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It was in my D4 and love the rear air. We hit a small heat wave when we got the car, with a several days above 30 in a row. I played with the rear air, both on and off and was stunned at how fast it cooled the entire car. With other cars, including the D1, we'd be cold in the front for the kids to be OK in the back seat. With the rear air on as well, the car cools 50% faster on a hot day.
I was going to get it with my D4. That was untill we took a test drive and the kids (2 boys 7 & 8) spent the entire test drive fighting with each other an arguing about who got to choose the control settings...temp and fan speed.
Combined with the dealer saying he had none with rear a/c on the way and it would need to be ordered from the factory, made the decision easy for me.....no rear a/c.
There is a switch on the dash that turns it:
1. Off;
2. Auto, based on the front settings; and
3. Maual control from the roof console.
My kids are much older, but the system is set to 'auto' and it works really well.
We have it in the D3 & we carry 5 kids in the back. In summer with the ambient over 40 it cools the car incredibly quickly. The car is tinted. On longer drives we actually shut the 2 outlets in the center console off because the 2YO in the middle center gets too cold.
We always keep it on via the front controls (the rear averages the temp of the L/R front controls) & the kids are not allowed to touch the rear controls.
I always find it amazing how fast the whole car cools even with it's black (Land Rover speak = Ebony) interior & our Far North West Qld stupid temps.
Jonesfam
Thanks for that. It confirms that once I am allowed to go shopping for a D3/4 that the rear air con and NO Ebony interior will form the first two items on the must have list. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesfam
My 2 kids aged 8 & 10 would say that rear air con is a must - esp in the rear 2 seats - all dark leather (whatever color that is), Buckingham Blue on the outside and tints.
Yeah the 2 little centre vents get closed a lot but after sports they really appreciate the extra air that the high vents give - if they argue over the controls, well, I've got the power to turn it off !
How does it work? Does it draw on engine power (ie increase fuel consumption) or is it electrical powered? Is there any loss of power etc?
Dave.
Interesting question.Quote:
Originally Posted by DI5CO
Can't say that I have noticed any difference in fuel economy. This also relates to having the airconditioning on or off in general, whether it be both or just the front.
Cheers, Craig
From memory when I quizzed the dealer about this (a very knowledgeable bloke), he said:
Both front & rear A/C run off the same engine driven compressor.
The rear A/C has it's own condenser & evaporator.
He cautioned me not to block the small grill at the bottom front side of the rear trim on the passengers side as this was where the rear A/C drew it's intake air from.
Except for an explanation of all the buttons that's most of it.
BTW What is the point of "Econo" mode? It just seems to turn the A/C off, same as the "Off" button. Built-in redundancy?
Jonesfam
Off turns the whole system off where Econ turns off the A/C (I guess the compressor) only - all of the other climate control functions work. In theory you should still be able to cool the inside down if the outside temp was low enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonesfam
I have played around with Econ a bit - even with outside temp at 10, climate control on say 16 and inside temp at about 20, climate control does take a long time to pull to temp down (recycle off) so normally the A/c must be used to bring the temp down quickly.
Garry