Was it a Mazda Speed6? If so, don't feel bad because that thing has small turbocharged engine with something like 274 HP and its awd so of the line it will have good grip. I believe the specs on that model are 0-60 in 5.8 and thats with a pro behind the wheel. Now if it was just a Mazda 6 with the 220hp V6, if it was a manual the 0-60 should be 6.7-6.8 and automatic in the low 7s so I would think in drive your car would easily pull low 6s 0-60 and you would take him unless he has something extra under the hood but I think its probably just the manumatic not giving as good of a launch as just leaving it in Drive would. Anyone else have an opinion or experience that agrees with me or if you have your own thoughts? comments welcome

 

a mazda6!!?? man i'd be upset about that! when im crusing with my a/c on i definately feel the difference like night and day. im guessing it knocks off somewhere around 10-20hp at least thats how it feels anyway and when i have 3+ people in my sedan with the a/c on it feels like im towing a boat! keep that a/c OFF when trying race

 

I have heard that the A/C takes ~15-20hp. I don't notice much difference but with my old Accord it was like a turbo button.

 

The A/C on these cars sucks out about 5whp or so; however, at full throttle the A/C disengages because winding an A/C compressor at high rpms isn't a good thing.

There are so many factors in a street race. Reaction time, launch, traction, and driver. Reaction time and launch are probably the most important. Just a .5 second delay in reaction time and a 15.0 second car is going to outrun a 14.6 second car. Only the track will really tell which car is truely faster.

 

No use in having the a/c on when trying to race. ***BUT*** keep that thing on during traffic. Having the a/c on forces the electric fans to run, at least while idle. When I was datalogging a few months back, coolant temps would reach mid 210's to low 220's just sitting at a red light with the a/c off. With the a/c on, the coolant temps were in the low 190's to high 180's.

 

A/C drags between 5 and 10 ponies to operate, but at full throttle, the a/c cuts out to give full power to the wheels.

C.

 

From what I've read, it isn't disengaged so much to give more power to the wheels as to improve fuel economy. I read an article the other day about all these so called inventions to improve fuel economy (i.e. magnets, etc), and the one invention that apparently helped was back around 1980, and the auto companies licensed it, was to disengage the AC.

 

Kevin, the AC compressor will cycle on/off as needed to maintain the cabin temperature while conserving some fuel, during *normal* driving conditions.

The compressor disengaging during WOT has nothing to do with fuel economy, as stated previously by Dave. (hey Dave, I remember you from Maxima.org... I had a '99 that I traded in for the G... SUP!)

ToughG: you still beat the guy (and he's AWD w/ turbo), congrats!

 

i myself drive with the windows down all the time, but i like how when u turn on da a/c, the exhaust note gets a lil deeper

 

I'm actually surprised you beat a Mazda Speed 6 with 3 people in the car AND the AC on...

Yeah...I too notice a deeper exhaust note w/ the AC on.

 

It only does this in "ECON" mode. It will cycle the compressor on/off as needed to maintain the temp set. In the normal mode, the compressor runs all the time and hot air from the heater core is mixed to control temp. This mode will control cabin air moisture better.

 

I thought it was pretty much a no brainer to turn off the ac on any kind of spirited run--track and street.

 

too much......turn the air off when racing