Anyone else notice a lot more people driving with windows down, a/c off?
 

I've noticed a lot more people driving w/o a/c, and its not just people in older piece o' crap cars where its probably broke. I'm talking late model Beamers and Escalades driving with the windows down. Anyone else notice this trend?

yup. and i shake my head because thats worse on the mpg's than driving with a/c.

I feel fortunate that at least on the beast turning on the a/c has no effect on mileage.
-Jay

it hurts my mpg. but i have to use it. it get so hot and humid.

In general...

Highway speed: A/C is better
City speed: Windows down is better

A little OT here, but your car name confused me for a second... I thought how the heck did you ever get a Buick BlackHawk? Wasn't that a concept car that they only made 1 or 2 of? I guess with gas prices going the way they are Buick will probably never make it now.

-Jay

https://image.automotive.com/f/concep...nt-leftjpg.jpg

now that would sell like hotcakes... why dont they ever make GOOD lookign cars that DONT look like 5 other models...

i think ford had a concept that was sposta remake a 49 ford
https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...7e90996df2.jpg
https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...c232dc288c.jpg

but anyways back on topic, i dont have AC so its windows down all the time except at interstate speeds then thier just cracked

I usually drive with windows down especially in the city... mostly because they are crank handles and once their down it's hard for 'em to come up. :D

I have to have A/C, I usually think I can handle it when I first get in. But 5 minutes later I am sweating and uncomfortable wishing for a change of clothes. I've been driving my new CRX HF the last few days and the A/C is broken on it. I can tell you that before anything else the A/C is getting fixed first. All of my other cars have working A/C and I don't really notice a difference MPG wise whether it is on or off. Maybe it evens out the effect that cold whether has on FE.

Yea, I have noticed a lot more people driving around town with their windows down lately.

Generally, I leave mine down if I am just in town but on the highway it is windows up and a/c on when it is hot.

sorry Jay. i wish i had a car that looked like that. but alas no, mine is just a Toyota Tercel Blackhawk edition. which boils down to blackhawk written on the side and i think alittle more torque or hp or something like that. but with a big guy like me in the car the extra power means nothing.lol

Maybe time to wash the windows?
 

Yes, I do.
I notice more people when I drive with the windows down, and a/c off.
I notice a lot fewer people when the weather is such that I have the windows up, especially in the winter when the defroster is cranked up high.:rolleyes: Nice days when the weather is such that I want to have the windows open seem to bring out more people.

I tried that, but the tempered glass crumbled when I tried to just crack it...

Didn't Mythbusters bust this one?
I mean, if you're cruising at 90 MPH or above, then maybe. But if I switch the A/C on, there's a noticeable drag on the engine. Opening the windows has no effect in that respect.

I remember mythbusters did a test where 2 "identical" vehicles were put on a track, and driven till they ran out of fuel, one was driven with the windows down, the other with the a/c on max. Just for variations in tolerances I think the test should have been run twice, switching which vehicle is running a/c between the tests. I think that would have provided more meaningful data than one tank of fuel. Don't we bust on people for reporting fantastic gains with short fills, or only 1 tank of fuel?


-Jay

Yea i think mythbusters said bellow 50 or 55 windows were better for MPG and above that the AC was better...i got in the habit of driving with the windows down cause of the VX lacking it...now with my MSP i always do unless someone else is in the car and says turn on your AC lol...on my mixed commute I don't know if it would make a big difference maybe I will try the AC on for the next tank and see...

yea i think they used 2 suburbans or some huge suv thing...

shoulda tested 2 identical 4 banger cars where turning the AC on has a noticeable performance loss

Yeah, they used 2 SUV's, I'm quite sure they were Ford Expeditions.

-Jay

Turning the AC on my car yanks on that little engine. I hate doing it, but it's been freakin hot around her lately. I only use it while on the freeway though. Having the windows down just seems like I'm turning the car into a parachute.

Oh, and I have really noticed people slowing down. About 6 months ago the average speed on my commute to work was about 75. Now people are cruising along at 65-70. Very noticeable.

Not only were they using huge boats and only ran one very short test, but they were "forced" to run slower than intended "for safety reasons". They used computer monitoring (like a scanguage... maybe actually a scanguage I don't remember what it looked like) which read that at 55MPH it was more efficient to use the AC, but then they decided since that didn't actually measure fuel use, they needed to do a "real world" test. The track run, originally planned for 55MPH was dropped to 45MPH. Given that the increase in drag from open windows will increase at a rate greater than a 1:1 linear rate with changes in velocity, going from 45 to 55 could very easily have changed the results of the test.

I'm generally a mythbusters fan, but that one pissed me off.

It's pretty easy to poke holes in most of their experiments. I enjoy watching the show, but I don't consider their results as proven.

I agree. Mythbusters seem to think through all their tests pretty good and try their best at it, but sometimes it is hard to compensate for little variables.

No two vehicles even the same model with the same motor/trans/gearing and options etc, are exactly alike, and no two drivers drive exactly the same. There are too many other variables to list. It is really hard unless you have a real controlled experiment running on a dyno.

What about with regards to an incline? I'd think that using A/C would not only risk overheating the engines (in high temperatures) but also produce strain on the engine and thus would require more power which equals more gas.
In that case, would windows down be better?

don't know about some vehicles, but driving through CA when it's 115 degrees with the AC on up a hill still net me 32mpg. The AC pulley didn't seem to care, and I didn't ever come close to overheating. Unrelatedly, I will change the alternator pulley before winter, it was whining loudly when cold last year.

yea me too, most of their non vehicle tests seem pretty logical but when it comes to cars theres alot of variables they missed...Its not really their fault the producers tell em what to do...

i know you can post up ideas on their site, might give it a shot, maybe suggest a MPG special edition or something.

Nope. Just me. And the po' folks. Of course, it was 112 degrees today, and right now, at 9:30 at night, it's 92 degrees. And out here, everyone's still going 80. Actually had to dive onto the shoulder of the 14 Freeway just south of Rosamond today to get out of the way of some one, probably from the local Air Force Base, driving a bright yellow Ford Focus at 80+ and lane splitting...

Looks like a concept car remake of an old concept car...1938 Buick "Y Job"...with a '39 grille grafted on...

https://www.prewarbuick.com/img/cars/...b-blueback.jpg

Wait another 20 years, GM (by then likely owned by Dharmsala Jitney ltd., Mumbai) will come out with a concept car based on the 1971 Vega.... with a 1978 Chevette grille...

There's a reason that it looks like a 39 grille - because it is. The 39 grille was the inspiration for the car, and design cues were taken from the Buicks of the 30's & 40's.

Well, I don't drive enough to notice, but when I leave my Wal-Mart, I've noticed fewer SUV and trucks in the parking lot.

The parking lot is empty in the morning, customers seem to be buying more in bulk, and I don't hear the humm of idling engines as much any more. Even with the change in shopping behavior, sales seem to be about the same in general from last year.

i still find a buttload of stupid soccer moms in minivans driving like the dumbaholes they are...

A/C off? Not here in Oregon during the summer. I usually have the window down a bit and the A/C on...but, then again I like riding motorcycles more...so no A/C there.