Yeah, it would nice to be able to recirc the air temporarily such as when there are noxious fumes outside the car. I mean, it would be fine if the HVAC system turned on the AC when you recirc if it's in Auto mode- if you choose Auto, you should be willing to accept what it thinks is best. But what is is about "Manual" that they don't understand? I guess that's why there's no "manual" mode just an "auto" on and not-so-on (can't really call it "off")
Okay, I'd be fine with the recirc automatically turning on the AC when you hit the button, but it should allow you to at least turn off the AC afterwards. That's like my other car- hit defrost and it turns on the AC, but (for example) if it's a cold humid night, I can turn on the recirc and turn off the AC to heat up the windshield quickly so it doesn't get condensation on the outside.
On another note, another annoying thing about the recirc and AC is the blast of cold air when you first turn it on (the recirc, I mean). Wouldn't it be better for the recirc to crank up the heat while turning on the AC?
If it's summer and you turn on the recirc and you didn't have the AC on already then the heat wasn't that bad to begin with. If it's winter then you've got the heat on and certainly don't want the blast of cold air. And the recirc doesn't necessarily have to crank the heat all the way, just roughly enough the offest the AC.
Yeah, and with a bit more programming they could have the recirc compare the outside air temp with the thermostat and crank the heat up or down accordingly, but I guess that's too much to worry about for a transient condition anyway- eventually the climate control will figure things out and get the air blowing out the vents to the correct temp.