How to get outside air flowing in? How to get start-stop to work when cold outside

[rambu]

Hi, I've owned a Golf R and my wife is currently driving a Golf. Both of these cars when the fan is not on, outside air gets to flow in while the cars were driven. The faster we drive, the more air gets pushed in.

Yesterday I took ownership of a brand new A3 sedan and realized that outside air doesn't come in. The only way to get air to come into the car is by turning on the fan or AC. Is this normal?

 

[NHN]

Perfectly normal in my experience with audi's & logical.

 

[mjcourtney]

Is this normal?

Yes. Fan Off = Steamed up windows and no air flow.

 

[rambu]

Sigh...

That means the fan has to be on at all times.

Where I live at the moment the air temp is around 10C. I realized that the Auto Start Stop doesn't shut the engine off when the fan is on. I read the manual and it says that if the outside air is too cold or too hot, Auto Start Stop won't work. And if the fan is on, the cabin temp has to match the outside temp in order for Auto Start Stop to work.

Do you guys know how I can make the Auto Start Stop work when the outside temp is 10C and fan is off? Or there is no way to do it?

 

[constvoid]

Do you have climate control, or manual A/C? With climate control, cabin temperature doesn't need to be the same as outside temperature for start-stop to be active, but cabin temperature does have to be close to the requested temperature, otherwise the engine will be kept running to either heat the air, or provide the power to run the A/C, as required. I'm not absolutely sure how start-stop is affected by manual A/C, but my wife has an A1 with manual A/C and I'm pretty certain that start-stop works fine with the fan running, as she never switches the fan off.

 

[rambu]

Do you have climate control, or manual A/C? With climate control, cabin temperature doesn't need to be the same as outside temperature for start-stop to be active, but cabin temperature does have to be close to the requested temperature, otherwise the engine will be kept running to either heat the air, or provide the power to run the A/C, as required. I'm not absolutely sure how start-stop is affected by manual A/C, but my wife has an A1 with manual A/C and I'm pretty certain that start-stop works fine with the fan running, as she never switches the fan off.

Well, our A3 has dual climate control. But I didn't turn on the AC. It was only the fan that is on.

 

[constvoid]

Just press the auto button and forget about it. Or if you're really worried about economy then briefly press the auto button again until the 'eco' legend lights up. A/C will then be less aggressive about changing the temperature.

 

[cuke2u]

All my cars since 2008 haven't had the ability to push air through without the fan being on and I think it is because of having a filter in between the inlet and the outlet. But constvoid is quite correct, use the CC as that's what it is for and not worry about the mpg...

 

[Daveotto]

All my cars since 2008 haven't had the ability to push air through without the fan being on and I think it is because of having a filter in between the inlet and the outlet. But constvoid is quite correct, use the CC as that's what it is for and not worry about the mpg...

Agree, cant believe having aircon on would make more than a 1 or 2mpg difference. You can use the efficency display to see what differenc it does make. Not done this myself to be honest as just enjoy driving it to much to worry about fuel consumption with mine spending all its time in Dynamic drive select mode and air con on constantly

 

[mjcourtney]

Have also taken to driving mine permanently in Dynamic mode now. Still seems to return just as good economy when driven gently in comparison to economy mode, yet when I need the power / fun it's right there on tap under my right foot without having to muck about changing modes! I don't think i've ever switched my climate from 'auto', and have certainly never turned off the aircon.

 

[cuke2u]

If the mode is set to auto then if you boot the car it will switch to dynamic automatically anyway. Some have said they've felt the switch on the throttle with their foot...

 

[Daveotto]

If the mode is set to auto then if you boot the car it will switch to dynamic automatically anyway. Some have said they've felt the switch on the throttle with their foot...

I prefer the steering response of dynamic over the other modes, far more sensitive and positive (could program it this way on the customisable program and keep to auto or comfort for throttle repsonse if I was that bothered about the extra economy I might get)

 

[cemerson]

The latest A3s come with moveable transparent panels that can let in air from the outside. The manual calls them 'windows', and they are activated by a switch in the driver's door.

 

[h5djr]

The latest A3s come with moveable transparent panels that can let in air from the outside. The manual calls them 'windows', and they are activated by a switch in the driver's door.

Are they the latest windows 8.1 or an earlier version? I assume there are standard and not an option

 

[cemerson]

Yep, they are fitted as standard on all A3 models

 

[mjcourtney]

If the mode is set to auto then if you boot the car it will switch to dynamic automatically anyway. Some have said they've felt the switch on the throttle with their foot...

Yes, although to me it still doesn't feel as quick as when you're in full dynamic mode.

 

[cuke2u]

Well what you feel, against what you felt, is probably the most important thing ;-)

 

[Daveotto]

Yep, they are fitted as standard on all A3 models

Are Mac versions avaialable as options

 

[cuke2u]

I guess mac versions are good because they'd keep off the rain? I actually mean that too ;-)

 

[Flibble]

Mine is on auto all the time and start/stop seems to work regardless of the outside temperature. Only time it doesn't tends to be soon after starting the car while it is still adjusting the cabin temperature.

 

[cemerson]

Are Mac versions avaialable as options

No, you can't see through macs.

 

[cuke2u]

Mine is on auto all the time and start/stop seems to work regardless of the outside temperature. Only time it doesn't tends to be soon after starting the car while it is still adjusting the cabin temperature.

You might find that maybe it is turned off until the engine has reached the correct operating temperature for the CC to work correctly. No point in it blowing cold air at you when you want warm. Plus the system will point the air at demisting the screen to start with.

 

[rambu]

Thanks guys for all the responses.

The start stop is now working on my car from Day 2 onwards. When I posted this, the car was only 1 day old (and I drove 250km on the first day).

Now the auto start-stop works while music is playing, heat warmers on and fan is running. And the outside temp is about 7C.

 

[driver_tim]

I'm quite intrigued so many people seem to use full auto. I've always avoided this as previous experience with similar experience has shown they turn the fan down to practically zero as soon as possible, presumably to reduce fuel consumption. I find this makes the cabin air stale and in some cases causes misting, so I tend to leave the system on manual with quite a high fan setting.

 

[cuke2u]

Auto gives plenty of air with mine, quite a blast when the outside temperature is hot and doesn't seem to regulate itself down..