boost it's very noticeable. 

The 1.4 has zero guts off boost to begin with, so a little compressor drag is a big deal around town. 

That said, i've also towed a utility trailer with a sport bike on it hundreds of miles in 95-100* heat (AC blasting) with no issues as long as i kept the revs up a bit in town. Highway was no problem either cruising up normal hills in 6th whille towing with the AC on, but i don't have an ECO so i have lower gears. 

A/C is pretty pathetic on this car also. On seriously hot days i have to leave it on the highest fan setting, with recirculate, just to maintain 70-75 degrees in the car. Air is cool, but not cold like i would expect. Having to listen to the blower maxed out for a 3 hour trip is annoying at best.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Hoon said:


> I stall my car almost daily with the A/C on. I just started using the A/C this week because i prefer to just open the windows, and off boost it's very noticeable.
> 
> The 1.4 has zero guts off boost to begin with, so a little compressor drag is a big deal around town.
> 
> ...


Have you regapped your plugs? I have the exact same car; one of the first things I noticed about it was it bogging to the point off idle where I was going to stall or be hit pulling out into traffic. Increasing the gap to .035" made a HUGE difference in drivability around town for me. It still does bog a little with the AC on, but it's very drivable.

Having the fan/compressor on setting 4 just kills it though.


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

cfordg57 said:


> I will say that it is great on gas (40 mpg in rural NH driving with lots of hills) but the performance with the a/c on is terrible. I have the Eco MT and coming out of a traffic circle at about 10mph I shifted down to 2nd and tried to accelerate out and it stalled. Absolutely no power until you get up to about 2500rpm. Just took it to the dealer today complaining about this and the lack of ability to cool the car. They adjusted the plugs (found at .025 and they adjusted to .033) after I said I had read and brought in the spreadsheet you guys put up here. They agreed the plugs were not set right and covered it under warranty. Of course I don't know for sure what they did. I also mentioned that some have found the a/c to be undercharged. They said they ordered a new pressure switch and connector. Does anyone know if this will help? I tested the air from the vent the other day when it was 95 outside and the best digital reading it recorded was 51 degrees. My wifes 2008 Honda Civic was able to get to 42 degrees. I had both on recirculate and the highest blower setting after the car had been run for 25 minutes from work.
> I guess the next step is to step up to a higher octane gas for the summer but a an additional 17 cents a gallon that is kind of defeating the gas savings. The dealer actually told me about the recall and ordered the part (some kind of shield I think) so I can hopefully get everything done the next visit.




cfordg57,
Please keep me posted on your progress with these concerns. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> cfordg57,
> Please keep me posted on your progress with these concerns. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
> Thank you,
> Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service



Stacy, can you please relay all the complaints about the Cruze's inadequate A/C power and effectiveness, especially during 80+ degree days, to Chevy/GM? Thanks!! Hopefully, if Chevy hasn't addressed this in the 2013 Cruzes they will come out with software or something that can address it and hopefully it can be totally fixed for 2014.


----------



## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I think a lot of this has to do with both expectation and spark plug gap. It's a 1.4L motor, which is not very powerful until you get some boost in it. At low boost levels with A/C on, you really don't have a whole lot of power. A lot of people are used to significantly larger engines, so even though the car seems slower, it's quite normal. 

I find myself needing to shift 500-750rpm higher when I have A/C on because of the reduction in power. That said, I still managed to average 40.1mpg on my last tank of gas with 100% A/C use the entire time. I think the trade-off is worth it.


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hoon said:


> I stall my car almost daily with the A/C on. I just started using the A/C this week because i prefer to just open the windows, and off boost it's very noticeable.
> 
> The 1.4 has zero guts off boost to begin with, so a little compressor drag is a big deal around town.
> 
> ...



Hoon,
Have you had your dealer look into this issue for you? I would like you to keep me posted on the progress with your dealer. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Starks8 said:


> Stacy, can you please relay all the complaints about the Cruze's inadequate A/C power and effectiveness, especially during 80+ degree days, to Chevy/GM? Thanks!! Hopefully, if Chevy hasn't addressed this in the 2013 Cruzes they will come out with software or something that can address it and hopefully it can be totally fixed for 2014.




