Astra TwinTop Owners Club

Afternoon all!

I was just wondering how many of you leave the air con ON with the roof down? I tend to, then have the odd jitter and switch to normal fans, which are slightly less cooling, on the coldest setting....

I used to believe that you shouldn't have air con on with roofs down, but I think that was only because you lose some of the 'effectiveness', not that you are potentially damaging the system...

I haven't got the book out to check, but what are peoples views?

Cheers

Ian

I leave the air con on all the time this way the ststem doesnt 'stop' working and more importantly pipes dont dry and crack....

I have the air con on most of the time, roof up or down. Even mid-winter, I just adjust the temperature accordingly.

Mid-winter the air con de-humidifies the air and keeps the windows clear, very helpful when pupils have damp feet and /or hair.

Ozzie

My understanding is that running the a/c unit increases fuel consumption significantly. Am I wrong?

It's not something I've ever tried and I don't think I would as I can't see you getting the benefit of the cold air as it cools the air and keeps it cool around you, but you'll surely lose all that cold air generated?

I think in theory that Air-Con reduces your MPG as I've used it this week whilst away in the Lakes and have managed a nice 48mpg, which is better than normal. Though the air-con was only used on motorway miles so as not to cut my power on the A/B roads that I was driving on.

Give it a go rokardphu it actually works and pointed towards your face makes you feel like Not being a pig on a spit.
Yes the mpg does suffer but the worse thing is the engine feels under powerd with the air con on but slightly improves with the sport button
engaged.

Have not yet given it a go as yet, but with only 2 days left i had better try it out on sunday ,weather permitting

I might just have to give it a go, but on the M-way only as I'm currently driving to drive on a more eco basis to see how much extra I can get out of a tank of fuel and it's another gallon this last week. Done 470 miles and still enough for a trip to Wakey and back tomorrow hopefully. Fingers crossed.

rokardphu
what is your average mpg is your car manual or auto ?

It's a manual Diesel, when I first got it was getting 44mpg, but now getting 48, trying to push for 50mpg.

After driving a petrol scooby, it's a big change in trying to drive less leary and more sensibly to economise as much as possible.

yes i bet its a lot less thirsty than a scooby, i thought that 50mpg is easily achievable, i used to average 37.4 in the diesel twin turbo i used to have
which i thought was excellent
although saying that i am not a speed merchant anymore

I don't think in my Scooby I ever got more than 30 and that's being kind. I bet it was more like 25, especially the way I drove it.

by acheiving 50mpg my TT will be paying for itself. I'm going to have ease off the accelator a bit more when trying to get home on an evening.

For true lovers of sunshine and a cool breeze, Air-con is a must. I've even developed a technique where I direct the vents strategically.

Centre console, driver's side blowing on me face. Centre console, passenger side, and drivers side vent pointing up my shirtsleeves.

Trust me

As far as I'm aware, a 'standard' aircon system has no thermostat anyway, and just keeps pumping out cold air, so it makes no difference if the roof is up or down. If you change the heat setting, it just mixes warm air in with the cold anyway.

If you have 'climate control', then that would be affected by having the roof down, as it would be permanently trying to get the temp down.

You can't have climate control on a twin top its not an option