Hi guys, 2011 MCS here and when I have the AC on high or full blast it makes the car "not so fun" to drive. Most of the juice is gone, it feels like I have to go much higher in the RPM's to get up to speed and the shifts can get "bucky". I've had other small engine 4cyl cars that the ac would affect but the MINI seems to really have its *** kicked by it.

Does this sound abnormal? Thanks for any input!

 

I don't know if it's normal for the S (in fact I assumed it wouldn't be.) but the AC totally ruins my Non-S experience.

 

Welcome to the world of driving a small displacement engined car, I guess.

On the justa Cooper there is a significant different with A/C on, especially with the auto trans. I didn't notice it that much on a Cooper S I test drove with a manual trans. Maybe I adjusted my shifts or something to compensate - not really sure.

I only use the A/C during the summer maybe 50% of the time for a short few months so it's not too big a deal for me. I can imagine those of you in the Southern States could get pretty annoyed about this. It would be cool if more new cars had electronically driven A/C compressors like on hybrid cars. I assume the MINI compressor is belt driven...

 

Thanks guys. We've had a pretty hot summer here in nj and I've been using the Ac a lot. Guess ill have to get used to it next year. Bring on the fall!

 

It has always bothered me how much AC affects 4-cylinder cars. But then I remember that I'd rather be lacking a little power while feeling cool and dry than having pure performance while all hot and sweaty.