Well I have joined the victims of Condensor busted by road debris not covered under warranty anonymous. So my AC is inoperable. Since I never use the AC anyway I don't feel like paying $500 to repair it.

How much weight do you guys think could be removed by removing the condensor/compressor/ac lines etc?

Could the AC drive belt be removed also? This would reduce drag on the engine correct?

Could the CEL light come on as a result?

Thanks for your help,

Patrick

 

and on the hot days?......

 

i removed my AC from my MR2 turbo. what a dumb decision that was. number one reason why you should keep your AC...it's street car. not only is it uncomfortable for you in the hot weather, but your passengers as well.

 

Even when I took it to Florida last summer. NO AC!!!!. That is what the four windows and sunroof is for.

It is so funny if its 30 degrees or 110 degrees I will be the only person with the windows down. Even in snow the aerodynamics of the car allow the sunroof to be open along with the indows half way LOL

The girlfriend thinks I'm psycho. :D

 

She's right...you're psycho :D

Try that Florida summer during one of our frequent downpours and no AC. The worst thing about not having AC is not the fact that you're uncomfortable (although that's bad enough) its the fact that you have to drive around in the rain with your windows down in order to avoid fogging up and driving blind. Ugh!

jds

 

Seeing as everyone basically called you crazy already.. I'll just say that I remember reading somewhere that past rotories benefited greatly by removing belt driven components. (I believe it was something like 20hp for power steering). But don't take this for fact... This couldve easily changed in the past 10 years.

 

Our steering is fly by wire! That's electronic.

Not gonna get any HP from this.

 

i *think* the only belt-driven accessory on the 8 is the alternator, everything else is electric, even the a/c condenser???

 

I'd leave it in. There are so many RX-7 people that remove their a/c in the quest for 1/2 a horsepower and a few pounds weight savings. You'll find out really quickly that you can't defrost a window as easily in the rain since the a/c dries the air out. That's the important part. Without the "conditioning" of the air, it stays humid. You don't dry the window with water. You do realize that you'll have no heat in the winter either. The a/c isn't robbing you anything you'll notice in terms of power. When it's off, it isn't robbing anything measureable. You don't have a belt driven power sterring or air pump like the RX-7's did so you've already got that advantage. The weight savings aren't going to be enough for you to notice in terms of performance either. It sucks but just fix it and install some screens to prevent it from happening again. You'll really regret it if you take it all out.

 

Spend the $500 or so to get it fixed, get the $5 screens at home depot and call it a lesson learned. Provided you don't keep the car forever, you'll have a hard time selling any car without ac.

 

No AC = no resale value

 

As far as the fogging issue everyone is right. The fog is a killer. That is the only drawback of my AC not working.

Does anyone have experience with Fog-x, form the makers of rain-x?

SELL MY BABY!!! You ought to be ashamed of yourself for such a thought j/k.

Even for the first year it worked I NEVER once used AC. I think the idea of having the windows up in a car is ridiculous. I almost didn't buy the RX-8 simply because there was not a convertible option. A vehicle is all about being outdoors and enjoying it. If I wanted to be confortable I would have bought a Cadi or a Lincoln.

The compressor is belt driven. There are three pulleys on that built the compressor, the main drive pulley and one other. Anybody know what the other one is?

Anyone know how much the compressor and/or condensor weighs?

Thanks for the concern everyone but I'm not really losing much, in my opinion.

Patrick

 

Only the accelerator is drive by wire. Contrary to popular belief, there is a steering column that connects (eventually) to the wheels, even if it has an electric assist. AFAIK, it is required by law in the US at this point. So, if you are strong enough, you can steer the car if the car dies for whatever reason. If you put the key in the right position so that the steering wheel doesn't lock, you can turn your wheels. It's just difficult.

 

Alternator/Generator
AC compressor w/ magnetic clutch
Water Pump

Are all belt driven

 

You're confusing what was said. The RX-8 has electric ASSISTED steering. Yes it still has a steering column connected to the wheels. Instead of using a belt driven pump to help steering, it uses an electric motor.

