I've heard of people running the heater in cool weather with the top down, but what about running the air conditioner in hot weather with the top down? Are there any issues with over working the compressor or anything harmful by doing it?

 

Have been doing it for 4 years? Why would it do anything other than normal wear and tear?

 

In a car with the top up and the A/C set to max (only way I drive), the compressor is recycling air in the car, right? With the top down, it is sucking hot air all the time. Seems to me the compressor is working harder, but I'm not an auto or A/C mechanic, hence the reason for my query.

 

no, its not any harder on your car - just think about the air its sucking in anyway - the recirculation theory doesnt hold much water. its only bad to use a/c with the windows down in a car with climate control.... in our cars its just stupid, not harmful

 

Another judgemental juvenile opinion. It's stupid to make such generalizations, he said, generalizing.

I use the air with the top down in order to dry my fingers, sweaty from all the work of steering the car, blowing kisses to the chicks, flipping-off the ricers and camaros, and scratching my you-don't-want-to-know.

I'd bet using the air full-on from day one to retirement would shorten its life by maybe 20%. Most of us will never see that point in our cars' careers.

"Ill-advised", "inappropriate", "thoughtless", "non-conformist". Too long to spell, I guess.

 

I always ride with the A/C on and the top down and the rare times that it gets cold enough down here is Florida I turn on the heat but just the floor vents and it works great.

 

Never done that....[&:]

 

We have only had the car almost 2 weeks and the weather here in the st louis area is so unpredictable that we have done both, ran with the air top down and the heat top down...

 

I've only used the A/C on hot-rainy-days when the top needs to be up.

But I have used the heater with the top down on cool summer evening drives,,, never thought of using the A/C with the top down, but it shouldn't cause any problems.

The problem of using the A/C "ever" though is, it does rob a lot of horsepower in it's operation.. & I'd rather have more available power instead of being just a "slight bit cooler" on a hot day with the top downlol

 

Haha, a "slight" bit cooler

This summer we had several 100+ degree days, and I couldn't bear the thought of having the top up, so I dropped the top and cranked the A/C up Problem solved!

-John