Starks8,
I have recorded and sent all this information to the proper people regarding the concerns with the A/C. When I have more information to report I will pass it along to everyone. If you have any further questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## cfordg57 (Feb 26, 2012)

Hi Stacy,

I am currently waiting for a pressure switch that my dealer ordered for the a/c so I am withholding judgement until that is installed. My dealer did regap the plugs under warranty finding them at .025 which they regapped to .033. This did help with the bogging down especially with the a/c running but I still think this is a poorly designed system. It might be adequate in the M/T on the other Cruzes, but with the gearing in the ECO it is almost a saftey issue at take off with the a/c running. As I said previously I am very disappointed in the ability of the a/c to cool the cabin but I am waiting to see if the dealer can fix this issue with the part he wants to change and possibly add more freon??? I have read other posts here that commented that it was definately low on freon thus the poor performance. I know others in very hot states like Arizona are saying that theirs blows cold air so I think there must be something wrong with the units in this post. I will update when I make it back from the dealer. I would definately advise others who have not already done so to check the gap of their plugs though.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

cfordg57 said:


> Hi Stacy,
> 
> I am currently waiting for a pressure switch that my dealer ordered for the a/c so I am withholding judgement until that is installed. My dealer did regap the plugs under warranty finding them at .025 which they regapped to .033. This did help with the bogging down especially with the a/c running but I still think this is a poorly designed system. It might be adequate in the M/T on the other Cruzes, but with the gearing in the ECO it is almost a saftey issue at take off with the a/c running. As I said previously I am very disappointed in the ability of the a/c to cool the cabin but I am waiting to see if the dealer can fix this issue with the part he wants to change and possibly add more freon??? I have read other posts here that commented that it was definately low on freon thus the poor performance. I know others in very hot states like Arizona are saying that theirs blows cold air so I think there must be something wrong with the units in this post. I will update when I make it back from the dealer. I would definately advise others who have not already done so to check the gap of their plugs though.


I haven't had any problems at 5,000+ ft and 100+ degrees with my ECO MT running the A/C. As XtremeRevolution did note, you have to shift at higher RPMs in this situation. I actually enjoy driving a car that forces me to reevaluate my driving style as the year goes on. It keeps me from getting complacent on my daily commute. My plugs are at 0.035".


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

cfordg57 said:


> Hi Stacy,
> 
> I am currently waiting for a pressure switch that my dealer ordered for the a/c so I am withholding judgement until that is installed. My dealer did regap the plugs under warranty finding them at .025 which they regapped to .033. This did help with the bogging down especially with the a/c running but I still think this is a poorly designed system. It might be adequate in the M/T on the other Cruzes, but with the gearing in the ECO it is almost a saftey issue at take off with the a/c running. As I said previously I am very disappointed in the ability of the a/c to cool the cabin but I am waiting to see if the dealer can fix this issue with the part he wants to change and possibly add more freon??? I have read other posts here that commented that it was definately low on freon thus the poor performance. I know others in very hot states like Arizona are saying that theirs blows cold air so I think there must be something wrong with the units in this post. I will update when I make it back from the dealer. I would definately advise others who have not already done so to check the gap of their plugs though.


Let us all know how this goes/turns out! I hope Stacy has communicated to Chevy the problems many forum members have expressed they are having with the A/C, like it's inability to cool the cabin, a possible lack of A/C refrigerant and the lack of power the car has when the A/C is on.


----------



## mrbean8686 (Jun 23, 2012)

I live in Denver, CO and the last five days we been having 100+ degrees and the a/c is not keeping up even on full fan speed. I'm now subscribed to this thread, hopefully we have an answer from GM soon because this is just unacceptable. I've had other GM cars where I need to sometimes turn off the a/c because it gets frosty cold the cruze is just cool but not cold enough to cool down the car during the day. 

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

It seems now that too many people have complained about this problem with the A/C for something not to be majorly wrong here! I hope Chevy has taken notice of these complaints and figures out a true fix for this!


----------



## litesong (Oct 14, 2011)

GoldenCruze said:


> No secret. Perhaps it is because I'm not trying to get high performance out of an economy car, so I drive it normally. And I set the fan for the AC at 2 or 3 (usually 2) after cooling on speed 4. And I use recirculate. Or perhaps my car is a lemon compared to the rest of the fleet.


But it is a cold lemon........


