I have had my 8 for 10 months now and about 10K miles, lets be honest, The HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) really sucks in the 8.

Starting a warm car blows warm or hot air into the cabin so one has to roll down windows or turn on the AC. Say if outside temp is 72 degrees the vents are blowing in 85 degrees(temp **** turned all the way to cool).

I avoid usng the AC since it robs power and with both windows down can not hear the audio. I wish I could just bring in outside air at ambient temps.

Very poor engineering on HVAC. Forget about the gas mileage this limitation alone is enough to make me want to change cars.

 

I agree with everything except changing cars. The HVAC is poor but everything else is way too much fun to give up.

 

Alright maybe I am over reacting but HVAC engineers figuered this out 40 years ago. I am not sure why Mazda did such a **** poor job with such a simple thing.

I even had the heat shield installed for the front cup holders and it still gets damn hot in there. When I get home after a 20 minute commute the house keys which I keep in the cup holder are too damn hot. I could cook a pizza in there.

 

I just run the AC when I get in, then turn it off if I require more power, then turn it back on when I'm done. Once the vents are cold you can run the AC intermittently to keep things frosty.

I would never consider changing cars over this.

 

Yes, they could've done a better job, but mine is good enough that I don't sweat on a 95 degree day, and if I turn it up to "3" it cools down rather quickly. I was going to bring it in for the AC amp TSB, but decided against it since it works well enough, and most people say it doesn't really fix the problem.

Just keep it on "recirc" and it's OK.

 

I always give high marks to Mazda engineers since for a small company they have had many great cars.

I just have a feeling that with the 8, lightness was a very high priority thus they skimped on heat shields and insulations everywhere.

Is it me or does everyone feel the power loss with the AC on?

 

I have found the HVAC to be a bit termpermental, but workable.

In the winter the heater automatically turns on the A/C, unless air is blowing out the dash (I don't remember the exact algorithm, but its something like that, and in the manual). I think I blow air out the dash and feet in the winter, and get more heat from recirc, but use fresh to reduce fogging. Eventually, even at cold temps it gets quite comfortable, typically with the fan on speed 1.

In the summer, I think I read the A/C needs to be recirc mode else the outside air is warmed by engine parts. Lately when I get in my car at work, the RX-8 temp reads 90+ degrees, then after I drive for a while it drops to low-mid-80s. I crack the moon roof, run A/C with fresh air to blow the hot air out. A few minutes later I close the moon roof and switch to recirc mode. Since I am usually alone, I rotate the left vent to vertical slots and point it and both middle vents towards me. Part of the cooling effect is evaporation, so its important that a breeze flows on the skin. I also close the moonroof shade on hot sunny days to prevent taking direct sun.

A few days ago it was quite hot, and ran the fan on #2, and over the 10 minute commute it was very tolerable, and was getting cool near the end. I was wondering what it would be like with more heat and more people in the car.

 

A few days ago it was quite hot, and ran the fan on #2, and over the 10 minute commute it was very tolerable, and was getting cool near the end. I was wondering what it would be like with more heat and more people in the car.



For a car on the smallish size, 10 minutes is a lifetime for cooling the cabin.

Lets hear comments from 8 owners from Florida or other hot and humid states.

 

I'm in FL. The AC works fine, but best when the car is moving.

When it's hot, I do two things:

1) Open the moonroof slightly
2) Turn the AC to take air from outside.

Once the car is cool, I shut the moonroof and switch AC to recycle the air.

The car is usually cool within a minute.

 

Well, the power leeching from the AC on this car is really minimal compared RSX. I can still accelerate with easy during normal driving, even acceleration at 90+ don't really feel very different w/ or w/o the ac on

 

unfortunately they designed our Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning system to be automatic then decided to save $200 by not making it available in the states. The auto systems are designed to have the A/C on just about all the time so they never worried about the days when it was 65 out and people just want fresh air on. They should have included auto on the GT option at least.

