[DanielAcosta]

I have a 2021 Premium in the swampy heat of Northern Virginia and I have learned long ago with any car that opening the windows before trying the AC allows you to start with cooler air (any air is cooler than the 130+ of a full sunshine car interior in summer.) It is also the reason we only get silver or white cars. That way the car is not a giant heat sink. One of my new car tests is to drive on regular AC setting or Auto and them stop in the middle of a parking lot and see if it gets warmer when there is no air flowing over the AC coils. In this area's stop and go traffic, that is the real test of efficiency. I have found there is a big difference between a light and a dark car.

I have found that the full auto setting is very good for keeping it level and cool, but it tends to direct too much air to my feet. I set it up with full auto and then change it to go to the dash vents only which changes it to auto.

Great summary. I have also been amazed how start-stop can shut down the engine and the car still stays cool. Our 20 is ice blue, basically silver, and our 19 was ivory pearl, white.

 

[Carnerd]

I’m not far from you, OP. I live in North Mississippi and my car sits out on the driveway under direct sunlight, so if I get in it during the day, the outside temperature reading in the car is often showing well over 100F. I regularly get in the car in the afternoon when the temperature is at its highest and my car has had no problems cooling the interior even with the extreme summer we have had so far.

I keep my A/C always on Full Auto, with the temperature set to 67F, although my wife likes to keep the passenger side temp at around 70 because 67 makes it too cold for her. So even in this Mississippi heat, my car has had no problems cooling the interior within a few minutes on Full Auto setting.

This is my first Subaru so I can’t compare to prior gen Outbacks or even other Subarus, but compared to my experience in older Fords and Toyotas that I have had before, the A/C in my car is certainly no worse than the best I have had. Also worth mentioning that I’m always naturally warm, so having good A/C is essential for me.

 

[Alex_W]

Add me to the list of folks who are staying cool. I keep my system on auto. It cools down fast and has no trouble maintaining 68 degrees in 100 degree weather. It's so good that I'm not aware of it.

 

[cashmonee]

I park my outside for work and it can get well over 100 here, but we have basically no humidity. I use the Subaru sunshade, have my driver and passenger front windows tinted (50%), and use Full Auto. When I get in, crank the temp to LO, roll windows down for a 30 seconds to let the hot air escape, and the car is usually comfortable within a couple minutes.

 

[Cerulean Obsidian]

That's why recirculate is so beneficial for ultimate cooling. It gets the moisture out right away and can then do the maximum temperature drop to get the cabin down in a hurry. Plus it's now cooling already semi cooled air the next pass through.

A good tip is to open the windows for a bit first or turn off recirc. That way the AC is cooling the ambient temp air instead of the hotter air inside the car.

 

[Cerulean Obsidian]

I have found that the full auto setting is very good for keeping it level and cool, but it tends to direct too much air to my feet. I set it up with full auto and then change it to go to the dash vents only which changes it to auto.

Interesting. When running on AC almost everything is to the top vents. I only really get airflow on my feet when heating.

 

[DScorp]

OK, so I have a 20 OBT 2.5L, live in New Mexico near Albuquerque @5200ft altitude and in my garage I opened the door and it is 95F/21% humidity. So I started the car and set on MAX for A/C so it recirculates, blows on high and set for LO for temp and in just a couple of minutes the center vents on the dash were showing 48.6F for the air blowing out and that was feeling more than just cool! I was curious so I went and did this test after reading this post.

 

[Shatz]

Again, there was another guy with a 2020+ Outback whose A/C did not blow cold enough for him and Subaru addressed it under warranty. You may not get to 36 degrees in the summer, but it might be colder than 65, if that's what you're getting.

Keep in mind that they have changed refrigerant chemistries several times over the decades and R12 went to R134a to R1234yf and although the entire systems have been redesigned to still work well, I suspect that each formula change makes it more challenging to be as effective (cold) as old R12.

My '21 Outback is struggling to blow anywhere cold air from the dash vents, and really doesn't respond well to dropping the cooling to, say, 65°F. I'm in Nashville TN where temps have been brutal, like most places in the US.