----------



## 98sonoma (Nov 30, 2010)

No issues here...AC is cold and I don't notice much power loss


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

cfordg57 said:


> Hi Stacy,
> 
> I am currently waiting for a pressure switch that my dealer ordered for the a/c so I am withholding judgement until that is installed. My dealer did regap the plugs under warranty finding them at .025 which they regapped to .033. This did help with the bogging down especially with the a/c running but I still think this is a poorly designed system. It might be adequate in the M/T on the other Cruzes, but with the gearing in the ECO it is almost a saftey issue at take off with the a/c running. As I said previously I am very disappointed in the ability of the a/c to cool the cabin but I am waiting to see if the dealer can fix this issue with the part he wants to change and possibly add more freon??? I have read other posts here that commented that it was definately low on freon thus the poor performance. I know others in very hot states like Arizona are saying that theirs blows cold air so I think there must be something wrong with the units in this post. I will update when I make it back from the dealer. I would definately advise others who have not already done so to check the gap of their plugs though.




cfordg57,
Thank you for the update. I do understand your concerns with this issue. I have, and continue to report all concerns with the A/C to the proper sources. I would like you to continue to keep me posted on the progress with your dealer. If you have any other questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

mrbean8686 said:


> I live in Denver, CO and the last five days we been having 100+ degrees and the a/c is not keeping up even on full fan speed. I'm now subscribed to this thread, hopefully we have an answer from GM soon because this is just unacceptable. I've had other GM cars where I need to sometimes turn off the a/c because it gets frosty cold the cruze is just cool but not cold enough to cool down the car during the day.
> 
> Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App




mrbean8686,
I would like to welcome you to the forum! This is a great place to gather a lot of very useful information. Have you taken your Cruze into your dealer in regards to this issue? Please keep me posted. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


----------



## GoldenCruze (Dec 18, 2011)

litesong said:


> But it is a cold lemon........


It is supposed to hit 100 here tomorrow! That will be the test!


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Headed back to NC this weekend. 104 Friday/Sat/Sunday. 

I'll see how the Cruze does now that the AC Is charged properly. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


----------



## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> Headed back to NC this weekend. 104 Friday/Sat/Sunday.
> 
> I'll see how the Cruze does now that the AC Is charged properly.
> 
> ...


Let us know how it goes man! Safe Travels!


----------



## mrbean8686 (Jun 23, 2012)

Alright I dropped off my cruze this morning at the dealer to get the a/c checked out. I told them I suspect low refrigerant, they said they are going to check everything out. I asked them how long it was going to take, they told me a couple hours and then automatically since it was under warranty (i bought two weeks ago new) they were going to give me a rental. Now I'm in a 2011 Malibu while I wait, I have to say I am very impressed with GM on how long they come. BTW the a/c on the Malibu is a lot cooler. 

I'll report back when I get my car back.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App


----------



## Hoon (Mar 18, 2012)

mrbean8686 said:


> Alright I dropped off my cruze this morning at the dealer to get the a/c checked out. I told them I suspect low refrigerant, they said they are going to check everything out. I asked them how long it was going to take, they told me a couple hours and then automatically since it was under warranty (i bought two weeks ago new) they were going to give me a rental. Now I'm in a 2011 Malibu while I wait, I have to say I am very impressed with GM on how long they come. BTW the a/c on the Malibu is a lot cooler.
> 
> I'll report back when I get my car back.
> 
> Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App



You're impressed by the '11 Malibu? 

I always hated that car, but the '13 Malibu is definitely a lot better.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Hoon said:


> You're impressed by the '11 Malibu?
> 
> I always hated that car, but the '13 Malibu is definitely a lot better.


It's got a nice and peppy 4-cylinder engine and a fairly responsive automatic. A bit loud, though - and I didn't like the brake pedal at all. I didn't care much for the interior - reminds me of an old Camry, but the exterior is nice looking.


----------



## mrbean8686 (Jun 23, 2012)

It's nice but I can tell this one has been abused a little. The 4cyl has some pep to it but its not as fun to drive like the cruze, also the cruze feels more modern. When I was car shopping I also test drove 13 Malibu its a nice improvement from the current models I just wished it had the 2.XX turbo charged engine like the Buick Regal, I wasn't too excited about the e assist engine. 

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App


----------



## mrbean8686 (Jun 23, 2012)

Alright got my car back today, to my surprise the service writer told me the problem was they evacuated the system and it turned out have about 1oz more than its supposed to. They recharged it to the correct spec and all is good now, it actually gets frosty cold now after a couple minutes of driving which is enough to make me happy. The service writer told me the spec on the a/c is suposed to be 42 F degrees but when he took it for a test drive with the thermometer on the vent it tested out at 36 degrees. All is good now 

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using AutoGuide.Com Free App


----------



## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

Define a couple of minutes and temperature outside.


----------



## mrbean8686 (Jun 23, 2012)

Mick said:


> Define a couple of minutes and temperature outside.


2 mins and 105F degrees outside temp


----------



## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

Cool I'll have to compare although my temp usually says 114-118 when I go out to lunch.


