How Much More Horse Power Do you Get Without A/C?

V8 Trans Am asked:


I own a 1976 Trans Am 400 with working A/C. I just wanted to know how much more horse power would I gain without the A/C installed.

horse owning

7 Responses to “How Much More Horse Power Do you Get Without A/C?”

1. Kyle H says:

   July 4, 2009 at 12:27 pm

   horse owning

   Just don’t turn the A/C on. When the A/C is not engaged, it will act as a pulley with almost no resistance.
2. mrpeanut says:

   July 1, 2009 at 3:19 pm

   horse owning

   You don’t get any HP when you remove your A/C, you’re just freeing up some that was already there. The A/C is parasitic so it saps a bit of power. If you are considering removing it so that you have more power, don’t. Unless this is a drag car you have no real reason to. Removing the A/C doesn’t give back as much power as it gives in comfort. If you want to free up that HP at a stop light simply turn off your A/C.
3. sliverhddriver says:

   June 29, 2009 at 6:29 pm

   horse owning

   15 to 20 percent drop in power.
4. dodge man says:

   June 27, 2009 at 9:07 pm

   horse owning

   you,ll average about 3-5 more horse power with it off,and not working,,anything that has a pulley and the engine turns it,,takes a few horses away from it,,good luck hope this help,s,,,i do this for a living all the time.
5. robert s says:

   June 26, 2009 at 6:06 pm

   horse owning

   When you turn on the air, you will notice a definite slowing of the engine rpm. I would guess it takes at least 5 hp to spin the compressor.
6. Whitey says:

   June 25, 2009 at 2:51 pm

   horse owning

   Anything that is using the engine to operate is robbing you of HP. I dont really know the gains you would achieve but any is better than none.
7. Mr. KnowItAll says:

   June 25, 2009 at 9:27 am

   horse owning

   It takes nearly nothing to run the belt around the pulley without the A/C turned on.
   The only time the A/C draws hp is when the clutch is engaged, and that only draws about 4 hp.