I was taught a long while ago by a Volvo mechanic that the temperature blown out of the vents should be at about 36° as I recall. Is this universally true of modern A/C units? Of course Volvo used GM units I think which is a bit strange, and I digress, but when cranked down it worked.

Wondering whether anyone has the skinny on the Subaru specs for A/C air coming out of the dash vents. Thinking of visiting the local dealer to have the freon checked. It's under warranty, but my dealer is in Clarksville which I will not go to for this as it's too far. Of course this is likely not covered by warranty, but I need cold air! Thanks in advance... john

Update: I tested out the 'Full Auto' setting on the car. I really did miss that apparently, so thanks a bunch for this!

Today has been a bit cooler, i.e. -10° from yesterday, here in Nashville, and when set, Full Auto, blasted co-o-old air (showed up as 'Lo', about 60°) through the vents at the highest fan speed. It was the cold air I would expect, so it's certainly capable of delivering air that I would judge to be in the high 30's, but next time I'll carry a thermometer. However, it never backed off until I manually hit the AC setting again, despite my subjective opinion that it was at full bore for adequate time to cool and ratchet it back. I mean, what is Auto if you have to fiddle with it? It remained on Full Auto but went back to the 68° setting and a lower fan speed that I had previously set on Auto. I'm still experimenting with it so determine an accurate path for what I would expect on an AC set as 'Auto'. Seems the distinction between 'Auto' and 'Full Auto' is too nuanced so I'll see what the manual says as a last resort.

Again, my experience is with an older model Volvo that when set on Auto with a specified temperature it did all the adjustments necessary until the cabin sensors determined that the AC had met my goal.

Thanks again for all this valuable insight! -js

 

[BTXI]

Last year I drove from California to Colorado in a 2021 Gen 6 - The AC performance was very comfortable with 116 degree weather through Arizona and Utah. Humidity - thats the wild card. I would take that car in, but first download the Owners manual and review the AC settings. Enjoy!

 

[Shatz]

OK, so I have a 20 OBT 2.5L, live in New Mexico near Albuquerque @5200ft altitude and in my garage I opened the door and it is 95F/21% humidity. So I started the car and set on MAX for A/C so it recirculates, blows on high and set for LO for temp and in just a couple of minutes the center vents on the dash were showing 48.6F for the air blowing out and that was feeling more than just cool! I was curious so I went and did this test after reading this post.

21% humidity??? That's a big factor in cooling a car down I would think. I've lived in Baltimore where it reached 100% humidity without rain! . Here in Nashville the humidity was thick, but not that much; perhaps high 80s.

 

[Ballermaris]

I have CoCo's set to full auto all the time right now. We had some serious heat about two weeks ago. I think you could have wrapped the potato in foil, put it in an iron skillet in the sun, and after a few hours have a nicely done potato. When heading home in the afternoons in Atlanta, the outside temperature is close to 101 degrees or more on the interstate.

 

[DanielAcosta]

Update: I tested out the 'Full Auto' setting on the car. I really did miss that apparently, so thanks a bunch for this!

Today has been a bit cooler, i.e. -10° from yesterday, here in Nashville, and when set, Full Auto, blasted co-o-old air (showed up as 'Lo', about 60°) through the vents at the highest fan speed. It was the cold air I would expect, so it's certainly capable of delivering air that I would judge to be in the high 30's, but next time I'll carry a thermometer. However, it never backed off until I manually hit the AC setting again, despite my subjective opinion that it was at full bore for adequate time to cool and ratchet it back. I mean, what is Auto if you have to fiddle with it? It remained on Full Auto but went back to the 68° setting and a lower fan speed that I had previously set on Auto. I'm still experimenting with it so determine an accurate path for what I would expect on an AC set as 'Auto'. Seems the distinction between 'Auto' and 'Full Auto' is too nuanced so I'll see what the manual says as a last resort.

Again, my experience is with an older model Volvo that when set on Auto with a specified temperature it did all the adjustments necessary until the cabin sensors determined that the AC had met my goal.

