It’s amazing how far cars have come for comfort. Thirty years ago, a base model economy car had a heater, a rear defroster, and that’s about it. Now though, even a base-model Ford Maverick has automatic climate control, power windows, power locks, the works. Speaking of comfort, in the Northern hemisphere, it’s officially air-con season, and a heatwave blanketing the Great Lakes has given me cause for really appreciating this miracle of engineering. Today on Autopian Asks, I want to know when you think air conditioning is necessary and when you think it’s not.
Earlier today, I needed to pick up a press car, and yep, a line leak has rendered the air-con in my 335i lukewarm until next week, when I have time to get it fixed. This wouldn’t be the end of the world with normal weather, but pulling out of my neighborhood, the reading from the ambient air temperature sensor climbed to 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit.
Almost immediately after, my iPhone went into heat protection mode, meaning no more Waze. Shortly after that, my Hawaiian shirt started to get a bit damp from sweating out my daily water intake, eventually turning the Dakota leather into something resembling a slip and slide. The Humidex was high, and that 40-minute drive in traffic felt like 40 minutes, you know? I can’t wait to get that air-con line replaced, and that got me thinking about attitudes toward air conditioning.
If a car is dirt-cheap and only used in winter, I reckon non-functioning air conditioning or the lack of a system altogether is no big deal. Sure, it’s not good for keeping the air inside the car dry to mitigate condensation, but when Jack Frost is nipping at your nose, a heater matters more than anything else. Likewise, dedicated race cars don’t normally have any sort of climate control beyond some fresh air guides and maybe a coolsuit, so they get a pass.
Otherwise, I want air-con in everything, especially if it’s driven in the summer. I reckon it’s always worth the cost of keeping it going, but I also know not everyone shares this mentality. Some people don’t like the dryness of air conditioning, some people have the roof down anyway, some people are into stuff like classic British roadsters and although air-con would be neat, the extra weight and drag isn’t really worth it.
So, when is it okay for a car not to have air conditioning, and when does it become a necessity? It’s a different answer for everyone, and we want to hear your answer in the comments below.
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
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We have four vehicles all with AC, even a 1998 Dodge Dakota which gets a half can of AC pro annually to keep it cold. I like rolling with windows open or fresh air when it’s not gross sweat fest, but yeah no not today, not when it’s mid 90s and humid.
I lived in the center of Antwerp, Belgium for 5 months, part of which was summer. Usually it was not bad with fans, but when a 90s heatwave hit and being on the top floor of an old building it felt like a frying pan inside. 85 deg F – at midnight. It sucked… no it wasn’t fun “healthy air” like my German colleagues kept saying, it just sucks… was in UK last summer as well at a hotel with no AC, mostly ok but 32C day and sun facing room, no fun trying to sleep that night. A hot uncomfortable Europe summer trip makes me appreciate the land of AC…
When it’s a 50+ year old little British sportscar that lives in Maine. Otherwise, working A/C or I’m not going. And my Alfa Spider had ICE cold A/C. Top down, A/C blasting is lovely on a hot summer day.
I have only owned ONE real daily driver car without A/C – my ’85 Jetta 2dr. The only power anything on that car was the brakes – total base model. Four years of utter misery. I have spent SERIOUS money resurrecting A/C as needed since. Worth every single penny.
Seriously. I’m hot if it’s over 64 degrees. My 71 Alfa spider has no AC and no hope of it. So although I drove one year round (snow tires and put the roof down to get my 215 K2 skis in it) 35 years ago, I’m taking one of my other cars with ice cold AC if it’s hot. I’m even having my beach car/dog car 1993 LWB Range Rover classic AC fixed. It’s also sexy when you see an old or classic car on a hot day, running well, not overheating, windows up and AC on. That way you know it’s not a clapped out hooptie and the owner has it in fine fettle, as they say.
Right on!
This is one way I definitely do not take after my Yankee forefathers, who thought that suffering builds character.
My 92 Wrangler doesn’t have air conditioning, it’s a second vehicle that I don’t have to drive. In the summer the tops off permanently so AC is pretty much useless anyway. That’s pretty much my limit. Older convertible that’s not necessary for point a to b daily use
I was working in a semi truck today that had no working A/C and it was almost 100 out and humidity was like 70% so yeah f that haha.
