I'm thinking about whether or not I should remove A/C from my car. I live in WA.. Most of the year is fine, but late spring/summer the weather can get hot as hell.

I'm looking for the opinions of people who used to have A/C and removed it.

Leave a brief description too

 

i removed when i did my swap and it never bothered me. i always have my window down so maybe that is why

 

93 si, did a sir-II swap, pulled everything includeing lines, don't miss it a bit, thats why si's come with moon roofs

 

I pulled it on my old 96.. big mistake in Texas.

 

just leave it in, there is no drag on the motor unless the a/c is turned on anyway.

 

yea i did the same wth a integ i had didnt rlly bothr me cause i was running longer on gas that way windows down was ight wth me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UberMunkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just leave it in, there is no drag on the motor unless the a/c is turned on anyway.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I totally agree with this guy the drag on the engine is only when the compressor is
engadged. So the only thing you would be doing is saving some weight.
Is it worth it?

 

I have to agree with keeping it. It's better to have and not need than need and not have.

It's not going to slow you down any unless it's on and at WOT, the computer kicks it off anyway.

 

thanks for the insight guys. keep the posts comin. i hope those that are for removing a/c aren't all happy just because it's winter? if you could, try to use the feelings you would have if it were summer right now

 

I swapped in an LS and took all the a/c out. I never use a/c really anyway. Even in jersey this summer when it was so freakin hot i just cruised with the windows open. To me it was a matter of theres 10 days in the summer that are over 95 and feel like hell but ill suck it up for 10 outta 365 days. its a matter of personal opinion. like i said i never really used it anyway so i took it out but if you use it regularly then keep it in.

 

If you take the complete system out, its a very significant amount of weight savings. Much more than a carbon fiber hood. And it's all weight from the front end, so it's much more effective to handling than stripping out the rear.

On these particular cars I can't say, but when I removed the AC radiator (sorry, can't think of the correct name right now) from my Toyota, I got a lot more air circulation in the engine bay. Under hood temps dropped quite a bit and I picked up a lot of power from less heat soak on the intake system. On that car it's a double sized radiator and the AC radiator spanned the whole engine bay. I took out the AC system across several days, so I'm positive it was the AC radiator and not the compressor that made the huge difference. On my EG, I'm not expecting such a big difference.

 

i live in fl and i took out my ac. it doesnt bother me to much i just ride with my windows down.

 

It's not worth it IMHO. Its' not like you'll gain 10whp or something. You lose more than you gain. + You don't want your girl/s getting all sweaty in your car. That's how i look at it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you take the complete system out, its a very significant amount of weight savings. Much more than a carbon fiber hood. And it's all weight from the front end, so it's much more effective to handling than stripping out the rear.

On these particular cars I can't say, but when I removed the AC radiator (sorry, can't think of the correct name right now) from my Toyota, I got a lot more air circulation in the engine bay. Under hood temps dropped quite a bit and I picked up a lot of power from less heat soak on the intake system. On that car it's a double sized radiator and the AC radiator spanned the whole engine bay. I took out the AC system across several days, so I'm positive it was the AC radiator and not the compressor that made the huge difference. On my EG, I'm not expecting such a big difference.</TD></TR></TABLE>

it's called a condenser. the a/c compressor weighs *maybe* 30 pounds at the most. the rest of the stuff (condenser, a/c lines) are mostly aluminum and weigh 5, maybe 10 pounds tops, all together. its up to you if you want to go through the hassle of removing it, not to mention losing the convinience of A/C, for 40 pounds of weight. Civics also have half sized radiators, and half sized condensers sitting side by side up front, so the condenser isn't restricting flow through the radiator. you probably won't get much more air flow by removing it, if any more at all.

don't forget, using your a/c also clears out fogged windows alot faster than just defrost air alone.

 

Yeah I think I have made up my mind. As I think back to when I had my EK without AC in the summer I felt like a bum having to tell my girl to roll her window down when it got hot LOL. And I had manual windows too =P.. I also live in WA and you know about the rain we get here... Defogging windows with the quickness is always a plus. I'm also not worried about the weight too much. I weigh like 130 lbs. I'm hella skinny so that added weight would just balance out the weight that SHOULD be in the driver seat.

There is just one last question...

1.) For those who removed A/C for weight reduction and to free up h/p... did you really even notice the difference in power?

 

ive never had a problem when i pulled it from my coupe. i lost about 30lbs and i discovered windows do there job. on occasion i did have a sweaty back on longer trips. but oh well.

 

for daily driver i see no need to get rid of it. its hot here in so cal so i keep it just in case. plus i dont get a sweaty *** back. hop in turn the a/c on and chill

 

swapped a b16 into my old coupe and i hated getting rid of it heat is heat when its coming at you at 65 with the window down it still feels hot i ended up putting it back in. sweaty backs are the worse!

 

nah you dont really notice the difference.. its just like running the car with the ac off

 

I took mine out, including the condenser under the dash.. It seems to heat my car up faster in the winter now. Under the hood looks cleaner too, and has more room.

 

but what about if u throw a turbo in it???? I heard that the AC condenser gets in the way or with the turbo it will get to hot for the AC and wont really work that well

thats what I was told....cauze im throwin in a b18 and a turbo in the future and was told that either I will have to get rid of the AC completely or have to pay a bit more $$$ to have the AC lines run differently and then it might not work


Modified by civicguy81 at 11:11 AM 12/31/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicguy81 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but what about if u throw a turbo in it???? I heard that the AC condenser gets in the way or with the turbo it will get to hot for the AC and wont really work that well

thats what I was told....cauze im throwin in a b18 and a turbo in the future and was told that either I will have to get rid of the AC completely or have to pay a bit more $$$ to have the AC lines run differently and then it might not work


Modified by civicguy81 at 11:11 AM 12/31/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>


my buddy has a 99 DX coupe with a b18b turbo'd (t3/t4), and he kept his a/c. it still works fine last i knew. if you're really concerned about clearance issues PM me and i'll find out what kind of manifold he is using.

 

i was just broke after doing my swap, didn't want to spend money on recharging it, and sold all the a/c to a kid for $125 and that helped pay for my azenis, performance over comfort... even though its still slow

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tallyturbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i live in fl and i took out my ac. it doesnt bother me to much i just ride with my windows down.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh **** someone else from Tallahassee, your the first person Ive seen on here in a while from Tallyho, im at school there, hit me up.

Anyways, it really wont help you too much to take it out, Ive got plenty of friends who run mid to low 13 second runs all day with full interior and A/C. That little bit wont matter unless you are just that desperate or you are trying to build a serious drag car.

Put it this way, im making an assumption, but you're in a daily driver, is it worth sacrifacing your comfort for a few "horses" or very miniscule weight reduction? Just ask yourself that and Im sure you can answer your own question.

 

na im from j-ville. the name tally kinda got stuck with me becaue my last name. and to the op i wouldnt just take it out because you want 5 extra horse power