Thanks again for all this valuable insight! -js

In FULL AUTO you only need to change the desired temperature, the system will adjust the temp of the air, discharge vents, recirc on/off, fan speed, basically everything else automatically. You do still have to separately specify whether you want the two sides SYNCed or not.

If you change anything besides the temperature, FULL AUTO changes to AUTO because you have chosen to manually change one (or more) parameters, but everything you haven't touched still works automatically. The only way to get FULL AUTO back is to hit auto in the expanded screen so the nomenclature changes back to FULL AUTO.

We typically run FULL AUTO and just adjust the desired temperature. Tip: if you turn the temp all the way down in FULL AUTO, all the air will come out the dash vents, RECIRC will be on, and fan will be full blast, so basically the same as MAX AC. As the interior temperature approaches the desired temperature you have set, in FULL AUTO you'll see the discharge change to floor and dash, the fan speed will come down, and eventually you'll see RECIRC turn off, usually when the outside and inside temps are within about 8 degrees of each other.

I hope this explanations helps.

 

[Ballermaris]

With full auto and temp set to lowest, one can freeze one's bumkin rather quickly...❄

 

[coolerbythelake]

I suspect the issue is every generation of refrigerant (CFC and its derivatives) is less effective at cooling (but of course much more expensive!) than the previous one due to "green" mandates. in my experience none of the new cars I've owned cool anywhere near as well as the old ones I had.

 

[jes2]

In FULL AUTO you only need to change the desired temperature, the system will adjust the temp of the air, discharge vents, recirc on/off, fan speed, basically everything else automatically. You do still have to separately specify whether you want the two sides SYNCed or not.

If you change anything besides the temperature, FULL AUTO changes to AUTO because you have chosen to manually change one (or more) parameters, but everything you haven't touched still works automatically. The only way to get FULL AUTO back is to hit auto in the expanded screen so the nomenclature changes back to FULL AUTO.

We typically run FULL AUTO and just adjust the desired temperature. Tip: if you turn the temp all the way down in FULL AUTO, all the air will come out the dash vents, RECIRC will be on, and fan will be full blast, so basically the same as MAX AC. As the interior temperature approaches the desired temperature you have set, in FULL AUTO you'll see the discharge change to floor and dash, the fan speed will come down, and eventually you'll see RECIRC turn off, usually when the outside and inside temps are within about 8 degrees of each other.

I hope this explanations helps.

Very well said.

IF the operator does exactly what you have stated, and there is STILL a cooling problem, THEN I'd take the OB to be checked out.

Otherwise - enjoy the cold!

 

[subiefanil83]

I noticed that the AC wasn't blowing as cold in my 2022 outback as it did in my 2019 outback... The service manager told me that they have changed the refrigerant in the 6thG and it does not cool as well as the 2019. Tho it's been no issue for me, the car gets cool even in 95+ outside, there is a difference.

At least by 2018 they were onto the new refrigerant as my parents 2018 Outback has it and my old 2019 Legacy did as well. My Legacy would touch vent temps of 36 at times but it typically settled around 37-39.

 

[Roundabout2021]

Interesting. When running on AC almost everything is to the top vents. I only really get airflow on my feet when heating.

I am now wondering if that is so the under the seat vent that blows to the rear seat area gets more air to keep the backseat cool, especially since the 2021 Premium does not have vents on the upper back of the rear center console.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

in hot weather use recirculate to get the car colder.

also when really hot use the sunroof as a vent when parked

also if you can tint ye windows

 

[hallux]

in hot weather use recirculate to get the car colder.

and on full auto the car does just that! One needs to be aware, though, if you change ANYTHING other than the set temp the system will drop from full auto. I never bothered to learn what, exactly, the difference is between auto and full auto, full auto has worked perfectly well for me so I've just stuck with it.

 

[jzsubaru]

I never bothered to learn what, exactly, the difference is between auto and full auto, full auto has worked perfectly well for me so I've just stuck with it.

If you are in full auto and you change a setting, only that particular setting is locked in, all other features are still in auto mode. If you change another setting, then that setting is also locked in along with any other settings that you have changed.