Ok Im lazy and i havent quite managed to the art of reading yet.....

So the climate control thingy in the middle of the dashboard........whats it for.

I always thought it was supposed to be turned off

Turned off it doesnt sap the engine power

I think ive worked out that econ = economy :idea:

but what are the best settings for normal day to day use so thats its not on all the time but the cabin is a nice 18 - 20

Or should i just read the manual

where is the beer sign

I must admit that when standard (150bhp) having the climate on "AUTO" did seem to take the edge of the acceleration, "ECON" was better for pushing on.

Since chipped, I have not noticed much difference, but still tend to run "ECON" to keep the fuel economy up, and maybe an extra horse or two.

I just leave mine on auto all the time with the temp set at 20c.

I cant see any real diff in fuel economy between auto and econ, and with the external temp below 5c it makes no difference anyway as the aircon compressor does not run below that temp.

Auto = Fully automatic control of interior temp using aircon and heater. therefore removing any moisture from the air and preventing the interior misting up.

Econ = Auto control of interior temp using the heater and ambient air only. does not remove moisture from air meaning in damp weather the car is liable to misting.

as manny says, auto is no good below 5 degrees C. in my experience, econ is really crap at keeping windows fog free at theses temps. at this time of year, i drive around at 20 with the vents facing the windscreen, my feet and face and leave the CC off. no problems, feels fine.

Mine has another mode - with nothing showing in place of OFF, AUTO or ECON. In that undocumented mode Aircon is on, and you can play with any of the directional controls, temperature and fan speed.

According to the Owner's Manual, in AUTO it should be possible to increase or decrease the quantity of air flowing into the passenger compartment by one stage using the blower increase/decrease buttons without having to switch AUTO mode off. In my car AUTO mode switches off as soon as either of those buttons is pressed, or if the directional buttons are pressed. I have taken the car back to the dealer who didn't seem to understand what the system should do. However a full diagnostic check using a VAG 1551 showed that the system was operating correctly - or maybe just that all the valves etc were working...

I don't much like AUTO because in that mode air blows out of whatever vents it chooses and at whatever blower setting it chooses too. During the summer heatwave, with AUTO set, both front passengers were blasted with very cold air from centre vents. Very impressive, but not very confortable! I prefer a more subtle system which allows the user to make their own settings, and that is what I have with no mode indicated. But logically, I would have expected the system to indicate whether Aircon is off or on - which it doesn't in that mode.

ah, thats the mode i meant denis. so aircon is on? oh well, it seems to work!

i take it the CC is off, ie. there's no temp. regulation or is that too a permanent feature?

Temperature regulation works in that undocumented mode too, although it must be possible to make life impossible for the system by, for example, setting an inappropriate fan speed.