About never. Unless it’s a classic taken out on nice evenings. In the summer it’s necessary to keep from frying in the heat and humidity. In the winter it’s necessary for dehumidification.
That’s the answer
When I was a kid it wasn’t strictly necessary. Road trips were tolerable with the constant breeze. Sometime in the past fifteen-twenty years I feel like it’s moved from a luxury to a necessity. Even in the Northeast.
I think it’s because you were generally out in the highway more and not sitting in stop-and-go traffic so much back then in the days of yore. Driving a set highway-ish speed with the windows down isn’t so bad even when it’s over 90° F out. Sitting in stop-and-go traffic with other cars idling on the hot pavement around you? Misery.
Even now most of my trips don’t have a ton of traffic. It’s still miserable. Then again age and recollection may be playing factors in how miserable road trips truly were.
I recall misted water on the face and wet towels on the back of the neck doing wonders with windows open, but yea things are HOT now.
I might be crazy, but i work as a plumber south of boston and i have no functioning ac in 2 of 3 of my vans (the two i always drive).
Today was a sweaty 94
I try not to think about it. But I am thinking about it
(Its better than when i worked with my dad, he always had Dodge pick up with utility body. No radio ever. No head liner. No comfort at all. But….he smoked 2-3 packs a day, and some days i could barely see him through the haze)
You (and your Dad) are true examples of acclimatization
Outside my work car, I only have the WRX as a working vehicle with A/C and even then I rarely drive it in summer.
Likewise, only the Charger and WRX have heaters. The two Valiant utes just have vent windows and a cloth for defogging the windscreen.
I’m blessed that there’s very little low-speed driving that I do, so having the windows down (and vent windows open on the utes!) is sufficient for me most of the time, even at temperatures well over 100F.
The ’79 Regal SE will have A/C, and it will be the typical 70s over-built system since the plan is for this to be a road-trip vehicle that takes four people in all the luxury available in 1979.
Out of my 4 crap cans, 1 has no AC and let me tell you it’s never OK not to have AC.
I lived in Michigan for 20 years, and neither my dwellings nor my cars had A/C. It was only unbearable for 4-6 weeks a year, and that wasn’t worth the associated costs of A/C. I’m told Michigan is warmer now.
Went to uni in Michigan (including summer terms) and folks from Indiana could never understand why it was colder there in the winter and hotter in the summer than back home. AC in cars and homes was fairly rare in the 60s in the Great Lakes zone.
When I lived in Juneau, I don’t remember ever using the A/C. Now that I’m in Oregon though, it’s an absolute dealbreaker.
In Santa Cruz, CA during the 1970s and 1980s, we never bought cars (even new) with air conditioning, and everything was fine until we had to drive over the hill to San Jose or cross the Central Valley to get to Yosemite in the summer. Besides, air-cooled VWs very rarely came with air conditioning.
You definitely could get away with no AC in Santa Cruz.
I have just recently changed my opinion on this subject. I used to never use AC even in Arizona at 120 degrees. Now a older and heavier me finding I swear not only my armpits but my legpits even standing still I figure any vehicle that will hold in the cold air for a decent amount of time needs AC.
I preferred not using aircon in cars old-enough to route the vent air promptly into the cabin. If it comes in warmer than the outside temp, then I’m less enthused.
The car also has to have old school aerodynamics, so it doesn’t ‘thrum’ with the windows down.
Vents you can point at your legs and torso also help a LOT!
My first car, 72 dodge dart, awesome down low vents-first time you opened them -of moving-you always got a few leaves and dirt. (Could also hide a bottle of booze in there, shhhh dont tell my mom)
And those awesome little triangle vent windows!!! Those were fantastic
I didn’t get to experience triangle windows at an old-enough age, but if I put down the passenger windows on my early SHOs, there would be a swirl of fresh wind going around cabin at a reliable clip, without the buffeting and road noise of opening the driver’s window. It was fantastic!
