Why do Japanese cars have such bad AC?

The AC definitely works better when not in ECO mode.

 

In a word, yes. Take it out of eco mode.

 

Strange, up here in New England I've found myself wondering why Fords have such an over-sized A/C

 

As others have said, yes.

Eco mode is very aggressive and strives to reduce the a/c load on the system because the compressor is electrically powered and will use up a lot of the battery which; therefor, needs to be recharged by the gasoline engine thus lowering fuel economy. In the south, it's best not to use ECO during the summer (or at least during the hottest parts of the day). Also, use recirc to avoid trying to cool a constant stream of fresh but hot outside air.

My Ford Energi doesn't have an ECO mode but during the summer the a/c can feel weak when set to auto mode because that setting is too aggressive in reducing fan speeds. Max a/c (60f and 5 of 5 fan speeds) will cool the car quickly but that setting can reach as high as 3.5-4 kwH which is a lot so I can understand their reasoning.

 

There's a lot that I like about my Gen 3's A/C. I find it usually does a very nice job of modulating the compressor and fan so I just feel steadily comfortable without feeling blasted, and most days I keep ECO on, but I'll admit that today (and days like it) I turn ECO off....

2010 and 2011 also seemed to come with this vaguely-described ion plasma generator in the driver's side A/C duct. I don't know how much effect it has (and I've never tried unplugging it to see if I notice any difference), but the air usually does seem pretty sweet in the car and my allergy symptoms often seem to scale back when I'm in it. But it seemed to get discontinued in the 2012 refresh.

-Chap

 

Seems that it would have been reasonable to try this if you had a problem in the first place and thought to ask the question.

Anyway...when my car is hot I always open the windows for a couple of minutes before turning on the A/C, if I intend to use the A/C. Why cool off a bunch of air that you can more easily force out of the car?

Mike

 

I always purge the hot air out of the interior by rolling down the windows. It only takes a minute or so.
BTW, the A/C in my Prius stands among the best systems I've had in any car previously owned. This is probably due in large because of the tinted windows...especially the (near) horizontal back glass. I have install the window tint in a very dark to lighter from rear to front. The rear hatch glass is dark limo tint.

 

I was soo expecting an off color joke according to title of post.

 

I think the Prius' AC works pretty well in the summer and I live in North Carolina! Loud, yes, but it's plenty cold. My mother-in-law's RX450h's AC is pretty cold too especially when you turn the ventilated seat to full blast...and very quiet too even at full blast.

The heat is lacking though, IMHO. I was spoiled by my old '06 Honda Accord's system because I'd get heat within 2 minutes even when the engine was stone cold and 20 degrees outside. My Prius requires at least 5 minutes to bring some hot air in the cabin.

 

Can't speak for other versions, but having both a 2010 and 2015 Prius, the A/C is not even close to good enough for Texas summers.

 

Yes it will, and it even says so in the manual. The airco will be less effective and the highest fan speed will be lower when in ECO mode.

 

In regards to window tint, see #8 post

 

It's been my experience that over 3 decades of owning vehicles made by just about every major car maker, my Toyota/Lexus cars and trucks have consistently had the best A/C systems of anything I've owned.
With my Prius, when it is extremely hot and sunny days when the car has been cooking out in the sun, I will turn off ECO mode, but only for the initial car cool down. After that, back to ECO and all is well.
Working fine in eco with out 90+ degree sunny days

 

I guess I'm the only one who keeps the ECO on summer (to 100F) and winter (to 15F). Obviously I do vary the a/c and temps but in the summer it is ECO, recirc, a/c, 74 and forget it. Somehow spending summers in a steel hulled ship in the south made me a little more tolerant of heat than you guys. Not to mention the interior of a v is larger than the hatchbacks. White exterior, parked mostly under cover.

 

I guess I'm just old school.
Since I remember a time when a considerable amount of cars did not have AC period. And AC was considered a luxury item.
So while perhaps the Honda Fit (Made in Japan) doesn't have the strongest or quickest to cool AC, I'm perfectly OK with it. It does work for me, in my climate.

By the way, I felt the Prius climate control system worked great. I was never lacking for whatever I needed with it.

 

I always am pleasantly surprised by how cold and fast the car gets cooled down any time I drive my wife's C. The AC works amazingly well even in 90+ degree heat.

 

Our only complaint about our new Prius v is how LOUD the A/C is. We actually wish it wasn't as aggressive in cooling the car (at least the fan part) so that it wouldn't be so loud, and in fact we sometimes take manual control of it to reduce the fan noise.

But apart from the noise, we think it's great!

However, our previous car - a 1997 Honda CRV, had the worst A/C of any car I've ever owned, despite sinking in way too much money into it over the years. Prius A/C is far, far better. We had a heat wave that included two 110 degree days in a row and it was fine (but very loud!).