Hey guys, Any of you with 488s notice that the A/C takes a few mins of driving before it's actually blowing cold air? Mine blows nice and cold when it finally gets going, but I don't know if this is just par for the course with the car or if I should have the dealer look at it? I guess it's been a while since I had a car that didn't have A/C that works almost instantly hahah.
This is normal on almost every car I've ever been in. Super high end luxury focused cars (like an S Class) will cool/heat faster when requested since they'll be fitted with more powerful climate control systems, but those are the only exceptions I've noticed.
The 991.1 Turbo S I had before this seemed to just instantly blow freezing air on me haha, and now that I think about it my gf's Kia does it pretty quick too, oh well no biggie, just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong. 1st world problems I know I know hahah
Thankfully l live at 8000 ft and have a spider so it’s not a major problem. The AC on my 355 and 360 was about the same. The AC on our Audi S4 and RS5 will run you out of there.
My issue with the AC is that when you have it on full blast and you let off the throttle it gets faster/louder. When you give it gas it slows down and blows less. Its really noticeable. Real annoying if you are in town.
I noticed it really struggles in temps above 105 F+ otherwise it's quite adequate in most parts of the world
It takes a few minutes for the A/C in my 488 Spider to blow cold air. BTW, unlike most A/C systems with an automatic feature, the Ferrari system does NOT automatically control fan speed. You have to manually set the fan speed that you want. If you really want it to be cold, you need to set the fan to the highest speed (which can be a bit noisy).
...and this is the type of engineering that causes people to leave the brand. A 1977 Chevy Caprice Classic blows ice cold air instantly on start up. Ferrari's excuse is typically, "...well it's a Ferrari". When a rear view camera is standard on a Ford Focus but optional on a 488, the excuse is, "...well it's a Ferrari". Soon people lose patience over the implementation of basic market-wide engineering that is standard fare on even the most economical of automobiles. My 2015 GT3 blows ice-cold air-conditioning when it's 105F+ outside...and instantly at that....and that's basically a race/track car. BUT, IF it didn't, people don't say, "...well it's a Porsche." I applaud Ferrari for many of its technical innovations. I love the powertrain and design. That's why I buy them. However, such mediocre execution of some basic normalcies found in other brands is sometimes frustrating.
You definitely have a point. My last car was a Porsche and the culture around those cars makes it so that if everything isn't just right I would have assumed that something with the car was faulty. Porsches are known for being well thought out and well put together. My 488's mirror shakes, A/C isn't ideal, needs to be plugged in if I don't drive it for 5-6 days and has other weird quirks that I put up with because "It's a Ferrari". It's not the end of the world of course because it's an incredible car, but I do wish that last 5-10% was worked out like it seems to be on P cars.
Well said. AND...I would add that IF that last 5-10% was perfected, it would be much more difficult for competitors like Lamborghini and McLaren to steal marketshare. After all, i'm sure the A/C blows cold in those brands...
I'd say competition is a healthy thing in this market, and this 720s, like it or not, is going to force the other brands to respond. At the end of the day, we are the beneficiaries of those developments, and hopefully that will eventually mean a combination of F car passion and excitement with P car livability and quality!
It's basically the same with Lamborghinis. The problem with mid-engine supercars is that the engine dissipates vast amounts of heat next to the cabin. The AC units themselves are not to blame.
I would contest this. Just climb into a Huracan or an Audi R8 V10 Plus, both cars spit ice cubes from their vents... I would characterize Ferrari as just barely adequate in keeping up when the weather is hot and humid.
It could be they choose to underdrive the AC compressors and use smaller heat transfer units in order to meet emissions, improve engine output, keep weight down and concentrate more on aerodynamics than airflow to the heat exchanger. For them barely adequate was the target, maybe?
I asked an Audi dealer about this and he said that cars in Germany aren’t allowed to be started without someone sitting in the car so they purposely design them to be able to blow cold air almost instantly. Pretty interesting. I guess this isn’t an issue in Italy hahah.
It could be....But it's likely that they just didn't put enough R&D into the A/C system as a whole. This isn't rocket science any longer. If they wanted it to blow cold, they could have EFFICIENTLY engineered it to do so.
