"There should at least be a mechanism to combine these into a dual/single selection"
On Audis I've driven pressing and holding the 'auto' button synchronises the temperature for both sides of the car.
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If there is really no alternative to providing dozens of buttons to control an air-con system, I'm amazed nobody has come up with that most brilliant of inventions from the car audio world - user definable "presets"? Most of us only ever use two or three settings on a regular basis, so if you could set them once, store them, and recall by pressing one button, surely that would help. It's been done for seat and mirror positions and radio stations, why not climate control preferences?
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
97 Ford Fiesta 1.4 16v Chicane (for sale)
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DP
Hear, hear. Couldn't agree more.
Daveygp
I've had three A6s on the trot over thirteen years and didn't know that! I'll give it a spin tonight.
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My 2007 Skoda Octavia climate control has temp controls for both driver and passenger, but the driver side temp knob controls both sides as default. If there is a passenger who wants to change the temp on their side then they do so without affecting the driver side. Simple and effective solution.
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Isn't the whole point of "climate control" as opposed to "air conditioning" that you set it it and leave it alone!
My car only has "air conditioning" so I do have to adjust the single (heater) control to maintain a constant cabin temperature because of changes in radiant heat (sunshine).
I presume, but possibly wrongly, that cars with "climate control" have a thermostat making constant adjustment unnecessary.
My room thermostats at home keep a constant temperature, despite variations in ambient conditions - why can't a car.
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I half poo poo and half agree with the OP.
The touran has the standard VW rotary knob duel zone climate. Has an auto button, rotary dial that works in 1c incremants per side and a temp display per side. Both sides can be synchro'd with one button press.
Mine is set to auto, and the knob gets tweaked up and down as required. Hardly distracting and certainly not unsafe.
BUT
I shouldnt have to teak it up and down. Its not capable of maintaining a comfortable temp. sometimes you get blasted with hot air, sometimes suddenly chilled to the bone.
I see the Altea, using the same climate control mechanism, has replaced the knobs and ergonomic simplicity of the VW interface with a gazzillion buttons.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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The number of work colleagues who have no idea how to use the climate control in their cars never ceases to amaze me. You can borrow a car, and the controls are set to manual, a/c function turned off! What is the point?
The only times I adjust mine are after playing football, when I need a good blast of cool air, and in winter, when I crank up the temperature and use the demist function until everything is clear.
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Obviously the Jag has it right then! Dual Climate, switchable to single mode. Stays set to a figure generally around 19.5 & stays there! Only time I adjust it is getting into the car on a very day. My only complaint is that for about 10 seconds when starting it gives a blast of hot air before it starts cooling. Defrost mode is one button which uts heated front/rear screens on & heated mirrors. Each section times out after a given period.
The good thing with dual climate control is that SWMBO can control her temp which because of her age is normally wildly different to my requirements!
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agree with tr7v8 and s61sw. it seems that bmw have got it right on my car too.
as rupert troper says ".... the whole point of "climate control" as opposed to "air conditioning" that you set it it and leave it alone!".
the o.p. says "In the current variable climate conditions I regularly have to move between 22deg A/C off and the LO setting with A/C on. "
that implies he does not have climate control, or if he does have climate control, he doesn't know how to use it; or that he has got a poorly designed system or failed system.
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It's plainly wasteful to leave the compressor running when there is no need. The whole package is not efficient or sensitive enough to be left to its own devices. Not only does that indeed imply that it is a poorly designed system but closer inspection will reveal it to be the original complaint.
Ergo the attention required to manage it manually creates a safety issue.
I tried pressing and holding the Auto button. Alas it did not combine the setting for both sides.
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>For cooling a really hot car, I've recently adopted the method I've described here...
Sorry, that should read 'the method I've seen described here'. It was meant as a tribute to the collective wisdom of the BR, not an idle boast.
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The handful of cars I've been in with split climate control have all had an override to allow the driver's controls to set both.
Omega Pre facelift - by default until passenger set theirs differently
Omega post facelift - press control button in and it controls both
Jag - Button to override.
Might be worth a look in the manual.
V
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Jag have nearly got it right.....my S type works perfectly, all the time...wifey's X Type struggles occasionally and i have to give it a bit more blower sometimes on a hot day...furthermore for some reason 22 degrees in mine suits me fine.......but in hers i have to dial in 20 degrees, otherwise i roast
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My mazda6 has a dial rather than push buttons like my Mk3 Mondeo had. Its pretty much set and forget. In fact in both cards I have (or had) it set for 20.5. Sometimes in very cold winters I have it on 22 otherwise its always left. There is a demist sort of turbo mode which I rarly use.
Unless its very warm or damp I just turn the AC off but it remains in auto, then just push the auto button to get the ac back. I never drive with the windows open.
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The system in my Mk3 Mondeo works perfectly, I have it set at 20C most of the year but I put it up to 22C in winter as I like to feel a touch warmer when it's freezing outside. Other than 1 button that sets the blower to maximum to demist the windows which I use very occassionally in winter it really doesn't get touched. It has a sun load sensor on the dash above the front screen.
