Air-con efficiency

[bathtub tom]

I've had this Yaris for four years and never been happy with the air-con. It's nowhere near as effective as my previous Nissan. The recent weather has proved it's not as good as I think it should be. I initially assumed it was a 'feature' of the car. It's obviously working, as it cools the air and I'd have thought that if it had a leak it wouldn't be cooling at all after four years. I took a thermometer to it, the ambient temperature was showing 25 degrees (inside a garage with the sun shining) and the temperature at the vents was 9 degrees.

Does anyone know if this would be normal for a Yaris, or is the air-con just not very good?

[Berisford]

I suspect the air-con is 'not very good'. Our 2014 1.3 has never been great in hot weather. I had the temperature probe in yesterday just as a check 'cause I was also thinking it had deteriorated but it was as I remember from previous checks, anything between 7c and 9c. Ambient 24c. The Yaris seems to do a long cycle between compressor on and off, 2 degrees where as our 8 year old Golf does a lesser spread constantly giving between 4 & 5c, sometimes even going down to 3.5. 

Same probe in both vehicles so any possible error in the device readings is not that relevant.

[alan333]

Try switching the air intake to recirc mode for max cooling, since it takes the 'already cooled a bit' air and cools it again rather than bringing in hot air from outside.

[Mick F]

No issues at all with our Yaris Hybrid.  In fact, very pleased with the aircon.

Before the Yaris, we had a 2011 Fiat500 and a 2001 Clio we'd had since brand new.  The 500 aircon wasn't much to write home about, but the Clio's was wonderful and after 17years of ownership, it was still working brilliantly with zero maintenance.

The Yaris Hybrid is as good as the Clio, but there is one important difference.  The Clio would turn off the aircon if you went to recirc, but the Yaris is designed to work in recirc as well as outside air.

Either way, the Yaris Hybrid's aircon is very good indeed.

Mick.

[catnash]

After 4 years,  try to find a recommended air con specialist for a test and refill.  Especially if you have that new refrigerant.  My previous qashqai was terrible.  The condenser broke after 2 years and it was never right after that.  All my other cars have been great.  Saying that will soon have a new Yaris so I'll report back.

[YarisHybrid2016]

No issues here. I have the glass roof so the car is absolutely like a greenhouse when the sun is shining.

The best way to cool the car quickly is:

* Open all the doors for a few minutes and let the warm air out
* At the same time switch the car on and put the AC on MAX (Lo/max fan) with the recirc OFF - this removes the warm air from the ducts
* After about 5 minutes (depends on ambient and whether the car is in direct sunlight - I stick my hand in the rear near the roof and feel how warm it is still) get in and close the doors, and switch recirc ON
* When driving off, crack the windows open about 1-2 inches - this lets any remaining warm air out
* After about 5-10 minutes of driving the aircon will start to feel cold vs. ambient - you can start to turn the fan down (this increases the efficiency of the cooler).

You need to remember that the air ducts and aircon system itself will also be very warm at first, so it isn't purely a case of cooling the air - the whole system needs to cool down before the air coming out of it starts to feel cool.

Once the cabin starts to cool, I find the aircon to be very effective. When ambient is +30 deg. C the fan does need to be set higher to get adequate cooling. I also set the direction to blow only out of the face vents for maximum effect. As the sun sets, over the period of only a few minutes, the car can suddenly start to feel quite cold, so I turn the fan down gradually towards minimum, then redirect the airflow to feet/face. It's really quite an interesting effect.

[bathtub tom]

I only use the face level vents (pointing up) when I have the air-con on, the theory being that the hottest air is at the roof and I want to get rid of that first and the cooler air will sink eventually.

People don't seem to understand heating and ventilation systems. I know of one driver who directs hot air to the face level vents and fries your eyeballs, while your feet freeze. I've been with them when they've directed the air-con to demist on a humid day and wondered why they kept having to use the wipers to clear the condensation from the outside of the screen.