 

< hijack >

Issue of semantics... I've understood "fly by wire" to be ONLY wire. Otherwise, it's electric assist. So, according to the terminology the way I've seen it, the accelerator is fly by wire (won't work w/o power, or will only work by wire) and the steering is electric assisted (will still work without power, or will work with or without wire). Not the same thing in my book, but it's neither here nor there.

< /hijack >

 

turn the wheel, use electricity = bigger load on alternator = more drag, less hp.

but who cares? not like you could feel 2-3 hp anyway. and the a/c turns off under WOT, so it doesn't take any power when you're trying to get power.

whoever made the 20hp remark about the p/s, that was pretty optimistic. somewhere between 3 and 12 hp for ALL the belt driven accessories.

 

It depends on how much the AC weighs. I would never do it for the reason of getting more HP, because it doesn't make a difference hardly. I'd do it for the weight savings.

In my 2nd gen rx7 I removed my AC, PS, and a shitload of other stuff in the quest for a lighter car. I now sit with a car that's ~250lbs lighter and I love it. It's a lot more maneuverable and fun to drive. I daily drive this with no PS and still s PS rack (just plugged) and it doesn't bother me at all. I've also made it through 2 summers with no problem. It's all what you can stand I guess.

 

you can get that supercharger that the italian guy who races all those rx8s sells. His supercharger requires that you remove your air conditioning

 

I'm about to get a really nice (paint and body) 2nd gen that has had this exact same thing done. It really makes me mad that I have to go to all of the effort to put it all back in to get a nicer car out of it. I can live without power steering. That's no big deal. My 1st gen has manual steering and it's tougher to turn than a manual 2nd gen rack. I have a 2nd gen manual rack lying around for the new car anyways. He wrongfully left the power rack in it disconnected. It's actually much harder to turn that way and by no means "fun" to drive. The a/c has to get reinstalled. Those cars are just a giant greenhouse in the summer. All of the vacuum accessories have to go back on again too since the auxillary ports and the vdi don't work anymore either. They are "wired" open. Because of this the car is now slower than stock due to a bad series of mods. Yes it weighs a little less but it also make alot less horsepower below 5500 rpm since nothing on the intake is working. That's where you drive at 99% of the time. Not a good tradeoff to me. Thanks to one person's misguided quest for performance, I now get to suffer and figure out how to get it all fixed again. I'm praying that the last owner didn't port out the intake manifolds like all the 2nd gen guys on the 7forum seem to do. I've done the same thing and tested it on my flowbench. They actually flow worse! Believe it or not! I had to hunt down another stock manifold to use. It's on a GSL-SE 1st gen btw. The 2nd gen is plenty fun to drive stock and only better with a good suspension and some simple mods. None of them have to include turning it into a tin can. It isn't a race car. It is a street car. You can not have both in one car no matter how hard you try. I'm actually surprised the car I'm getting still has it's interior and a passenger seat. If your going to destroy a car to make it "more fun" at least go all the way.

Obviously this is a personal opinion and is on no way indicitive of everyone else. It is your car and you have every right to do what you want to. If it makes you happy, that is all that matters in the end. But you did ask everyone else for their opinion.

 

If the car is so messed up in your mind why even buy it?

 

Although I do feel soooo much closer to everyone since I now know your opinions on the joys of A/C in a vehicle. This board just proves again that through a common tie such as our beloved 8s we can all agree to disagree. Agter the glow of this warm situation diminished however I was puzzled.

Through it all I am still left with my original questions.

Any takers?

Thanks

 

in the summer...it could raise up to 98 degree.. without A.C I will die in the car..hha..ahha..
and I don't think A.C weight more than 200lb..so..it really doesn't matter...If u not gonna to race ur life...

 

Ha if the AC weighed 200 lbs I'd yank it in a second. Its probably more like 15-20 lbs. Heck the entire AC compressor on my 1974 pontiac, the condensor, the little silica thing, all the giant hoses, and the steel lines only weighed 75 lbs...and that condensor was gigantic.

One thing I don't think has been mentioned....the resell value of a vehicle drops significantly if you take AC out of it.

 

Just to play devil's advocate, another positive you get out of removing the AC is you remove the condensor from in front of the radiator...so your cooling will be better.

Its still a bad idea for a street car