New owner - A/C question
 

You do realize you said the AC light was off, meaning it is not turned on. Your question has nothing to do with AC performance in the summer.

At 34F outside there's a good chance that the AC won't even turn on because most systems have a safety to prevent the compressor from turning on if it too cold outside. Looked in the owner's manual and it does say that the AC may not come on if the outside temp approaches freezing (32F). The only other thing worth mentioning is that if you've run the car for a while and you turn on the blower (not using AC just the fan) you will get hot air for a while. This car runs hot. The engine has heated up all the ductwork and the outside air will be heated from that heat buildup. After the fan has run for some time, it will eventually cool off.

you must have the temp dial turned into the blue in order to get cool air. about the 9 o'clock position or farther to get cold air. doesnt matter the temp outside. except as stated above where its too cold for the compressor to operate.

Ericok - I hope that the outside temp is the culprit. I will have to wait a few months to find out for sure.

Zoom - I have to turn my dial past 9 o'clock just to get cool air. I just went out and tested it again, and I can hear/feel the heater engage at the 5th click to the right from max cold (still in the blue).

Why is the heater engaged in the blue???

There is no "engagement" of the heater. Your heater works off of coolant from the engine. By turning the temperature dial you open/close a valve in the line going to the heater core and (I think this is how the RX-8 works) move a door that lets air flow from the heater core and or the A/C evaparator.

I have noticed that my temperature dial works more as an "on/off" switch, but most cars I've driven are this way so to me it seems normal.

It sounds like your system is working normally.

Here's how mine works (in the South, ambient about 50 - 110 degrees):
If you want outside air at ambient (outdoor) temperature, crank the temperature control (red/blue knob) all the way counterclockwise and be sure the mode is set for outside air and the A/C compressor switch off. As others have noted above, the heat starts coming on if the temp knob is set only 3 or 4 notches up (10 o'clock or so). So the useful adjusting range is compressed into about 1/3 of the knob travel. The rest is useless.

Don't worry, there's plenty of cooling there when the weather gets warm and you run the A/C compressor. But you'll need to keep the knob all the way over (7 or 8 o'clock). At least, you will if you have the A/C reprogram that was out a year or so ago.

I pretty much only get cooling on the first three blue notches, and I've had mine a/c in for service already.
Sounds like your's is working normally.

You're taking the color-coding too literally. Think of it more as a gradual slide from "heater OFF" to "heater FULL".

As Ericok noted, the initial airflow will be warmer because of the heat-soak of the ductwork and heater core. Even if you have it all the way "off", it still heats the outside air somewhat. It's inevitable that the ductwork passes some engine heat to the incoming air. The engine is very low and far back -- that's part of why the car handles so well and is able to seat 4 people in a sportscar.

That is a very good way to think of it.


People will complain about anything though!

Known fact: The A/C in this car is not very good. It's been discussed in millions (yes millions) of threads.