Riccio

Had some hot (90+) days early in the week here in Sunny California (at least inland, where I live) and I'm happy and relieved to report that my a/c worked just fine.

Put the temp selector all the way to the left, selected air from outside the car, turned on the fan, and never had to go past Speed Selection "2" to be nice, cool and comfortable. Even after leaving the car parked in the sun mid-day for about an hour, I was cool and comfortable in a short period of time.

I did leave the sun roof on "tilt" to vent the car while parked, and I have had my side and rear windows tinted - which I did after reading about the bad a/c experience some have had.

Anyway - no longer dreading summer - bring it on - my a/c is just fine!

Texas 8

Good to hear...

jsplit

good for you...

my A/C sucks. It's just not cold. It cools but even after a 30 minute drive with it on full blast it was never cold like other cars get...

DrComputer

jsplit, I'm just down the street from you in Sherman Oaks. The A/C seems to work fine. It got cold on these recent 90+ days for me.

Outlaws eXtreme

I set the A/C to 2 and I think that's way too cold, even in the 90degree sun... chilly... *shiver*

niadvance

good to hear about the ac. it gets not only hot but really humid here. im going to look into window tinting here next week. how much did it cost you for the job?

labrat

We drove through western New South Wales (Australia) recently in heat wave conditions. We had the climate control set to 24C (75F), with the outside temperature reading 43C (109F). We were perfectly comfortable. In the days after we got home to Brisbane (a sub-tropical climate), the temperature climbed to 41C (106F) with high humidity. Once again, the climate control worked perfectly. We have no complaints. It doesn't seem to affect petrol consumption much, either. In a 4300km (2700miles) round trip to Melbourne, we averaged 9.6L/100km, or 24.5mpg with the climate control on all the way (it was high summer ater all).

boarder

Dam you and your climate control!

Sorry, just pissed they left it off the US version (why?)... Of all the things

I'm in texas and its gonna get hot here real soon. So far the AC has been good, but its yet to hit the 90 barrier. Air circulation mode (no AC) still leaves a little to be desired as it puts out much warmer air than outside temp (and i have a new RX8 from last week, so it should have the pickup vent fix). But its not that bad.

Xyntax

I'm with you there! I think those people with RX-8's who complain about their A/C should get that fixed. I can't leave the A/C on for a long time coz it gets too cold. I haven't even tinted my windows, and the A/C is already cooling me quickly.

On my previous car, I had to install dark tints because I couldn't stand how hot it was inside.

Kewl

For those of you with good working AC, be glad. I wish mine worked like yours. I have had it back to the dealer and they say - normal. I say any AC that cycles on (compressor) for only 5 seconds out of say 45-60 is not working right. When it was hot out last summer, say 90+, I have to run the AC on full all the time.

I've even had Mazda call me to talk about it. While they wouldn't own up to anything they were very interested in how mine was working. I'll be back to the dealer soon again I'm sure complaining.

Here in Albuquerque NM it is starting to warm up

BillK

Actually, this is quite common with modern A/C systems.

In my Jeep Wrangler, when the temperature was between 60 and 75 or so ° F, you could here the A/C compressor cycle on for five to ten seconds, then off for 15-60 seconds, then back on... etc.

This was completely normal and the A/C worked just fine.

If your A/C isn't cooling, that's a problem, but A/C compressor cycling is pretty normal in modern cars.

Shocka

Show off i see snow outside my window! :-(

I dont think i will ever be testing my AC in NY the way we going

mazdabob

I took my car in for service, and complained about the A/C. They evacuated and recharged the freon, and it seems to be colder.

starbucks

That's a big difference: 55 vs 39 degrees

mazdabob

Yes, significant difference. I don't have to use "4" all the time anymore. I suggest anyone with weak A/C to complain like I did.

Speed-ER doc

Thanks for the tip! I'm on 4, and it's just turning spring...

pking36330

I've just recently purchased a new '06 RX-8 and the Air Conditioner seems to be working fine, but the cockpit gets STEAMING hot when the car is closed up for a few hours in the sun. It changes from 95 degree sun to frog-strangling rain in about 10 minutes here on any given day, so I'm reluctant to leave the windows cracked or the sunroof cracked.

I was a little disappointed that the RX-8 didn't have the same ventilation solution that an much older 929 I owned had: the 929 had a sunroof with built in solar panels that would power the cockpit vent fans to exhaust the cockpit if over a certain temp and it trickle charged the battery.

Does anyone know of an aftermarket maker of a cockpit vent system (similar to Mazda's or even something else)?

Love this car, just dread the first five minutes in it when I crank to go home.