Wetter weather, falling temperatures and darker days mean it is more important than ever to make sure your car is up to scratch in Winter.
The key to safer driving in the winter months is all in the preparation. Here are a few of the MotorNuts team’s top tips and products to keep you motoring this winter.
Antifreeze
To keep your engine running smoothly, check and change your antifreeze before temperatures start to drop below zero degrees – you can do this using a simple antifreeze tester.
Running without enough antifreeze in the coolant system could result in serious engine damage and significant rebuild costs.
Battery
Dark nights and colder temperatures means often driving with lights and heaters on which puts extra strain on the battery.
Most car batteries have an average shelf life of five years, so it can be a shrewd move and an inexpensive investment to replace ones approaching this coming up to winter to avoid unexpected breakdowns.
If your car feels sluggish when starting on cold mornings it is advisable to get your battery checked by a local garage and replace if necessary.
Windscreen
Make sure you always have plenty of screen wash with antifreeze at all times as grit build up on windscreens can be hazardous.
For heavy rain make sure your wipers are clearing without smearing the screen – if in doubt replacing the wiper blade is quick and straight forward to do and Bosch have the perfect blades for every make and model.
On board essentials for Winter are de-icer; a spray or aerosol and an ice scraper or brush for snow as well as quality demister pad for inside condensation.
And just in case the worst should happen, it can be advisable to include; torch, blanket, high visibility vest...and for snowy conditions a shovel can also be handy!
Bulbs
Guidelines suggest you should check your bulbs once a week, and when the weather deteriorates and the nights draw in this is more important than ever.
A handy tip if you haven’t got someone to help you check them all; headlights, dip and main beam, sidelights, indicator, brake, tail, reverse, number plate and fog lights, is when parking in front of shop windows.
Another top tip for the MotorNuts is to upgrade to high performance bulbs – you will literally see the difference!
Tyres
When roads are wet or icy the condition they are in is even more important. Whilst the legal minimum is 1.6mm tread this is not sufficient when driving on wet or icy roads.
You can test this by using a tyre depth gauge and you should test them every few weeks.
Winter tyres are specially designed to the colder temperatures on the roads and can be a shrewd investment, and if it gets really cold snow socks and snow chains can be help you get sticky in slippy situations.