LuisRotativo

I have a fc3s s4 and i was wondering if it is worth it to remove air conditioning, i was wondering what where the benefits in Hp gain and performance overall that is freed up. its my first rotary so i dont know much about tuning, performance upgrades ect.
Thank's , Luis

BaneRacing

That depends man... Where do you live? How do you use the car?(Daily, track, combination of the two?)

I've removed A/C in only one of my cars, and honestly it was worth it to me. I live in Oregon, and have used air conditioning maybe 10 times since I've been driving on my own(7 years).

In my particular car, I only freed up a few ponies by disabling the A/C itself. Removing ~50 pounds of crap in the engine bay was a big bonus, and freeing up the air path to my radiator was another bonus.

If you don't use the A/C, and plan to keep the car for a while... It's worth removing it.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

If it is working and it is used as a Daily car,then NO,I would not rip it out.
I mean WHY?.
BUT,if the car is used as a Race car,and that engine is being wrenched on continuously,then Yes,by all means take the "Boat anchor" out of the Boat!

HAUNTED HAMMZ

Really depends on what you're using it for. Gotta be a little more specific

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

I removed mine when I was doing my TII swap. It was either the P/S or the A/C. I should have muscled up, because those humid Illinois summers are nearly as bad as Florida! I had big intercooler piping running through there and never looked back. Now, I live in Washington. I don't really need A/C. I now realize there are so many other options when it comes to intercooler piping routing. I am in my engine bay A LOT... No regrets on my part.

As everyone else has stated, take into account what you use the car for and how much you work on it. Simplicity is nice when working in your engine bay... But sweaty chicks aren't cool when you're "working" in the "cockpit".

LuisRotativo

Basically it will be a daily driver with every other weekend or so track use, it is a non turbo so its not in the way of pipes. I live in Virginia near richmond so summer kinda sucks, but since its my only car... i dont know; any more opinions/ feedback on pros and cons will be appreciated

Luis

HAUNTED HAMMZ

Then leave theA/C

originalrecipekenny

i yanked the a/c out of my daily, and the girls daily (VWs) totally worth it. i say that living in sacramento. nothing i own has a/c. its not that big of a sacrafice in my opinion. the power difference was huge. your cooling fans will more than likely stop working, and when you put the controls on defroster mode, the engine will rev up to compansate for the power draw created by the a/c. if you can get a non-a/c suit case(under dash bits) and wiring pigtails, it not bad and comes out looking clean. other wise it looks hack, operates hack and is....

livevil904

AC is for pussies... so I vote to take it out. I also live in oregon though and so there is only like a day a year that I miss it. Admittedly I missed having it when I drove to california in the summer... but I lived.

I do have a vert though...

Pros:
-50 pounds off an FC is like 2%. Think of it like a 2% improvement in acceleration, handling, and braking. Maybe even a 1% gain in mpg if you drive in town alot.

-Less parasitic losses in the drive belt (slight improvement in power and mpg). This is true whether or not the A/C is on. Though of course it will suck alot more power when the A/C is on

-As others have said, it also improves airflow to the radiator.

-Easier to work on.

Cons
-2% isnt much. About the equivalent of adding 3hp for an NA.

-No A/C

-Less resale ability unless you put it back on

Lucky13sRX7

are we talking about removing everything from the inside too? the A/C didn't work when I bought the car and I live in Oklahoma... our summers are just...pleasant..

its better than subway LOL.

I plan on ripping everything I can outta the car so I guess I can go all out?

J514

iv always used 240 air ( 2 windows down @ 40mph) if your still hot then just go faster

Troclo

An FC N/A is not the fastest car in the world, anything to slim it down is worth while!

wthdidusay82

iTrader: (15)

Removing the AC, power steering, emissions, and air pump will make your car roughly 100 lbs lighter as well as giving your engine bay a much cleaner look as well as making it easier to work on.

Just make sure you do everything the right way.

Rotary >Pistons

wes1023

Nothing cooler than flying by people on the with your ac on

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

Really you do not have to remove anything inside the car if you do not want to,or just are plain lazy.
You can take the lines off at the firewall,take the compressor,condensor,cooler off..and call it a day.
By the way,you really "like" the hose under the battery tray,from compressor to front cooler.It is attached under the tray,on the frame.
If the battery tray bolts are rusted to **** and snap..yay..( "why did I ever start takin **** off" is often heard!)

dslfan

daily driver, I would leave it on. Negligible power loss when not on, so when you wanna go, just turn the A/C off! If it was a weekend warrior/track day car like I'm building, then pull it off for sure.

GreenChevelleSS

take it off and send the compressor to me, my clutch came apart. Oklahoma summers are rough

GPT!

drive around with A/C off and see if you tolerate. Personally, i feel you are absolutely destroying any street car by removing A/C

hairball15

How does it make it easier to work on? And are there anymore cons?

wthdidusay82

iTrader: (15)

If you take every accessory and run just the alternator and waterpump with a dual pulley youll free up a lot of space in the engine bay making access to everything much easier.

Rotary >Pistons

OniFC

iTrader: (2)

I removed mine ( bad seal on the back of the compressor ), the condenser and lines, along with my power steering and the accessory "rack". It makes working on the engine 1000 times easier and it cleans up the bay quite a bit. I also live in Arkansas and the summers are pretty rough, but it's not bad if you have the windows down and/or moon roof open.

Landon303

iTrader: (25)

instead of the challenge of seeing if you can take it out, you should take on the challenge of seeing if you can make it work

wthdidusay82

iTrader: (15)

A/c is nice but it sucks up a lot of power and gas mileage, if keeping cool is important go for it..

It's great for hot 90 degree summer days in humid weather , but in cold weather its obviously useless...

Its really all on who u are...hardcore spirited driver wanting Max weight reduction but suffer on hot days or rather keep cool...

It won't make a noticeable difference in feel of how the car drives, but if you combine its weight loss with a few other things you'll reduce 100lbs of weight which is a good chunk of weight.

I personally hate the power loss felt with the a/c on, it was very noticeable in my 91 Honda civic - barely made itcuphill when floored lol.

I'm not sure how drastic the power loss is in an rx7.

Rotary >Pistons

PNWFC

My Turbo II already had it pulled out and i have no complaints. Though I live in washington, and our summers are mild, the only thing it would be nice for is defogging on a rainy day, which we get a few of around here...Tis up to you. Pull it out without damaging any components and you will be able to throw it back in if you feel so inclined.

sd9k

agreed