Question on Auto Climate Control Reliability and Accuracy

[Jim Rogers]

Jim - I skipped the rest of the posts on here just to put my feedback. I can't stand the auto-climate. Not due to the hvac performance, I think the A/C and the heat performance is just fine.

It's the controls of it that annoy the living hell out me. The aggravation is particularly focused on the 61°F - 62°F fiasco. I've owned this vehicle 2 years and 25k miles, and still get cornfused about what and why it FMO when I'm in that zone.

First of all, if you go from 62 to 61, it automagically turns on the A/C (compressor). And I *think* it also changes it from Fresh to Recirc. I say *think* because sometimes I don't know if it changes from Fresh to Recirc (after 2 years!). And when you change it from 61 to 62, sometimes it leaves the A/C (compressor) ON, and sometimes it turns the A/C (compressor) OFF. And sometimes it changes it back from Recirc to Fresh, and sometimes it doesn't.

In my case, until it is damn hot out, I don't prefer to run the A/C. I prefer to put the windows down. And sometimes when it is warm out, but the sun is down (like 80°F nights), I sometimes want the windows closed, but still no A/C. And this cornfusion between the setting of 61 and 62 just confounds me and pisses me off. Because I'll look down at the controls and it is inevitably operating differently than I wanted. And I have to futz with it too much. In my opinion, if I want the A/C compressor to be ON, I'll press the * button. That's why the * ("snowflake")button is there. Why would I want the controls to suddenly change logic between 62 and 61? I don't. It's just dumb. To solve this, I just need to get to the point where I don't go lower than 62° on the controls.

Thanks for the input! Can't you just turn the auto off? In my wife's Civic, you can turn the auto off and then you basically have a manual system. It works fine for the types of days you describe where I want the vents blowing but I don't want A/C.

And, what's up with the numbers? Where in the car is it 61°F when I select 61°F? Certainly not in the vents, they're colder than that. Where in the car is it 72°F when I set it for 72°F? I contest that it is likely NOT 72°F ANYWHERE in the cabin when I set it there. That's why the manual temp knob is so much more logical, when it has a blue color for cold, a white color for more like ambient, and a red zone for warm temperatures. That makes sense. It's a simple representation for what to expect from the temp of the air exiting the vents. Simple, logical, not wrong. Whereas the numbers are ALWAYS inaccurate.

This is exactly what I was skeptical about in my wife's Civic, but I'll have to admit that it hasn't been a problem. I just set a temperature, it gets to that quickly, and stays there.

On the other end of the spectrum, if I get in and it's cold in the car and I want to change to hot, I have to change the temp 1 friggin "degree" at a time to take it to the max temp setting. Friggin beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. With manual controls, it's a quick 'n easy turn of the rotary knob to go to max heat. Or vice versa to go from max highest temp to max lowest temp, a quick and easy turn of the knob. All the friggin beeping is only slightly annoying. It's the 61-62 fiasco that sets me off.

In the Civic, the auto temp works like a thermostat, cranking up the temperature does nothing to speed the heating of the cabin. If you raise the setting by one degree, it applies maximum heat to get it there. Putting the temp setting at something higher wouldn't make it warm up any faster.

Is the Mirage auto system different?

And if I want defrosting, I know to put the mode in defrost mode, and then click the A/C button. But yet, the A/C function is automated to tie in with the defrost vent setting. What if I want to blow air in the defrost vent setting, but not operate the compressor? I can't have that at all, that's not even possible with the automatic controls. They're just plain illogical to me. Give me the good ole manual controls.

I think this "feature" is common on manual climate controls as well. I believe that in all my cars with manual controls, the A/C goes on when you set it to defrost unless the ambient temperature is very low.

[Dirk Diggler]

I have never been a fan of sedans. Outside of the Malibu, Chevy has dropped all their sedans. Likewise, Ford only has the Mustang now.

I really miss the small wagon options like the Civic Wagon. I would embrace a Mirage wagon with the same manual 78 horsepower powertrain, too. My first car was a 1978 Honda Civic Wagaon with 63 horsepower.

A redesigned Mitsubishi Expo LRV would be cool. I really think there would be a market for this type of vehicle, too. Baby boomers like sitting a little higher up, and it's very practical for its size. Although I am not a big fan of the merger with Nissan/Renault, a Mitsubishi Expo LRV or Nissan Stanza Wagon would fill a niche others are overlooking. I really like the Stanza Wagon design with dual sliding rear doors better.

It would be the KIA Soul of the Alliance with a little more room for passengers & cargo.

Expo LRV clip -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu3QNo5MYXM&t=160s

Stanza Wagon clip-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imBwhYnxXyM

Unlike some of the crap vehicles marketed today, you had great visibility out of these vehicles. I can't believe how horrible some vehicles are in this department. It almost makes backup cameras necessary, because you can't see crap out the windows around you.

