I hear mixed reviews that in Hot climates like Texas that the AC kinda sucks at stop lights?

 

You get really brutal summers in Houston so I guess the AC will have to work hard, but I don't think this would be particular to the Fit.

We've been having a hot humid summer in Ontario (humidex up in the 110 range on a few days) and I've found the AC to be just fine.

 

I find the a/c to be adequate if I'm on the highway or in stop and go. But in regular city driving or highway merges.....it just plain sucks the power out of a weak engine.

Point to honda though, it holds tight. I was driving a nissan rogue with the ac and there were all types of stutters and weird vibrations when the condenser kicked in.

 

my wife has a rogue yah the CVT tranny and the ac kicking on does werid things ive noticed, but i dont drive her car much

 

Mine does fairly well and gets quite cold once you dump the heat out of the car from parked.

Pop the hatch 'til I'm ready to leave. Once cooled off (about 5 min), I turn it down to 2 or 1 if I'm moving along and it's great. We're having 92-93 F here in Florida, sometimes more, it handles it well for me.

Only problem I've had was on a long freeway trip during super humid 99-100 temps the evaporator iced over after about 30-45 mins. Repeatedly had to shut off the system and defrost using the heater. Reduced airflow and gradual loss of cooling. No leaks or oil stains were found anywhere, didn't have it serviced, and it has only done it under these extreme conditions during extended highway cruising. No water on floor, drain tube was clear and dripping. Cabin filter was free of debris. I suspect the evaporator thermal sensor keeps the system on too long without cycling enough. Major dash disassembly to get at it.

 

I live in Arkansas, which is pretty hot and humid itself, and had all those issues described here including weak A/C at stop light, evaporator freezing over, etc. Dealer found low refrigerant but no leaks, drained and recharged system, and all problems went away. Now A/C works better than when new and no freezing over. Based on what I have read in this forum I know others have had the same experience and I'm wondering how many Fits simply came from the factory with undercharged A/Cs.

 

The A/C seems to work fine for me here in Alabama and it gets pretty hot here. Getting the windows tinted is a must though and makes a huge difference. I'd suggest getting them tinted as dark as your local laws allow.

-Dustin

 

It's adequate to cool the car. After sitting in the sun it may take 10 minutes to get comfortably cool (even allowing the super-hot air to purge with the windows down). Wish it cooled faster/more. Stop-and-go driving requires running it on recirculate, but even then there's a noticeable drop in cooling when idling.

I don't find power or MPG suffers much with it. Like all cars, it disengages when you accelerate more than "moderately." MPG may go down 2mpg average during A/C months. Other owners report worse mileage in winter, but this may be due to longer idling to warm up, and longer time to operating temperature.

The fan is excessively noisy (moving-air noise) on speeds higher than 2. When on the lower, heater vent (winter use) it's very noisy.

There seems to be a high frequency of repairs for cars less than 4 years old (moi aussi) ranging from recharging to actual repairs.

Overall I'd give it a grade of "C-".

 

I live in the DFW, TX Area, driving around in a GD3 now at 77k miles. and I tell you, even with no tint (which i should remedy soon enough), the AC does pretty well in the current blast-furnace weather.

I don't expect it to be a walk-in freezer, but it gets damn cool when I hit I35-w and even when I hit rush-hour/traffic.

I might go do some AC maintenance, just to make sure everything is working soundly.

 

That's cool (pun intended). I noted last summer when it was hitting 104F here with humidity (not as bad as TX) that it cooled well if not better than at 90F. It could be its designers limited output too much when ambient temps are lower but it has the capacity. Someone here added a resistor to the evaporator temp probe (with a bypass switch) and found they got added cooling.

The people out west with 110F+ temps this summer are surviving too, although I haven't read whether they were cool or not.

Honda just fixed mine to stop freezing (evac/recharge, new high-pressure sensor and clutch relay). It cools adequately again...

 

With the large windshield, and the heat radiating from the dash after sitting in the hot sun, it takes a while to get cool - especially during the brutal summer. I just picked this up and hope it makes a difference:

 

San Antonio, Texas here...

Tint and a sunshade for the massive front window is
a must during the summer. It helps if you can park
in the shade, under a carport or garage.

In stop & go and short trips it doesn't get real chilly.

With steadier highway driving so that air is moving
over that condenser it does cool down nicely.

The AC operates very smoothly on the Fit as compared
to other vehicles I've had.

 

It's been pretty warm in Southern California and it's worked great for me. However I've only had the car for 5 days. I am taking it to Vegas where it will be over 100 every day we're there. If it doesn't perform well out there I'll let you know.

 

It's a small engine running a small AC in a relatively big rolling greenhouse. I find the coolness average, if not adequate, but really tint, windshield reflector, and cracked windows when parked for long will help immensely...

 

While driving to Vegas and back to Orange County we kept the AC at 1 and on the coldest and although I wouldn't say the air was ever cold in the 100+ degree weather it was adequate. Kept us from sweating or over heating in the car. If my fiance didn't complain about it then I'd say it does the job just fine. I do have tinted windows so I know that helped.

 

It's not brilliant.

Let's put it somewhere on the spectrum between "1970s British sports car" and "any Buick ever made: bring a jacket." The AC unit on my 1989 Century was literally (no, I am not joking) the size of my Fit engine.

The new Mercedes SL is available with an optional "extra power" AC system for the American market which is capable of directing a constant hurricane of frigid air at your abdomen; apparently the Europeans hate this. They just prefer the car overall be uniformly cool, rather than air being forced at your face like some mad polar bear operating a wind tunnel.

 

I agree completely. I'm actually getting some ceramic tint tomorrow, hoping that helps.

 

Personally I think the air-conditioning system in the Honda fit is too small. It needs to be about 20% bigger to do proper cooling.

I'd say it cools mediocre at best.

 

It seems a bit under powered but overall it does an ok job. I just hope it lasts.