I've read the air conditioning performance on the first gen Fit was borderline...do any of you '09 owners have an opinion on how well the A/C works in the new model?

thx

 

my 09 works great. almost 100 last couple of days here and
i keep the fan on 2.

 

It is not as strong as I would like. When very hot, it takes quite awhile to cool down.

Not a huge problem for me as I live in the mountains and it is usually fairly cool up here, but this came home to me this week when I was down in the desert and the car heated up quite a bit when I parked it for a couple of hours.

Once cool, it maintains OK, Just works very hard to do initial cool down.

 

Suggestion: This is a low beltline vehicle, meaning there is a higher percentage of glass than in many other cars. It's good to tint the windows, especially with an almost invisible metallic flake reflection. My car gets cool very fast in extreme sun and heat. Peter

 

It's a tad weak compared to what I'm used to, and it's not bad by any means, and my 35% tint makes all the difference.

 

The a/c is the only complain of mine for the 1st gen fit..it takes sooo long to cool you down and a/c is a must down here in FL. I have 15% tint all around and i sometimes use the sun visor for the front and even with all that it still takes forever to get cool. Oh AND its on 4 the whole time...i also have a 91 integra and the a/c is 10 times better and never go past 2...i wonder how the 2nd gen is..I should go to the nearest Honda just to test the A/C..haha

 

When i testdrove the '09 Fit, i was underwhelmed by the A/C here in TX. It blew hard enough, but not much real cold air was coming out of it. I would imagine that it would take some time to cool the car down under a noon sun.

 

Well, that's disappointing. I had to sell an otherwise fine Mazda3 a few years ago because of crappy A/C performance.

 

I can say that the 09 Fit's AC is at least as good as the 91 Integra (I had a 91 and 94 Integra).

 

Has the metal flake interfered with your nav/gps signal. I hear it can also interfere with radar detector signals, toll transponders, and AM radio signals.

I've been trying to locate a dealer near Baltimore who installs Huper Optik or Formula 1 tint, both ceramic tints that do not interfere with gps performance.

 

Mines works fine. Except I noticed a 4mpg drop when using it over a roadtrip.

 

I think people should post the color of their car and how they rate the a/c. It may be underpowered for a black car or the blackberry pearl but more then adequate for a white or silver car.

Plus the fit does have a big cabin so regardless it is going to take some time.

 

I do have the Navi. system . . .have not had any problems or delays due to the the metallic tint. Antenna for GPS
satellites is on roof. Does not affect my cell phone. Car is black . . cools like a champ . . in Palm Springs 109 temp. All windows tinted, except windshield. Peter

 

The vehicle's A/C is adequate, but my understanding is Honda charges the system on the Fits several ounzes short of a full charge of refrigerant.

I will be helping the car along in two ways: Thursday I'll be going with FormulaOne Pinnacle tint in 35% all around including the front windshield down to the AS1 line. I've also ordered "ICE 32" which I've used in various vehicles. It increases lubrication and drops the air temp at the vent approx 5 degrees. The 3 0z. aerosol can contains 1 oz. R134a and 2 oz. ICE 32. It's added to the low side of the system, just like refrigerant.

After these two upgrades, it should improve beyond factory, which is OK, not the greatest.

 

Are there any drawbacks whatsoever in using that ICE 32? Where can I get it?

 

None that I am aware of. The last vehicle I put it in was a '99 M/B E320 4Matic, a car notorious for premature a/c compressor failure. It worked as advertised, quieted the compressor, dropped the vent temp, and allowed the system to survive 4-5 years longer than many of the same make/model, until the car was totaled last this May, and I replaced it with the Fit.

You can get it here:
ac additive enhancer, ac additive performance

Two cans right now delivered for like $34. I called Firestone (where I last purchased it), they wanted $49.99 for one can. That's when I found this place on the web. They generated a Fed-Ex tracking # within a day.

Here's some manufacturer information on "ICE32":
http:ICE 22