The Toyota CHR blind spot is insane.

[inuvik]

Thanks for the input! Can't you just turn the auto off?

Yes! When I need air conditioning I just push the button to manually turn the AC on and set the temp to 72F / 22C and leave it be. If it's really hot, then I'll manually choose recirculation. Easy peasy.

[7milesout]

Yes! When I need air conditioning I just push the button to manually turn the AC on and set the temp to 72F / 22C and leave it be. If it's really hot, then I'll manually choose recirculation. Easy peasy.

inuvik and Jim - Yes, I can do this too. But, I find doing that very thing (turn the A/C on and set to 72°F to be illogical). I'm not saying inuvik is illogical or wrong. I'm saying I find it illogical, based on 3 reasons.

• I've got some OCD,
• I'm an engineering nerd, and
• Regional weather demands.

If I want it 72°F inside the cabin, and it is 99°F and 100% humidity outside, I must max out the A/C with the windows closed in order to achieve that, or somewhat close to that. This is based on the region I live (can I get an AMEN Dirk?). Which means I can take a short cut and just push the temp arrow button down how many ever friggin beeps it takes to hit 61°F on the setting window. And then of course, for some damn unknown reason, the HVAC system will never trigger the fan speed to max if I leave it at 61° AUTO. It will be 1 bar short. So I STILL have to futz with the damn thang, and push the fan speed up one bar to max, which trips it off of AUTO. Which again is illogical. In this scenario, I run with it on 61° and never beep up the temp setting from there. In the hottest times of summer, it is adequate with no margin.

If it is 72°±10°F outside, and I want 72°±10°F inside, I roll down my (2 left side) windows and turn off the HVAC, enjoy the breeze, and reap a higher mpg without turning the A/C compressor on.

If it below 60° outside, I may close the windows and futz with the temp control (A/C off), and can usually make it pleasant enough in the car.

The only times I have the windows closed are, when it is way cold, when it is way hot, or when it is raining.

My statement about illogical is just that, there's only 2 instances I use the A/C:

• I have the temp set at 62° on Fresh, or 61° on Recirc if it's too warm with warm Fresh air coming in across the evaporator. Or,

• It is raining out, the windows are up, and showing signs of fogging. Then the A/C goes on and the temp is adjusted to whatever is comfortable.

In summary: I rarely have the system set to AUTO. Only at warm rainy times, maybe.

[Dodge Aries K]

It's the logic Mitsu used... 61 is full cold and 89 is full hot. Other cars I've owned would say LO and HI or Cold and Hot but they didn't do that on the Mitsu panel.

[7milesout]

D.A.K. - Yeah, I realize that. You're right of course. However, being OCD, there's no sense in using numbers. Because I'm betting that if you put a calibrated thermometer at the vent exits, or hang it anywhere on the inside of the cabin, it's reading would never be equal to that of the numbers on the hvac panel. So ... why use friggin numbers? Blue & red, or blue, white and red are more logical, as is a dial or linear lever.

I don't think this is a "Mitsubishi" issue. I don't think less of Mitsubishi for using this digital auto-crap. My Lexus uses numbers too, and they're as useless at the Mirage's. However, the logic of when the compressor kicks on or off, and when and why the hvac switches between Fresh and Recirc is far more logical than the Mirage. Yet, the auto climate in the Lexus sucks almost as much as the Mirage. And my Lexus is the friggin "flagship" Lexus. So, my feelings on the Mirage auto-climate control is not a blight on Mitsubishi. It just annoys the crap out of me ... at times.

[Dodge Aries K]

I can tell you that Mitsu cheaped out and didn't include a sunlight sensor like your Lexus (and most cars with auto temp) so that doesn't make matters any better.

[Basic]

LOL idk what in the world 7mo is fussing about.

Look the reality is they are both manual HVAC... one is just with knobs and one is with buttons. the buttons work great. dont worry about it.

[Mark]

I think this "feature" is common on manual climate controls as well. I believe that in all my cars with manual controls, the A/C goes on when you set it to defrost unless the ambient temperature is very low.

The A/C automatically came on when set to full defrost on my past Honda vehicles with manual climate controls.

This is not the case with a Mirage with manual climate controls. The A/C only comes on when the A/C button is pushed on. A Mirage's A/C never comes on automatically like Honda's manual climate controls. The Mirage A/C is manually controlled. If I want to add A/C to my windshield defrosting, I have to manually turn it on by pushing the A/C button on.

I really like the manual climate controls on the Mirage.

[7milesout]

LOL idk what in the world 7mo is fussing about.

Because the controls are stooooopid, and I'm OCD.