Most liked posts in thread: Impressions/Opinions of Automatic A/C

Turning a couple of dials now and then is not a big deal, and not having to for $500 is not worth it to me.

Mark

 

I have one of each on my 1st gen Coopers.

The Auto temp dash looks cool with the stylized MINI logo for all the buttons, but I don't like how it chooses the fan settings (starts out high and takes a while to quiet down) or that anything 62 degrees and above is heat and below is cool (and it only goes in 2 degree increments).

I much perfer the manual dial to set the temprature to a comfortable mix, and have the ability to mix vent locations by setting the dial in between dashboard, feet or defrost locations.

 

Never driven a car with auto temp, but I don't think it's worth it. In your house you want to set it and forget it, in a car things change from on minute to the other. It's also real easy to fine tune as you go.

 

I have the auto, but use it in the manual mode for the same reasons Ernesto gave for the fan speeds.

 

The fan motor will drive you insane on a hot summer day till the temp comes down!!

 

I love mine

I would buy it again just for the controls feel, although in the R56 the controls are quite different. In an R53, the manual controls feel cheap to me.

 

Can't you manuallly control the fan speed even on the automatic systems? You could on my '03....

I also prefer the manual system.

 

As soon as you use the fan speed switch, it disengages the auto feature on the R56.

 

That makes me wonder why get the auto, if it is not useful.

Mark

 

If I could get a "do over" I wouldn't get it. Besides, with the manual system, your MINI will be lighter.:ihih:

 

No auto A/C + a manual transmission + no cruise-o-matic + no auto-dimming RVM = maybe I'm a just a hopeless control freak :yesnod: ut:

(I am managing to survive the auto door locks and windows... :arf

 

I wanted hand crank windows, and no power locks, but even back in 03 they looked at me weird when I asked for that:lol:.

Mark

 

I thought about it this way. Would I pay someone $500 to adjust my A/C for me?

No. I'm pretty sure I can handle that.

 

I like my 1st gen auto AC. When I need to override it, I do. Much of the time, I set the temp and let it take care of things. When I feel a need for full manual control, I put the top down.

 

i've got it... I found it does a decent job of keeping the temp constant. My complaint is the 2 degree increments... but being such a small interior the A/C does a good job of cooling down fast. I normaly only switch to manual on the really hot days when I want a full stream of cold air. the auto setting will slow the fan speed down and all the sun light coming in can still be a bit warm. The other thing that helps in the heat are the sunroof shades. Got a pair of those, so in the July/August heat in Atlanta, they help alot to keep the car cool.

 

I never had auto A/C controls before this MINI. Being I bought off the lot there was not much choice in the matter as it was already in the car. I like the set it and forget it idea. Keep it at 68 99% of the time. About the only time I shut it off is on track.

If I was specing out the car I'd probably not of added it unless it came in a package I wanted. However, since I do have it, I like it.

As to adding to resale value down the road, I think only if the car was being traded at a MINI dealer would it make a difference.

 

meh... i cant turn it on it i want too... 90% of the time i never use AC

 

I like mine. And you don't HAVE to use the auto feature. It can be used "analog" as well!

 

I leave mine on Auto about 95% of the time and it works fine. On a side note, I've found that the AC on my R56 is much improved over my R53, which never seemed to get past "merely cool" on summer days here in TX.

 

R56 here also. It cools off nicely and it does it fairly quickly. Agreed with the 95% number, also. I hardly touch it.