When the commentator starts showing you maps behind him with those blue lines with points like knots on a rope, you start thinking "ummm did I check my anti-freeze lately?"
You'd best have...
I hope the following may help you :
* Around November, no matter if it is new or not, change ... Read review
Advantages: Safety Disadvantages: Anything you could name BAD
...pack of Pampers in the winter season when I travel.)
* Keep a good flashlight and two sets of batteries handy.
* No matter how new your battery is, stow away a set of jumper cables. You may help save lives in a blizzard.
* If you are going to travel, take a flask of a hot drink and a 5 liter bottle of spring water and plenty of candy / chocolates. If the weather deteriorates as fast as it does here in ... ...your valuable suggestions so I can find out more myself.
And please do not think it's too early to discuss this issue. We usually got struck by the question "uh oh am I ready for winter ??"
When the commentator starts showing you maps behind him with those blue lines with points like knots on a rope, you start thinking "ummm did I check my anti-freeze lately?"
You'd best have...
I hope the following may help you :
* Around November, no matter if it is new or not, change your motor oil :
Depending on how cold your environment gets, choose the correct viscosity index. For example it goes down to -7 normally and to -10 at extremes here in Istanbul. So I use a 0W40 synthetic oil. The engine is much better lubricates in cold starts where the engine shivers and tries to warm itself up. A highly viscous oil will have to be heated before it starts circulating and doing its job.
* Have your anti-freeze density checked and replenish if necessary. I usually keep a 75 % AF and 25 % water mixture all year around, to empty and flush every spring. You would not believe how much of scale and weird substances pour into the sink !
* Change your wiper blades with new ones. Visibility is already impaired. So at least keep your vision clear.
* Check your battery's charge and electrolyte levels. You do not want to get stuck with a dead engine. Don't take chances. Buy a new battery if necessary.
* Check your tyres: if the tread is shallower than 3 mm's, buy a new set of tyres. Nowadays all tyres are all season. If you can afford a new set of all seasons, you may as well go for a pair of snow tyres for your traction wheels. But the snow wheels usually do not come at sizes exactly matching the other tyres. (i.e. it is hard to find a studded or knobby 225/45x16 tyre. They are usually high profile)
Inflate them to the correct pressure + 3 PSI. NEVER deflate a tyre expecting to get more traction.
* Check your local regulations for use of tyre chains or studded tyres. Retailers tend to sell things never minding if they are allowed by authorities or not (look at radar detectors; you can even get jailed if you get caught with one but still yet they sell it and people buy it)
* Keep your interior dry and clean. Wet mats and carpetry cause fogging on the windows. Get a desiccant or place old newspapers under your mats. Watch out to take precautions against the newsprint ink painting your light colored carpetry though. Kraft paper grocery bags make fine desiccants. Use your airconditioner along with your heater occasionally so you can dry up the humidity.
A very cheap and easy home-made desiccant is as follows :
- Swipe your wife's spaghetti strainer. - Swipe her favourite dishcloth (do they use any cloths at all anymore ??) - Also swipe her mop bucket. - Get 2 kgs of table salt. - Seat the strainer onto the bucket, set the bucket to a suitable place in your car. - Put the dishcloth onto the strainer covering all the holes. - Pour the salt onto the cloth. - Empty the water in the bucket as necessary
* Run your airconditioner at least once a week to avoid system breakdowns at times the airconditioner is needed the most.
* Dress your door and boot gaskets with baby talc powder; not some greasy stuff as shown in commercials. Baby talc powder will not only lubricate but also prevent stuck-frozen (thus torn) gaskets, it will also fill in the pores of the gasket so humidity will not seep into the car. Re-apply this every two weeks, even in summertime. This is from what I heard, is the practice Porsche and Ferrari advises.
* Polish and wax your car. After waxing it with a good quality carnauba or better yet polymer, wait for a day and re-apply a second coating of wax.
* Check and replace if nexeccary all of your car's bulbs. Check the lights' lenses for condensed water beads. Especially the headlights' reflectors. If signs of corrosion is there, have them changed or at least sealed with transparent silicone mastic.
* Be sure you carry along at least two blankets and two pairs of woolen socks in your boot. (I carry two blankets, a goosedown filled blanket, three sleeping sacks and four pairs of woolen socks and lately, a 24 piece pack of Pampers in the winter season when I travel.)
