I've noticed this ever since I bought my car (used back in 07) that when the a/c is on recirculation it blows much faster than when I switch to "fresh air."

This is true on auto a/c and manuallly adjusting the fan speed.

I thought it may be the original a/c filter, so I changed that today and there's no change. It still blows much faster on recirc. Anyone else notice this or is there something blocking my outside air I should check?

 

Every car i've ever owned or driven are like that. My guess is, it's by design.

If you think about it, when opened up, the system has to pull air from outside and then push it out in the cabin. With recirc on, it's just pushing, so less load.

 

^ +1

 

Hmm... maybe it's just more noticeable in this car. It's like 50% faster with recirc. On other cars I've owned/driven I never noticed a significant difference in speed (just in outside smell).

 

Something must be amiss, might want to have that checked out.

 

Mines the same way. Was also the case in my old Civic.

 

All cars are like that.....

 

uhh yeah...if you bought several different cars over the years, you notice that recirc is supposed to be faster. Some cars when they have the option for MAX A/C that means it is set to be recirculating air. It's faster because it is easier for the car to recirculate, thus the air blows faster.

Do not worry about your that issue, it is fine. My Toyota Cressida from 1992 had that, and my 1998 Ford Windstar did the same thing. The two Lexuses I currently own (07 ES 350 and 03 LS 430) also have the same thing.

 

If, for some wierd reason something is blocking the outside air, how do I check?

I cleaned out any leaves/etc at the base of my windshield to make sure it wasn't blocked there. Any way to get inside of the a/c intake?

It really blows almost 2x as fast. But, if that's normal, that's fine. I leave it on recirc 90% of the time anyways.

 

you can take your car to a dealer to do a checkup, or mechanic to do a checkup.