 

To quote myself and the reference by RenesisPower:
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A few days ago it was quite hot, and ran the fan on #2, and over the 10 minute commute it was very tolerable, and was getting cool near the end. I was wondering what it would be like with more heat and more people in the car.
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The car had been baking in the sun for hours and was reading 93 degrees. The seat and everything else was hot. If I drove it from the garage at that temperature it would have likely stayed cool. My Honda's had similar problems cooling a sun baked car, the RX-8 doesn't appear to have as much cooling capacity as them, but I don't see it as a problem.

In the normal 70-80 temps, I find the A/C on Fan#1 has too much cooling.

 

I am not happy either with the HVAC. I had the AC amp installed (no real change) and not see that it blows warm air at idle. I will call the dealer next week about this because I know they were experiementing on another RX-8 to solve this issue, so we will see. I would recommed the RX-8 sun shade. It is a perfect fit and keep the sun out.

 

JasonHamilton and I follow the same procedure. The amp fix made my air cooler but it works best if I first vent the cabin by opening the moonroof and draw outside air thru the system for a few minutes. As soon as the super heated air has been cleared from the system and the cabin, it gets set on recirculate and the roof is closed. Never gets really cold but cool enough. It was over 100 degrees and humid about a week ago and it worked.

 

I have owned my 8 for 3 weeks and its been in the 90's and very humid here. my air gets so cold i have to leave it on 1. i do not know if its because i have a new 8 or maybe because its a automatic.
But i am watching it, because i was awear of this problem before i purchased. So far i am very pleased with my air.

 

Boy, all you people complaining must never have driven a Honda. I never got any one of my 5 Hondas as cold as I get the 8. The only car I have known that has a better A/C is my 6 cylinder SUV, or some 6 or 8 cylinder american cars I've been familiar with. Most Japanese cars have the A/C set up so that it automatically cycles off the compressor when either at idle, or at high RPMs to give maximum power to the acceleration. WHen they invented that automatic cut out into the system it was a great thing - in the old days, I'd always have to click off the A/C switch before accelerating. Now I hear people complaining! It is normal for it to cycle off when at idle (it helps prevent overheating), and it is normal to feel some drag on the engine when it is running.
The problem the TSB addressed was a constant cycling on and off during normal driving conditions which is not normal.

 

The AC isn't cold at first when I get in a hot car, but this is to be expected. If the passenger compartment is hot, then the engine bay (where the air is being drawn from) is most likely even hotter. Once I get going though, the AC kicks in just fine. I was just out this evening and had to turn the AC down a little to prevent my fingers from freezing.

 

My AC works fine - it blows a lot of cold air.

However, the issue is complicated by:

The heat coming up from the underside of the car and into the cockpit. I wish there was more heat insulation under the car. Perhaps the issue is difficult to solve because of the rotor motor's hot exhaust.

In town, i.e., during stop and start driving, the AC cycles constantly, apparently in response to varying rpm, speed, etc. I wish the AC wouldn't cycle so much.

My problem isn't with the AC systems's cooling output - it's with how the system is calibrated and how much heat is transferred to the cockpit from the underside of the car.

 

Im down here in sunny South Florida and mine work acceptably. Its not my buddy's dual zone Caddy, but it keeps me cool. When my wife and I are out at night she usually closes her vents and freezes me out.
As far as the center console...I was thinking the heat was coming off of the tranny b/c it only gets smoking hot when driving city. On a road trip everything is much,much cooler. Any one else notice this?

 

I dont know what car your driving but my car has the coldest ac of any car I have owned.
And I am in Texas

 

My car is pretty cold. Try to keep the air on recirculation, but if that doesn't work take it to the dealer.

 

this car is much cooler than my old 626 was...doesnt have swinging vents though hehe

 

I was not satisfied with the A/C. I'm pretty sure that the temperature of the air coming out of the vent was higher than required to cool the car. Dealer discovered that the freon level was low and I had a defective A/C amp.

 

I had one 8 that was blowing around 50 after the a/c amp. Called tech line and they sent a updated evaporator and expansion valve. Seemed to make around a 10* difference.

 

Some of you that are complaining about the complainers probably have a newer 8 with the updated AC amp. Those of us who got our car way back when have had some problems- mine is still cycling badly, going from warm to cold and back again, about twice every minute. And my dealer is being an *** about it, insisting nothing is wrong. Mostly annoying, but still a small issue.