I expect the engine to have less performance when the A/C is on but my A/C makes my car feel like it has turbo lag. Acceleration is slower up until 2500 RPM but then my acceleration picks up, even if my right foot is in the same position. Furthermore, when I let the car coast to a stop, it jerks and engine-brakes more as the RPM decreases past 2500. BTW I have a 5spd. Does anyone else experience this?

 

yeah you can feel the a/c leech off the car's power a lot more in the fit. probably because it has so little power to begin with, so every little bit counts. it's normal so don't worry. i know what you're talking about, if you're just accelerating with your foot lightly on the gas, it's really weak then picks up kinda violently haha.

 

I agree with everything doctordoom said. The AC does take up lots of power in the fit.

 

Doctordoom is right. The days of the fat GM car kicking out icy blasts are over. We have TINY engines. Use AC sparingly. I cycle it on as necessary. In the Midwest unfortunately the time will come soon when AC will be on full time and MPG and performance will suffer. Reality often sucks!

 

I like how everything seems "smoother" when driving with the a/c

 

On a straight road I turned the a/c on and off several times, and could not only feel it in the engine, but there was a significant disturbance on the tach too. All expected obviously.

 

I joke with my friends, when I turn the AC off it's like a n20 shot lol.

 

When idled, my engine sounds like it wants to cry when I crank the A/C to the 4th setting. But when I put it back down to 3, the noise stops. I find it very interesting that when I pound on the gas with the A/C, it seems slow, but when I lightly press on the gas, it accelerates faster than I expect. It's like the car wants to go one speed when the A/C is on.

 

really? it's rougher for me because now i have to start off at higher RPM and also clutch out slower or the engine will drop RPMs very easily and almost stall. Plus the low-end is rougher too so i have to waste more gas on top of just having A/C on itself by driving with higher RPMs via one gear lower to retain decent power and run smoother... it sucks

 

Yeah I notice it somewhat. My Scion xB 1.5 did more or less the same thing though so I'd anticipated it. I consider it par for the course for a small car like this. Not a big deal to me, if I really need all 109 hp at once, like I'm merging on an uphill highway on ramp or something, it's no bother to turn it off for a second. I very rarely find that the car does not have adequate power, even with the A/C on and a load of passengers. Its not a HEMI but it's a willing little motor.