A/C not so cold!

I too have been very disappointed with the cooling ability of my Prius's A/C. I have a 2007 that I bought used, and living in southwestern Oklahoma where the summer temps get over 110 degrees, it just isn't cutting it. Out of the 4 cars I've owned previously, this one has the weakest A/C I've ever experienced.

I did replace the cabin air filter today though, literally took 3 minutes. Today the temperatures outside aren't really hot enough to test if it's making a difference, but I did notice with the fan on high it seems to blow harder than before.:thumb:

 

Assuming that everything is OK with the A/C system, this may simply be a difference between what you consider to be a comfortable temperature and where people are sitting in the car. I'm in So California too, and find that Eco mode in auto for A/C with temp set to 76-78 F works fine for me on hot summer days for front seat passengers. With vents pointed toward front seat passengers, this feels cooler than the the temperature setting and has minimal impact on fuel economy.

When I drive in the same conditions, with back seat passengers, these settings are inadequate. For backs seaters to be comfortable, I have found it necessary to turn auto off and use a colder temperature setting with a higher fan speed. This difference has an immediate effect on reduced instantaneous MPG, measured with a Scangauge. Once the front and back cab is cooled to a comfortable temp, I switch back to the auto configuration, using a lower temperature setting that maintains reasonable comfort throughout the cab. In this last configuration in the So Cal summer, maintenance of a comfortable temp for back seat passengers means slightly cooler, than my ideal, for front seaters, regardless of how the vents are pointed or ventilation mode.

 

The 2012 has great A/C compared to what I was used to in the 2004. Even so, the A/C in the '04 has been acceptable to me, being an Arizona native.

We drove around in the '04 today during the heat of the day and the car did a great job keeping us cool while the outside temps were high 90's. I don't expect the A/C to chill beer, and don't like to be colder than 72. As long as the car can keep me comfortable then the A/C is ok.

We all have different comfort zones so the OP and others complaining about weak A/C have valid points from their perspective.

 

Just keep in mind that the mpg hit can be quite significant if you enjoy max cold and frequently make short trips.

I played with the AC a bit and it reacts very much like my GenII in that the mpg hit is around 7-10mpg when the AC is initially engaged and it is much hotter outside than your desired AC setting. This mpg hit will stay fairly constant until the cabin cools sufficiently to reduce AC compressor energy usage. I observed this hit in Eco Mode. I'll test it in the other modes next week during my 47mile commute with temps in the 90s.

 

I have found that the A/C is not very effective at cooling if you are setting it to a temperature above 70F.

The best way to use the A/C, I've found, is to set it to "LOW" and max fan speed until the cabin is sufficiently cooled. Once the cabin is cooled, keep it on "LOW" but reduce the fan speed to 50% of the maximum. When the A/C is used this way, it works acceptably.

 

The A/C in my 2011 Prius gets plenty cold, even with Eco on. I throttle it back by turning up the temperature setting.

My old clunker (a 2002 Ford Taurus) has the opposite problem - the control board is messed up so that if the A/C is turned on, it goes full cold regardless of the temperature setting. When it's just a little hot out, I have to choose between a little hot or really cold.

So just be happy that you can throttle it back when you don't need it that much, and turn up the fan if it's not cool enough.