Poor performance with A/C

[81.Chevette]

Hey, guys. I have a 2014 5-speed Mirage. I've been mostly satisfied with it aside from some gripes about build quality--especially the paint and steel, my car looks like I ran it in a demolition derby. I deliver food in a college town, so I'm stop-and-go all night long, 30-70 short trips of a mile or two each every night. One thing I've noticed is that I have TERRIBLE performance at low speeds with the A/C on. Like, I know it's a little engine. I get that. But still, I feel like it's worse than I should expect. It's bad enough that I can't work the clutch smoothly. I've checked my oil and my air filter. I haven't checked my plugs, but I'm only at 20k miles. And I've changed gas stations a few times. Is there anything I'm missing? Have you guys with 5-speeds noticed this?

[alex16]

When I pull out of my garage and go up a hill 5%-6% grade I have to rev to about 3k and slip the clutch to get it to take off in 1st, 2nd gear isn't a option haha. Its a very slow car with the a/c on but if you work the 3 cylinder it can keep up with traffic. I run city uber driving and my mirage took some time to get used to with the a/c on, when I'm entering freeway or climbing a very steep hill I turn the a/c off for more power. My advise is burn the clutch some, that's what I have to do with the a/c, I rather burn the clutch a little than stall or strain the drive train with bogging.

[inuvik]

I can tell when the a/c is on of course but with the CVT it's not really that bad. Since the car is black I have the a/c on a lot. Don't get me wrong, it's no powerhouse for sure, but it's acceptable.

[alex16]

I shift high when passing traffic out, 3500 and it's a little sports car even with the ac on

[inuvik]

I shift high when passing traffic out, 3500 and it's a little sports car even with the ac on

Torque peak is at 4000 rpm so that's what I'd do too if I had the 5 speed. For years and years during the 80's Mitsubishi only put 4 speed manual transmissions in the base model Colt and it would turn 3500 rpm at 60mph. I owned one and it begged for a 5th gear but it hummed along at that rpm until I sold it to someone with 174k on the original motor. So I definitely wouldn't be afraid to spool up some rpm's in the Mirage.

[MemphiS]

Granted it's not a 5-speed...

The other day I had the a/c on full power with 3 people in the car. Talk about terrible . But whatever. It's expected.

[alex16]

my 1999 civic coupe ex had 130hp/4 speed automatic and it was a dog with the a/c on, the Mirage is only a little bit slower than it.

[ahintofpepperjack]

I would have to agree, coming from large V8 cars, the A/C is not great in the mirage. I have not owned an economy car before this, so I can not compare it to anything in this class. But, my other cars could make it uncomfortably cold with the A/C. The mirage can barely make it acceptable on a hot day.

[R01k]

I would have to agree, coming from large V8 cars, the A/C is not great in the mirage. I have not owned an economy car before this, so I can not compare it to anything in this class. But, my other cars could make it uncomfortably cold with the A/C. The mirage can barely make it acceptable on a hot day.

My state (NY) is warmer than yours and my car is black, but I have no problem with the A/C. I always point two vents to my chest. Often I even have to deactivate Auto mode by manually slowing down the fan.

[Cobrajet]

My AC is arctic. Very cold.

As far as power goes, I know my girlfriend simply hits the AC button (shutting the AC off) in her Mirage when she is taking off from a light if she needs to move quickly. When she's up to speed, she turns it back on.

I just don't mind the lack of power too much. I guess coming from a Geo Metro helps in that regard!