• @Hagdos@lemmy.world
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    655 months ago

    I worked on solar racing cars as a student. The main race crosses outback Australia. One of the questions we often got: Does it have A/C?

    No, no it doesn’t. A/C uses about as much power as all of the solar cells on the car deliver. We can either move, or power an A/C-unit.

  • originalucifer
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    5 months ago

    ive lived this in a 3 cylinder geo metro that for some ungodly reason had air conditioning. i loved that car.

    dump the ac, and drop it into warp 2, youre good to go

    • @soylentgreed@lemmy.world
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      185 months ago

      I used to have a 2000 Honda insight that I ripped the hybrid battery out of and just drove it on the 3 cylinders. That thing was geared so high I would drive up hills flooring it in 2nd gear at like 35 mph. 5th gear basically never got used unless I needed to go 85 mph+

      Fun car that stranded me only a couple times lol. The “replacement” hybrid battery was an Arduino spliced into the wiring harness to trick the car computer that everything was okay. Felt like some real ghetto cyberpunk shit driving that thing around.

    • Flying Squid
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      95 months ago

      They don’t sell too many little cars like the Metro in the U.S. anymore. Sad really.

    • 👍Maximum Derek👍
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      15 months ago

      I had a similar car, the 1990 Ford Escort Pony. It had a hamster for an engine, but it was fine because the body was a shoebox.

  • @RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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    475 months ago

    Haha I didn’t think people still retained that ancient knowledge of motoring success. The good ole days of weak 4-cylinder cars and trucks, when you’d disengage the AC to get more power to go up a hill or something. I’ve met several people who didn’t know it was even a thing.

      • @RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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        35 months ago

        Yes of course they are, but modern 4-cylinder engines have advanced a lot since the old days of last century’s engines.

        Today it’s not hard to find a 4-cylinder that can put out 100 horsepower per liter, or even more. They can pull that little car up the hill with the AC on full blast.

      • @psud@lemmy.world
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        45 months ago

        Most modern 4 cyl cars are better than old ones. The engines are more powerful and the car lighter

        • @Venator@lemmy.nz
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          5 months ago

          Engines are more powerful but most cars are the opposite of lighter…

          They might feel lighter though because tyres are so much better now.

    • brianorca
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      55 months ago

      Many more recent cars will do this automatically at high throttle conditions, such as acceleration to pass.

  • southsamurai
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    175 months ago

    Jfc, I thought I was the only one geeky enough to not only do that, but admit it in public

  • @thefattman@beehaw.org
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    95 months ago

    This is literally my brother in his electric truck on the highway trying to eek out a bit more range

  • @1993_toyota_camry@beehaw.org
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    45 months ago

    My car does this automatically. If you floor it, the vents start blowing hot air.

    It does make me wonder how much it really helps.

    • @ccdfa@lemm.ee
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      15 months ago

      Like the vents start blowing hot air or the ac shuts off temporarily? If the former, then your ac probably just can’t keep up with the extra heat in the engine

      • @acockworkorange@mander.xyz
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        45 months ago

        Several cars disable the AC compressor when they detect that you’re flooring it. This removes the mechanical load from the engine, releasing a bit more power to the wheels for as long as you’re balls to the wall.