----------



## Tonka (Mar 27, 2012)

Tonka said:


> I have a 2012 Eco with the 6MT with ~8900 miles on it.
> 
> When I turn on the A/C, the car loses almost all it's power. Hills I could cruise up in 5th or 6th have to be taken in third. Putting the pedal to the floor in 5th or 6th on the highway makes the A/C compressor turn off. On top of that, the A/C doesn't blow that cold to begin with. Also, when that is all going on, some of the electronics will seem to freak out. I was at a stop sign, went to accelerate, and the speedo jumped to 30 and back. Radio will intermittently change functions or stop reading the USB at the same time.
> 
> ...


New issue: The blower fan has 2.2 speeds now. There's level 1, 1.1, 1.2 and 4. Four is massively noisy, and 1, 1.1 and 1.2 are all the equivalent of a mouse coughing. 

I've also noticed that I hear a small, high pitched whine from somewhere under the hood when I turn the car off. I'm wondering if it's the same coughing mouse.

As far as comments about expecting power or what not from an economy car: I know it's an economy car. I don't expect power. I've had a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP CompG with a pulley swap, V-8 swapped RX-7s, street-ported and swapped turbo RX-7s, etc, so I know what power is, and I know what a quick car is. I know EXACTLY what the point of the Cruze is, I don't race it, and I don't expect it to be quick. 

What I DO expect is to not need to turn the A/C off to be able to get on an on-ramp on the highway. I'm seeing a 9-10 MPG drop according to the dash display when I turn the A/C on. It can't get out of it's own way with the A/C on. Yes, we all know there will be some parasitic losses with A/C, but it feels like it's got half the engine. It's a really noticeable difference.


----------



## Eco (May 13, 2011)

I had a 2006 Passat with 6MT and the 2.0TFSI motor, the car was the exact same way, if not worse.

I kid you not. Since I'm not a slip the tranny from a high RPM kind of guy, I usually take off slow, and like to slip it from 1500 rpm or less if possible.

In doing this, in the summer time with the AC on in that Passat I would LITERALLY slip the clutch, Floor it just as I came off the clutch, and count up to like 4-5 seconds because the car would get to like 15-20 mph. I mean it was downright dangerous - and HYYYPER irritating.

Turbocars + AC running + hot days = negative 30 horsepower. Especially on low displacement motors with Drive-By-Wire.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Eco said:


> I had a 2006 Passat with 6MT and the 2.0TFSI motor, the car was the exact same way, if not worse.
> 
> I kid you not. Since I'm not a slip the tranny from a high RPM kind of guy, I usually take off slow, and like to slip it from 1500 rpm or less if possible.
> 
> ...


Huh, that's annoying. The 2.0T is a spunky little thing in normal weather.


----------



## Eco (May 13, 2011)

Yeah it definitely is a good motor once it's up and running, I suspect it was a DBW nanny thing to try and keep stick-shift based cars nice and smooth on start, but the problem is it often left the car with no horsepower. But when it got really hot, the car just had nothing below 2500 rpm. Heatsoak will do that to a turbo car through and through. I can tell when my poor Supra has heat soak, it takes forever for the big laggy diesel turbo to spool up in it. Hot exhaust + cool weather = very spritely turbo car.
Hot exhaust, and hot weather = hot intercooler, IM, Fuel, charge piping and turbo which = terrible power :]

For the heck of it... The '06 Passat 6MT 2.0TFSI dynoed 194&192 WHP on a dynojet, dyoned after first factory oil change.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Yeah, my S70 was the same way in the summer...just not as bad as the Cruze is (it was also an automatic, with an engine a liter bigger than the Cruze). It'd lag forever before the huge turbo spooled up over 90 deg outside, but didn't seem AS badly affected by the heat soak.


----------



## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

I would say it's no worse than other 4 cyl cars I've owned. That being said, I am pretty tolerant of heat and generally only use the AC on the freeway when it's more efficient than having the windows rolled down anyway. Or on a 100 degree day, I could roll up the windows when on the freeway and keep the AC OFF. That would maximize available engine power..................but I don't think so.:llsweatdrop:


----------



## fripple (Sep 12, 2011)

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that has to turn off the A\C to merge onto the highway! Ha! I'm going to have my dealer check the plug gap next time I take it in as well...


----------



## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

fripple said:


> I'm glad that I'm not the only one that has to turn off the A\C to merge onto the highway! Ha! I'm going to have my dealer check the plug gap next time I take it in as well...


Actually, if you're at wide open throttle, the car will automatically disable the A/C compressor both to improve performance, and to protect the compressor itself.


----------

