Vancouver, BC, Canada—Since the phase-out of Freon™, many car air-conditioning systems have suffered performance losses. As evidence, you can probably recall switching the AC onto MAX (or recirculate) mode in late models just to get passable cooling in the nastiest hot, humid weather. This cooling crunch occurs primarily because of Freon''s replacement, HFC-134a. It transfers heat only half as well as Freon. In an attempt to maintain cooling power, engineers have raised system pressures, increased flow rates, and (where pos- sible) upsized components. But upsiz-ing runs counter to the major new trend towards cab-forward design, which seeks to reduce under-the-hood real estate.
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