Inspired by another member's post where they deleted the AC from their 1999 SE Bonneville, I'm inspired to ask: "Why do this?"

-I'm sure better performance is the goal, and I presume the primary advantage of an A/C delete is weight savings by removing the compressor. I've read that in general, ~100 pounds of weight savings roughly equates to a gain of 0.1 seconds in a quarter mile, and a typical AC compressor can be something like 45 pounds.

Obviously when the A/C is present but turned off, the compressor clutch disengages and freewheels, posing a negligible load on the engine, so weight savings has to be the primary benefit of an A/C delete, but. . . for roughly 0.05 seconds? I suppose if you're really that serious about performance at the track, almost any gain is welcome, but seriously, if the track is that important to your life, maybe an SE Bonneville isn't the best choice of vehicle (allowing for "to each, their own").

The person with the delete doesn't have their location in their profile, but did mention "The compressor took a dump and I don't care if I have air or not." So I respect that if you just DO NOT NEED it, then fine, do whatever you like, but the questions that linger for me are things like:
-Is this a popular mod? (People seriously do this?)
-Has anyone who did it on a Bonneville made any quantitative tests of whether it made any salient improvement at the track? (Seems like it would be wiser and more healthy for me to diet to lose 45 pounds.)
-Ultimately on a family sedan, does this really make sense? Doesn't it just lower the value of the car? I mean, working Air Conditioning is something car buyers seriously look for, and comfort in my daily drive is at least (okay more) important to me than my quarter-mile time.

I'm asking these questions somewhat rhetorically, but if anyone has any comments or information regarding A/C delete to add, I'm interested in learning more about the motivation behind this mod, and its relative popularity (or lack thereof).

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PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"

R.I.P. 10/31/15: 1997 SE: "Silver Shadow"
`05 Mercedes S500

I'm doing a max effort n/a build where I'm doing next to everything to squeeze out as much power as I can and I kept the a/c.

It's good for maybe 0.03 in the 1/4 from weight savings?

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95 SLE... a keeper. 241k miles. Low and Slow.
97 BMW 528i
98 Infiniti vq35'd i30: 13.3@104mph, 30MPG Hwy (RIP)
02 Jag X-type
03 BMW M5
05 Chevy Cobalt LS
07 Infiniti G35s 6MT (Sold)
07 Ducati Monster S2R 800 with DS1000 swap
83 Yamaha IT175K
72 Yamaha DS7: '74 RD250 swap, JL chambers

Info on dropping a 92-99: Here.

Bonneville AC Compressor weighs in at just under 14lbs... hardly a weight savings. The entire system (compressor, condensor, dryer, evaporator and lines) probably weight in at 30lbs max.

The only real reason I can see justifiable is if you can't afford to fix the AC if it goes bad.

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Andrew - owner/operator of Bonnevilles Unlimited

2004 Bonneville GXP | 60k | White Gold Tricoat | custom built supercharged 3800 hot rod | garage queen
1997 Corvette | 55k | Silver Metallic | Z06 wheels | Date-night Hauler/Parts runner
2014 Town & Country Limited | Cashmere Pearl | 95k | Family Hauler
2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab Sport | Black| 260k | Official Bonneville Hauler

Bugsi, I'm assuming that's what Bing's removal was based on, cost to fix a broken system vs. cost of idler pulley and comfort.

The friction of the clutch is probably about the same as an idler, so that's not anything to be concerned with.

30 lb drop would be .03 at the strip, appx, if you were consistent enough to be able to see it.

Maybe on an all out track-only build, yeah it's less weight and less stuff taking up residence in the engine. Older vehicles might have more weight in components, and when trying to remove as much weight as possible, yeah it adds up, but for these cars it's not a performance benefit.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

I didn't do it for performance, it was a simple cost savings, 25$ vs. 100+ to get everything back up to par.
None of my cars that I have owned has had the A/C working or even had it to begin with. It was just a choice I made to eliminate the system vs. repairing it.

I have to much into the car to even think about reselling, so it is going to be death do us apart. This is my daily driver and not necessarily my family truckster. I keep up all the maintenance and creature comforts for my wife's burban.

Bugsi, thank you for voicing your opinions and concerns.

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1999 Bonneville SE with the heart of a 07 Grand Prix

Your suburban doesn't even have A/C?

/offtopic

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

00Beast the air in the Burban is ice COLD and works very well.

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1999 Bonneville SE with the heart of a 07 Grand Prix

Gotcha. Gotta keep the kids & wife happy!

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

not much performance gain... AC is one thing that ALWAYS works in my cars, i guess im a puss and just wont get rid of the AC.

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Shane "RedZMonte"
2004 Z16 Z06: Virgin
2000 SSEi: Kenwood DDX512, 3.25" MPS, ZZP DP, PLog, Puck Mount, NGK TR7's, DHP Tuned
1995 Monte Z34: T04e "60" turbo, 42.5# injectors, Borla Catback, OBDII swap, DHP Tuned, Much more...

At the end of the day it all boils down to, to each his own.

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1999 Bonneville SE with the heart of a 07 Grand Prix

i dont have ac either

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-Juan

No bonnie!
93 s10 ex cab: 2.8: t5: exhaust: tbi mods. 5.3, 76mm, and a D.r cam on a stand

I just want to clarify, I wasn't ripping on Bing's decision to AC delete, that's why I made a separate post to ask my question. Bing's post merely inspired me to question why people do this, or even if people do this, whether it is very common, if it makes a tangible performance difference or not. -Basically, it just raised questions to me, not specifically why Bing did it, -because he said why he did it- but why other people might do this.

Just not having the money to replace the AC and needing to drive the car makes perfect sense to me, however the logic used for not replacing Bing's AC is actually the same logic I used to decide to replace mine when mine died. -My Bonneville is my daily driver, I'm in it every weekday on a drive to and from work, and often delivering my kids to school. Our comfort in California's sun is important, so the one-time cost to replace the AC for years worth of daily comfort was an easy decision.

In any case, you guys have helped answer some of my questions. Effectively there isn't a serious performance gain from this mod, people mainly do it as an alternative to replacing a broken AC system.

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PontiacDad at WCBF `08: "By any chance, was his name. . .Radomir?"

R.I.P. 10/31/15: 1997 SE: "Silver Shadow"
`05 Mercedes S500

Exact same here.... high 90's a lot of the time and high humidity....... Um yeah not living without my AC....lol

Yeah a/c is a must down here the bonneviile is ice cold, ironically the trucks a/c has been broken all summer and i haven't had time/money to work on it..also ironic because of its drilled thermostat I have no heat in the winter lol

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2000 ssei gone but not forgotten

Current fleet:
2009 G8 v6, 2009 Avalanche LTZ, 2013 Volt