Anyone else get this feeling?

When I have the car's fans set up to blow top and bottom vents, I can crank it to full bore and get LOTS of air noise, but very little air movement.

By little, I do mean I can hold my hand over the upper vents and feel just the very faintest of air movement. When I switch to full front, it blows moderately strong.

Is this normal, or just me?

 

When using the front and lower vents together, much of the airflow is directed down and to the rear seats. Some folks have blocked off half or more of the rear ducts that are under the front seats with duct tape, forcing more air to come out of the front vents... you might want to give that a try.

 

Would it be hard to upgrade the fan with a more powerful variant so it can handle both?

 

I blocked it (could find only one beneath the drivers seat and it was only a 1"x2" size) completely, and noticed very little, if any, change.

Also took to dealer and said slooowwww warmup in winter, and when really cold here (20 deg and below) sometimes had even a cooldown (yes!).

Dealer checked (something?) and said all was 'normal'.

What I have never figured is why manufacturers don't offer a built in to the heater vents an 'electric pre-warmer' to get you toasty before the engine warms up? That way you would have hot air from the getgo.

 

That doesn't sound 'normal' to me... I've started the car up in the morning when it was -5 to -15 to take my kid to school several times in the last two months and had slight heat after 2-3 minutes, and decent warmth after 5 minutes of driving... and I've never felt it cool off. When it's been in the 20's, I get some heat within a couple of blocks. One thing I don't do is let the car warm up in the driveway for more than a minute or two- I've found the only way to get the temp up is to drive it right away.

I'd ask the dealer what the 'normal' parameters are for heat-up... maybe your themostat is getting stuck?