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Does using air conditioning affect fuel economy?
The debate has started again as to whether using the air conditioning is more fuel-efficient than having the windows down. Which is correct?
Asked on 8 April 2012 by JY, Chewton Mendip
Answered by
Honest John
Yesterday, we drove the new Yaris hybrid with windows open and got 4.6 litres/100km (61.4mpg). Today, we drove exactly the same car with windows closed and a/c on and got 3.5 litres/100km (80.7mpg) on the same flat roads in Holland.
Real MPG enables you to register the fuel economy you are actually getting against your make and model of car, its engine and type of transmission.
Every time you enter an average consumption figure against your car, the overall average automatically adjusts to reflect it.
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