<3 Cruise control. I think my car runs rich...

 

try doing this

instead of turning a/c on, just have the air on, and instead of coming out of the vents that is aimed towards you, have it aim towards the windshield. I have always done that instead of turning on a/c and it seems to cool the inside cabin adequately.

 

You are nuts. I can't speak for everyone else, but my car blows HOT AIR out the vents unless the A/C is turned on. The car itself uses its entire frame and structure (as well as the aluminum hood) as a "heat sink" for excess heat; the air coming out of the vents is always going to be warmer than air temp, and air coming in from outside is going to be heated.

 

i think there are pulleys available which would reduce the load on the engine when the compressor is engaged. i would imagine that these would lower the efficiency of the compressor though.

 

I recommend wrapping all the AC lines inside the engine bay with some sort of heat insulating material. That does wonders for AC.

Also, you can setup and install a radiator/ac condenser water spray system. I have not tried that myself, but i heard it also works great.

 

If you are going to wrap it just wrap the suction lines. It would be the one with a cap labled "L" on it for the low pressure side.

Reason is the high pressure side is the liquid form of the freon which goes through the front mounted radiator to get rid of excess heat. Trapping heat in that line would be foolish.

You can just turn on the car and feel which line is warm or not if you like.

 

Yeah, I agree. Thats what I wanted to say, but didnt think good enough before saying that. Hehe.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that cars equipped with the interior air filtration option has a filter element that should be replaced periodically. I think SOA recommends once a year or whenever the air flow from the vents seem to be restricted from a dirty filter element.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Imprezer what did you wrap your lines with? I am in AZ and need all the help I can get! I bought my car used so I have no idea if it came with an interior air filtration system. Where would I look for that? Under the dash somewhere? Thanks!

 

The air filtration box is located behind the glove box assembly, which must be completely removed to service the element. Not difficult, just tedious. Some of the screws aren't obvious at first glance. I think there's one on the side of the dashboard that is only visible with the passenger door open.

There should also be a service sticker on the driver's door jamb indicating the presence of the air filtration system. Should have been applied at the factory or at the dealer before the car was sold and replacement filter elements come with a new sticker.

I don't know what Imprezer uses on his A/C lines but some folks have tried materials like adhesive-backed foam wrap used to insulate home A/C lines. I may have seen some with a foil type of facing to help insulate it. Try sourcing this stuff at Home Depot or Lowe's building supply.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Thanks so much for all the input. I think I'll wrap my A/C lines today, although (as I originally stated) my problem isn't that my A/C isn't cold enough, it is that the compressor steals my low-end torque

A FYI on the cabin air filter -- these are $85 or more from the dealer. Does anyone make a replacement/replica air filter that isn't robbery?

 

Here is a place to get the filter online. I have purchased a few things from them and they are reliable and very fast. Shipping is a little high though.

http://www.subaruparts.com/catalog/?section=148#1032

 

If Imprezer says it, it must work.

What exactly would the radiator/ac condenser water spray system do? How would it work?

 

To follow up, I wrapped my low-pressure A/C line (the one near the firewall, behind the intercooler) with silver foil foam tape, the kind you wrap house pipes with. It seems to have helped slightly; the A/C doesn't get cooler any faster, but does seem to reach a cooler temp when it gets there. Unfortunately this wrapping looks like complete crap Luckily only I look under the hood...

The wrapping still does not allow me to actually turn the A/C off more often; I suspect the extreme heat of the engine compartment also heats the firewall, and whatever air the A/C intakes and cools is heated by that hot firewall the second that the A/C coil turns off. However, it can't do any harm to preserve some of the energy my engine is turning into A/C, so the wrapping stays on. Oh yeah, and it added 5 WHP.

If you can't spot the sarcasm in that sentance, then your vinyl stickers are peeling.

I suspect I'll give in and get an intercooler spray kit soon, along with an STI hood scoop. I bet the first time I hit the spray it will flash into steam and people sitting at the stop light will think my car exploded