I used to have a C5 with a dual zone system and it was completely useless - all it did was yo-yo between hot and cold, and the side specific settings didn't seem to do much either.
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With the system set to auto there's only one control on mine, a rotary knob calibrated in 0.5 degree steps. I just set and forget. There are two sensors, one around waist height in the dash near the steering column and one on top of the dash by the windscreen to allow for sunshine. It works really well despite me being cynical when I got the car. It redirects the air and changes fan speed depending on the conditions. I wouldn't want to be without it now.
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ubi, you don't hold in the auto button, you press either the + or the - buttons to alter the temperature. If you hold the button in for around 2 seconds it will also alter the passenger side.
At least, this is how it works in my A4.
However, I do agree that you have to take your eyes off the road for too long when doing anything with the H & V system
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Sorry, Ubi. Previous post was a load of rubbish. A combination of senility and tiredness. Auto in for 2 secs does it on my car.
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Seems to work fine in the Honda - you have one big knob which sets the global temperature, then you push it in to select fully automatic mode. A sunlight sensor on the dash seems to work quite well, although I find that I have to set it to about 22C to get a comfortable temperature that doesn't blast you with cold air.
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1. It's plainly wasteful to leave the compressor running when there is no need. .... 2. Ergo the attention required to manage it manually creates a safety issue.
in reply to ubi:
1. no it is not wasteful. unless you prefer to apy for regular leaks from seals and costs of recharging the system. one of my cars is now 8 years old and has had climate on permanently and the cooling is as efficient as it was on day one.
2. so it seems ubi would prefer to undertake dangerous manual fiddling rather than leave the system on auto.
i wonder how ubi uses his central heating controls at home 9assuming he has automatic thermostatic controlled central heating ). :: ;-) ::
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Are you really that distracted by it getting little bit warm or chilly that you have constantly fiddle with the settings to the point of it become dangerous?
What did you do before AC, ACC was commonplace?
Oh yes, you coped.
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"For cooling a really hot car, I've recently adopted the method I've described here - move off with the windows open to blow the hottest air out. After a couple of minutes of this, the AC has a lot less to do when I close the windows again."
Then put the vents on recycle for a couple of minutes. Once it has cooled you can put it back to flow through. That cools it down pretty quick even if it is 45'C outside! Mind you my Ford has a Max setting on the aircon which recirculates the air automatically. That works well too.
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My S-Max has CC and generally I don;t need to adjust it - leave it to its own devices and it gets on with the job. However, if I do need to adjust it for any reason, it's voice activated and that's very cool!!! (A gimmick maybe but cool).
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Basic controls should be on the steering wheel, as they are on the Toyota Prius. (There's on/off, temp up, temp down, recirculate, front defrost, rear defrost). It's certainly handy being able to hit recirculate quickly with the right thumb when a smoky bus or lorry pulls away.
I guess the Prius can integrate it a bit better because of the limited spec options - every car has full climate control, so that's the only case they have to deal with.
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The cc in the accord works pretty well. It has rotary controls that are very easy to adjust.
If it is too hot it re-circulates automatically (which I suspect most others do) and the dual system is operated from the passenger side.
If the driver want to reset to the drivers side temp you just hit the dual button to off.
It's dead simple really.
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If the OP bothers to read his manual, he will see that there is a function to do exactly what he is complaining about.
Press and hold the Auto button for several seconds and it syncs the two zones. Therafter, adjusting the drivers side will also alter the passenger side.
Hardly rocket science is it??!
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I'm concerned about the extra hot air A900SS generates by talking to his CC system. But then, I found a similar facility in the Verso we tried last weekend.
Me: It's a bit warm in here. Can you work out how to turn it down?
Mrs dB: OK. There - how's that?
Me: Much better. Thank you.
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On my facelift Omega, to have some modicum of temperature control but save the compressor from running I have a button called "ECO" which gives me a level of climate control without cooling i.e. if outside ambient is 15 degrees (lately) and I want 20 degrees then it'll have a go at heating up the cabin 5 degrees to suit. Yes it probably overshoots cos in eco mode you have no cooling but it is then able to remove the heating to stabilise/reduce cabin temperature slowly.
The Omega has an air quality sensor like a lot of CC equiped cars (I'm thinking volvo s60) that switches on re-circ automatically if a bad smell is detected outside the car. Just press the re-circ button twice and a "A" will pop up on the display to signify this is selected.
The dual zone is rotary knob and a doddle to set.
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I'm concerned about the extra hot air A900SS generates by talking to his CC system.
If he keep saying "hey this is COOL" in his car he has probably frozen to death by now.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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In the matter of scientific advice how many seconds is several ? If it's two then I'm afraid the science is flawed. Tried it in response to an earlier post which you possibly did not see.
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Ubi - from my experience two seconds should be enough, which suggests your car has a fault in the system.
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