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S. Muralidhar

THE unrelenting Indian summer puts to test our car ownership experience. Frustration builds up among car owners who do not have climate control (or in common parlance air-conditioning). It is the same for owners of vehicles whose air-conditioning systems have become faulty or are under-performing.

A car's powertrain is itself a heat source. With high ambient temperatures that most places in India record during the summer, the car's cabin becomes so hot that natural means of dissipating the heat becomes ineffective. This is where the air-conditioner does its bit to make driving more comfortable.

The air-conditioner's performance is a balance between, and a function of, a number of other parameters such as the size of the compressor, that of the engine, from which it draws power, and of the car itself. The air-conditioner, in turn, affects the car's drivability and fuel-efficiency. To this end, as it has a "parasitic" relationship with the engine, running an air-conditioner will always lead to lower mileage.

While a lower mileage may be a small price for many car owners, for others the additional cost and the prospect of lower fuel-efficiency is enough to steer clear of air-conditioners. Look at the sales numbers of the country's favourite entry-level small car — the Maruti 800, and this becomes clear. Almost 65 per cent of all M800 buyers still prefer the non air-conditioned variant.

Outside of that statistic for the M800, the other cars in the B and, of course, C, D and E segments feature climate control as standard fitment. The Indian car buyer is now increasingly in favour of having a factory-fitted air-conditioner. For those who cannot stretch their budget and buy the variant with an air-conditioner, retrofitting the same in an authorised workshop should not be a problem. Car air-conditioners available in the after market, including brands like Sanden, National and so on cost any where between Rs 23,000 and Rs 26,000 for small cars such as the M800 and the Suzuki Alto.

For car owners who already have air-conditioning, but are still sweating it out due to faulty systems, here are a few trouble-shooting tips.

When there is no cooling or when warm air comes out of the A/C vents:

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