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With winter fast approaching us (and many of us feeling like it is already upon us) it is soon going to be time to start thinking about defrosting your car in the mornings. For many of us, we simply do not have the time or secure place needed to start our car in advance and allow it to defrost naturally as the engine gets warmer therefore we need to find a safe and effective way of doing it. People often state that the quickest way is to pour boiling or hot water on to your window screen, and although this can clear a screen very quickly can also damage your screen causing it to crack. This is especially true if you have already got any chips on the screen. De-icer is a popular product used on screens which will melt away ice but may also require a little bit of scrapping too. This is one of the best ways to defrost a frozen screen but remember to allow enough time to do it and ideally wash your car off often as some people state that left on, it can damage paintwork.

If you have a dog and often take it in the car or on long journeys then you may want to invest in a dog seat belt. This is essentially a harness that is fitted round your dog and then clipped on to the regular seat belt fitted within your car. These have been proven to in-case the safety aspect for the dog when travelling but can also assist in safety for the driver as the dog is not able to jump over the seats etc. When purchasing one of these car accessories it is worth while reading the reviews as some of them state that they do not stay tight meaning the dog can therefore get out or even twist themselves around in it. Many of the car seat belt harnesses can also be used as a normal walking harness making it easier to get your dog in and out of the car when you arrive / leave your destination.

All of the car manufactures are now getting on board with the competitive market of intuitive driver aids being added to their vehicles. These different aids are become more and more advanced as they ultimately set out to make driving easier and safer for all road users. Here’s a few top driver aids available in most new cars now that are becoming more popular amonst car buyers:- Lane assist – these set of a warning if you start to drift out of your lane on the motorway. Adaptive cruise control – this not only sets your car to drive at a selected speed but it also automatically slows the car down if something in front of the car is driving slower. When the road is clear again it will then automatically accelerate to the selected speed without you even touching the pedals. Parking and door sensors – the parking sensors give you warning of how close you are to surrounding objects as you reverse or drive into a space. The door sensors tell you if you will have enough room to easily open your door or if you are too close to the next car.

Modern diesel cars are fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter, commonly referred to as the DPF, which removes the sooty particulates from the engines exhaust emissions. These particulates are harmful pollutants, so the filters are a good idea but they can cause problems if they are allowed to become clogged. The filter is periodically cleaned of the sooty deposits by high temperatures in the exhaust generated by higher engine revs, typically generated at high speeds (e.g. during motorway driving). This process is called regeneration. If you’ve ever seen a gout of black smoke billowing from a cars exhaust when the driver puts their foot down, this is probably due to deposits burning off in the DPF. While some cars have active regeneration systems to counter a lack of high speed driving, this may not always work, particularly if you only do short journeys and stop start driving. It’s a good idea to take the revs up occasionally, when safe to do so, and if the DPF warning light shows you should follow the manufacturer’s directions for clearing the DPF. Ignoring the warning light could lead to a trip to the garage to have the filter cleaned or worse, replaced.

A sudden loss of grip while driving can be pretty terrifying, particularly for inexperienced drivers. With no skid training given to learner drivers in the UK, most drivers first experience of a skid or spin in the car will be on the open road. It’s vital to know how to react as doing the wrong thing can exacerbate any loss of grip and make things much worse. Understeer occurs when the front tyres lose grip on the road, most often happening when going too fast into a bend. The driver turns the wheel but the car goes straight on, either towards the verge or into the other lane. Combat understeer by applying the brakes to shift the cars weight forward, this pushes the front tyres into the road increasing grip. Breaking too hard could see the rear snap round as the car starts to turn. Most front wheel drive cars are biased towards understeer, partly by their nature and partly by design, as it is easier to control than oversteer. Oversteer is caused by a loss of rear grip. This is most likely to happen in normal driving when braking or changing gear while cornering (any deceleration causes the weight […]

This new car ready for release from Smart is designed to comfortably fit four adults for short city trips and commuting. It is designed with the smart concept of small affordable cars that have low emissions and good levels of fuel consumption. The listed CO2 emissions for this car are 97g/km and the average fuel consumption is 67.3mpg. The car is quite compact however the space has been cleverly used with the engine in the rear of the car to allow a very small bonnet. There is still room however for a fairly sized boot (for this sized car) although you wouldn’t fit your weekly shop in there! The rear seats are cleverly designed to fold fully flat to give a large flat space available for use with one person in the car and extra luggage, shopping or awkward items. The rear 2 seats are fitted with ISOFIX as standard and are ideal for the carraige of 2 regular car seats, however making room for the buggy could be a problem! This compact little car really does do what it says on the tin, it’s a little cheap city run around and used in that way can be ideal.

Certainly the technology is already there, and a lot of it is creeping into your car without you really noticing it. Lane departure warning has been with us for years, so it’s no stretch to teach the car to steer you away from danger. Autonomous parking can take any fiddly manoeuvres right out of your hands. Most major manufacturers now have tested mules that can talk to each other and interact. You may have heard of the Google car – it’s a rapidly developing domain. Slowly the car is taking over more and more of our driving, until ultimately we will drive no more, except for entertainment, confined to enthusiasts on tracks. If you don’t control the car, you could simply order it to collect and deposit you at will, and pay on demand. As all the cars interact, you would always know exactly how long it would take you to get anywhere, because your journey would be planned with every other car in mind.

Tyres are one of the most costly recurring expenses of a vehicle. There was a time when vehicle owners did not have any other option but to purchase premium sets. Availability of only premium products on the market gave rise to retreaded sets which were essentially refurbished product. However, in the past few years, both Chinese and European manufacturers have upped the ante and have introduced many cheap options. These days, budget tyres are available for as low as £40. However, when it comes to budget sets, one needs to choose carefully. In the article below, we offer some tips to make a more informed decision on when you buy your next set. Economical Sets While it is true that cheap sets are readily available in the market but one should also keep in mind that the quality of these sets is not that high. These sets are suitable only for certain kind of driving. How much driving do you do? Before investing your hard earned money in cheap products, you need to answer this question about your driving habits. If you use your vehicle only to travel between your home and your office and for other city use, you […]

Choosing a car seat can be quite daunting. You may not have hundreds to spend on one but obviously safety is must. My best advice to your when it comes to finding a car seat is to read reviews. You want to make sure that it is safe, easy to transport and easy to secure in to the vehicle. If the seat is going to be used in a newer vehicle you may have the option of choosing one that as an Isofix connection. This allows a base to stay secured in to the vehicle and then the car seat just clips on to it when required. These types of seats are also known for being excellent in terms of safety as the seat is essentially bolted to the chassis of the car rather than using a seat belt. Some car seats are better suited to different makes and model of car, a good retailer should suggest a seat based on the vehicle you have and may even offer to fit it in for you to show you how it works.