* Keep a good flashlight and two sets of batteries handy.
* No matter how new your battery is, stow away a set of jumper cables. You may help save lives in a blizzard.
* If you are going to travel, take a flask of a hot drink and a 5 liter bottle of spring water and plenty of candy / chocolates. If the weather deteriorates as fast as it does here in Turkiye, you may end up in a traffic jam.
There was a massive traffic jam this February in Istanbul when the blizzard moved in after a bright but cloudy morning, plugging the highways within only 5 minutes with a snow layer of over 20 cms. The 14 million populated megapolis was covered with a snowfall which was the worst since 45 years. (Ya never know...)
Some jams lasted for 6 hours and the military had to move in with APC' s, carrying blankets and supplies (food and hot drinks) to those stuck in the jam.
* Drive calmly. Avoid abrupt control inputs to the car. Bo not forget that all of those ABS' s, ASR' s, TCS' s, EBD' s, EBS' s and other fancy 'n jazzy abbreviations are not meant to defy physics laws. They will simply NOT save you if you exceed your limits.
* Watch out for ice. Never mind your "outside temperature readings" if it flashes or not. Ice can form anytime when the ambient temperature is below 6 degrees.
* Whether or not your vehicle is equipped with ABS, place steady braking force on the pedal. Do not "pump" , "progressively apply" or "jam" the brakes.
* Body heat is lost : 35 % through feet 35 % through the body (chest, back and abdomen) 25 % through the head 5 % through the rest of the body
From what our family doc told me. Well, you decide which parts of your body to cover and keep dry...
* Watch out for crosswinds and gust especially on bridges and when exiting tunnels. They just hide and wait to pounce on you in those places. Should you be hit by a sudden gust or strong crosswind, do not panic and brake hard. Step on the clutch and keep a steady steering wheel. Try to gently "crab" into the wind with soft steering inputs towards the wind. Avoid yanking the steering wheel too hard, as you may suddenly find yourself in trouble when the gust abruptly subsides, changing several lanes at once. Pretend that your arms are an extension of the steering wheel and let the steering wheel control your arms up to an extent but always YOU keep control. You will get a better feel and be able to predict what the car' s next behaviour will be.
* Do not brake hard if you veer, swerve or slide on snow or ice or a wet road. Step on the clutch, apply counter steering in a timely manner and as soon as you have corrected the directional attitude and stability of the car, start applying brakes gently.
* If your car is an automatic, releasing the accelerator pedal will more or less serve like stepping on the clutch. NEVER throw into N even if your shifter allows you to.
* Do not get tempted to gain speed as soon as you grow confident with your going. That is exactly what disaster is waiting for in order to strike.
* Do NOT use your fog lights without REAL FOG which reduces visibility to 50 meters. Fog lights lit unnecessarily in visibility conditions higher than that do not look cool. They are annoying and DANGEROUS ! Especially the ever-bright tail fog lights hamper with the brake lights and chances are that you will get tailgated is 90 % when they are on without the genuine need.
* When fog come curtaining down, shut down your stereo, tell your wife to shut her trap and crack your window open. Listen outside as you virtually "crawl" in the fog. You may hear much more than you are able to see.
* If your rear window defroster is also heating your wing mirrors, keep it on at all times during snow fall. Otherwise be ready to keep scraping ice off your mirrors.
* Keep all of your lights' lenses clear and clean. Keep a sponge, a squeegie and spray bottle of water handy and do not hesitate to wipe frequently.
There is never enough to be said about this issue. I woulc deeply appreciate your valuable suggestions so I can find out more myself.
And please do not think it's too early to discuss this issue. We usually got struck by the question "uh oh am I ready for winter ??"
Advantages: Avoid breakdowns and accidents Disadvantages: Takes a wee bit of extra effort
~ ~The winter season is upon us once again, and with it invariably comes trouble with our motor vehicles.
How many of you have had the awful experience of sitting into your car in the driveway on a cold, wet, miserable winter’s morning, and turning the ignition, only for your trusty steed to groan feebly and steadfastly refuse to start? (I know I have!!)
Or making your weary way home after a hard day’s toil, in anticipation of a lovely ... ...and preventative measures are taken.
Winter also brings a rash of minor (and major) bumps, scrapes and accidents on our highways. But again, by being better prepared, you can easily lessen the chance of being involved in a traffic accident considerably.
