greasy

have you tried keeping the engine rpm at 3,000 or above?

in my 2012 cms all4, at or above 3,000 rpm, the air coming out the vents is 42F-48F depending on ait temp and humidity ...
below 3,000 rpm the air coming out the vents can go as high as 78F under the same conditions

the r134a refridgerant is not as efficient as the older ones, higher rpms help compensate for that

scott

 

iirc at 3k in 6th gear in manual mcs, that puts me over 80mph which would get me below my target mpg (31mpg) for every tank of gas and possibly in trouble with the bored highway fuzz here in cali. im lucky enough that my commutes to work arent so long that it warrants me running ac for that long. but the commutes to LA (20-80 minutes depending on traffic) do. ill try to test it out tomorrow with a thermometer, though i have a feeling my fridge thermometer magnet that i got from canada might not work as well as yours lol.

and that sounds really bad if it can get as hot as 78 just because its under 3k! though i dont understand the operations of a cars hvac system and how rpms affect it.

fwiw, its nothing major, since ive got the car new 38k miles and almost 2 years ago, the coldness level hasnt dropped. just was never as cold as my old maxima, family member's toyotas, and even my gfs e46 (takes out the japanese factor)

 

you don't need to use 6th gear ... it is ok to run in any gear to match the speed you want to run to the rpm you want to run

the a/c compressor runs via a belt from the engine ... it removes x amount of heat every time it turns over

to remove more heat, it must turn over more times, to turn over more times the engine must run higher rpms

on my cms all4, i get better mpg in lower gears/higher rpm depending on the speed

at 55 mph, i get ~42 mpg in 4th, ~38 in 5th and ~34 in 6th ... per the OBC instantaneous mpg display

scott

 

learn something new everyday. i didnt have a thermometer but i did purposely shift at around 4k than the normal 3k today and noticed that it cooled relatively quick. but as for the sheer coldness level compared to other cars, i think ill just have to live with it, or take the gfs bimmer

 

I have a '12 MCS with manual AC and it sucked! I got my windows lightly tinted and it made a world of difference. An interesting side note, Mini knows the AC sucks. When it is above 80 degrees the Mini goes directly to recirculate regardless of whether the light is on or not. Every 30 minutes it switches to fresh air for about a minute and then back to recirc. Probably a health requirement.

 

Agreed, I tinted my windows super dark so my a/c can actually make the cabin colder.

 

I have a new cooper s convertible, and I live in Phoenix, AZ. The ac is horrible. The day time is usually about 108-115 and my ac never is able to cool off my car. I was not sure if this was because of the Convertible top.