I’ve read a number of posts mourning the widespread loss of the little vent under the steering wheel and pointed at your crotch. I think my parents’ ’65 Olds 88 had that but neither the ’68 Datsun 510 in which I drove off to college nor the ’71 Peugeot 504 had A/C in any form. But the Pug had a sunroof. And every car I’ve owned since has had to have one. Technically, all the cars since have had moonroofs. There is a difference.
In Ohio, it’s completely fine for 8 months to go without A/C.
The other 4 though?
My GOD
When it costs extra, I’m not made of money
Seriously, I did a couple hours in a car without a/c over the weekend, I don’t understand the big deal, just open the windows and vents
Opening the windows only goes so far when it’s 95 degrees outside.
It was 95, its fine for me, I look forward to these temperatures all year
On the highway? Sure. Sitting at constant stoplights in traffic while other cars’ exhausts and the sunlight beams off of the hot pavement below? Literal hell.
Meh, guess I have different tolerances
Either it was cooler in the summer when I was a kid or my heat tolerance has gone way down. I think AC is a must-have except on certain days in the spring and fall. That said, part of the reason AC is necessary is that cars aren’t made to be driven with the windows down anymore. If you roll down one window, the wind pummels your ears. I don’t remember this being an issue when I was young.
That ear pummeling is from modern aerodynamics. Creates mini sonic-booms in your car, I believe.
I roll down one on the opposite corner slightly and it goes away.
I do all 4, which also helps air flow. Though may not work as well with an SUV with a large rear area I suspect, you’ll still get some buffeting.
I open the rear glass tailgate on my Range Rover. Gets you high and gives you brain damage at the same time.
I live in TX, so never.
A college buddy of mine, who hailed from Oklahoma, said years ago that the south is a Freon-based economy.
There is a documentary about Carrier and his AC invention that posits the South became tenable, and politically powerful, because of it.
It’s true, whenever we get around to inventing time travel the first thing we all need to do is go back in time to shake Willis Carrier’s hand.
On my track car or a kit car like a Cobra or Exocet.
I never want a car to not have it, or be non functional.
I think they only time I’d tolerate it is if I know the car is on its last legs and I’m just trying to stretch another year at minimal cost out of it. But then by that point the AC is probably the least of its concerns.
As a Southern Californian, the only acceptable answer for me is when it’s a race car. When I was swapping my ’85 Ford LTD to a 347 stroker V8 I spent a decent amount of time and money getting the A/C system working and I don’t regret it for a second.
I want to say the Bondurant LTDs were all optioned with a/c, right?
Originally, probably, but I doubt it once they were converted to use as racing trainer cars.
If I was in formula one I’d put a bubble over the cockpit and run some AC. Maybe a body suit with refrigerant lines? Wrap it twice on my under carriage?
I assume the answer is no but I have to wonder if the benefits of drivers being cool would lead to better lap times, less fatigue? Of course the weight and power penalty I’m sure would be no go. Also would FIA get mad about water on the track from the AC system? Although, maybe drain it over heat exchangers vaporize it?
For me, when it’s my motorcycle. The whole point of cars is an enclosed space to increase their utility, and that goes for stuff like selectable climate and protection you don’t need to wear too.
Though used to have an MG that kinda makes me say “but…” but damn it was tough work driving during a summer rainstorm.
Here in the Southeast of the US, the answer is: when it’s up on blocks. Aside from that, the answer is never. Ask Torch what lengths we will go to to get a little precious cold air.
Old classic roadsters driven top down already need to be driven under optimal
conditions… not too hot, not too cold, not much traffic, like Goldilocks.
Don’t forget about rain. Esp with Lucas electricals
Only one, Miata with the top down…
You mis-spelled “Mondial,” but the answer is still the same.
Considering my top won’t keep out water, it definitely won’t keep in air, so climate control in the cab is pointless.
It’s 100F in NC rn. Not even a Miata with the top down is enough to make me want to skip A/C
We had an NA, would still run the AC with the top down.
I had an NB Miata, and when it’s 90F+ outside, I drove with the top up and AC on. Sitting in the sun frying is a good way to get burned and feel miserable.