~ ~ As most of you are well aware, the ‘mad cabbie’ drives a taxi here in Dublin, Ireland.
To a taxi driver, their car is their livelihood, and if it is off the road for any length ...
the_mad_cabbie 21.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Winter Advice
Advantages: None. Use another form of transport if you can Disadvantages: All too easy to have an accident at this time of year
...and screenwash generally has a winter and summer concentration, make sure that you've got enough in the tank with your water so that you don't get freezing.
Don't forget that it's even more important to keep your car clean during the winter. Grit on the roads means that the spray that hits your car is made of salt water. Ask any sailor, salt water is a recipe for disaster when it comes to rust.
Whilst we're at it, the nights have drawn in, and ... ...your car at home.
Winter is also a bad time of year for visibility. The nights are getting darker, and with the general murky weather we get at this time of year, you may end up having to leave your headlamps on all day. Yesterday, I lost track of the number of times that a grey car shape materialised out of the gloom on the other side of the road. Having your headlamps on can mean the difference between other motorists seeing you a few hundred ...
Pritch 27.12.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Winter Advice
How do we British survive the cold winters? Most public transport grinds to a halt when it snows. Be careful though when getting into that tin box, the car. Don't forget, with the heater blaring, that the road is cold and icy. Ice comes in patches, and often under a blanket of snow. It is not the snow that is the problem, it is the ice formed under it which makes for treacherous conditions. Take care, do not accelerate harshly, give yourself lots ... ...slide, use lower gears, steer gently, lose most of your speed whilst in a straight line prior to any bend, do not brake on a bend.etc.etc.
Clear all the glass on your car before moving off, including the rear and side screens and outside mirrors. Allow the car to warm up a little before pulling away. Keep a check of the anti-freeze, better to have too much than too little. Tyres should also be checked for tread and pressure. Also try to keep the ...
willsmj 02.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Winter Advice
Advantages: Gets you in the car Disadvantages: You`ll be excess wiping oil off your keys for a few days
...cold, it will last all winter :-) )
I have an aerosol can of "chain and drive" spray oil, but any light oil would be suitable (particularly the sort in a plastic bottle with a snip-off end).
Open the lock "cover" if your car has one (a match can help) and give the innards of the lock a good squirt, then work the oil into the mechanism by using your key in the lock a few times.
For good measure, oil any exposed pivot point on the lock mechanism ... ...the door a couple of times to help work it in to the joints.
Repeat on all the locks around the car, and with any luck, you won`t find yourself having to climb in through the boot like I had to a couple of years ago... The locks might feel slightly "stiff" in the cold due to the viscosity of the oil, but it should never freeze entirely :-) ...
phoenixbbs 19.02.2001 (09.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Winter Advice
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Advantages: Fast search engine Disadvantages: None
of the top insurance companies. Even if you haven't you the cash to purchase a car out-right, Auto Trader have got together with some of the best finance companies, to give you the lowest rate loans around.
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Advantages: Great driving experience, offers the frills Disadvantages: not the most practical sports car
I have now been the proud owner of two Mazda MX-5's and I have to say they have been the most reliable and joyous cars that I have owned thus far.
The 1.8 sport has the added bonus of a six speed manual gearbox which only adds to it's already sporty pedigree.
Do not be fooled by thinking this is a typical hair dressers car, It's NOT! This really is a proper sports car which offers all the frills of a porsche for a fraction of the cost. The MX-5 has near perfect weight distribution combined with rear wheel drive which offers sublime handling and is regarded by many as being one of the best handling cars in the world.
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I have now been the proud owner of two Mazda MX-5's and I have to say they have been the most reliable and joyous cars that I have owned thus far.
Do not be fooled by thinking this is a typical hair dressers car, It's NOT! This really is a proper sports car which offers all the frills of a porsche for a fraction of the cost. The MX-5 has near perfect weight distribution combined with rear wheel drive which offers sublime handling and is regarded by many as being one of the best handling cars in the world.
You can pick one of these beauty's up very cheap now, and my advice would be to wait for winter to kick in as you will see some excellent examples pop up for less than a thousand pound. In my opinion you can have just as much fun in the mk1 MX-5 as you can the mk2 and pick them up for a lot cheaper too. The styling on the mk1 is a bit ...
