Is it me or is the AC in these cars not as good as others?
I have a07 5 door and it just no seem to do as well as some other cars I have owned.
is it the nature or the beast or is there something up with my AC?


thanks
GM991

 

The AC in the 3 is pretty pitiful with the big thing being that the "normal" range as stated by Mazda is way larger with a much higher top end than most other cars. So while it isn't cooling as effectively as another car it's still in it's normal operating temp. range as far as Mazda is concerned..... an example of changing the specs to fix a problem.

That being said there are a few things you can do. Tint your windows..... it doesn't have to be really dark if you get something with good heat rejection. Get a good windshield sun shade for when you're parked.... the less super-heated the huge black dash is the faster the car will cool down. Let the windows stay open for a minute or two if you can before you drive to let some of the super hot air blow out. This is especially useful if you have a sun shade. If you're the only one in the car run the AC on face only for the first 5-10 minutes you're in the car..... if you have it on split head/foot it's diverting air to the back seat vents while you're currently busy being hot in the front seat! This way you keep the cool air blowing on you, and the cool air going through the vents will help cool down the black dash. Lastly check out the max AC mod built by billm from mazda3forums. Note this is not "Max AC" as seen in Ford vehicles where the MAX setting is simply a recirculate mode but rather a way of tricking the AC thermister into thinking it's actually 5 degrees warmer than it really is so that it will get colder. His mod also includes a timer to turn the module off after it's cooled down to keep from freezing up the evaporator

 

thanks for the info
I'm gettign the windows tinted soooon
And I do find that it works better when its real hot on the recirculate mode.

 

Oh yeah, I meant to say put it on recirc as well. :P

 

My AC works great! Cool as a cucumber considering it's been in the 90's here in the BayArea!In fact I think it works better than the 99 Integra I had.

 

Well said, Remi. That's exactly what I try to do to invoke better performance from our A/C system.
However, I was under the impression that they had solved some of the problems in the later "face lift" models?

 

That's what I heard, though I haven't seen too much proof. I think most people say the ACC equipped models work better.

 

The Faster you drive the better it works, 95 degrees with it down on 1 on the fan and about halfway on down on the blue and I was still freezing. Then again I do normally drive home with the windows OPEN

 

My 04 with the TSB done is still pooh!!!! And here in Texas that's a pretty raw deal. Wasn't any better when I was in Phoenix, Az.

 

compared to my altima my a/c is pretty lame. My altima will make you freeze but in the mazda it takes a good 30 mins for it to do that and that's after having it on 4. I might try that mod that tricks it into thinking its 5 degrees less and see what happens but then again i barely use the a/c.