
Winter: white powder around, Christmas atmosphere and… morning car glass cleaning? Yes, yes! Winter weather brings additional challenges for drivers. How to prepare for them?
At the beginning, a small caveat – we write this with passenger car drivers in mind. We assume, there is no question of going on the route without appropriate equipment in the case of people professionally involved in driving trucks. First things first:
TAKE CARE OF YOUR TIRES
Different countries have different views on the obligation to use winter tires. Poland, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal do not introduce any penalties for their lack. Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia make the obligation to use them dependent on weather conditions. Italy, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia require winter tires to be used during certain months.
Regardless of whether we need to change to winter tires, it is worth doing. Winter rubber compound maintains better grip at low temperatures, especially on wet / snowy surfaces. Even if we have ready wheels in the garage and we change them ourselves, it is worth visiting vulcanization with them from time to time. Thrusting valves like to cause trouble at the least appropriate moment.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR BATTERY
The lower the temperature, the more likely an old battery will cause problems. This is especially true for cars equipped with a diesel engine. Starting the car requires a higher voltage, which may be lacking when the car is standing in the cold. So if our battery gave us any signals that its efficiency has deteriorated recently, it is worth replacing it before winter.
Even if we haven’t had any problems with it so far, it’s worth equipping yourself with jumper cables. It costs several dozen zlotys, and they can save a lot of time and nerves when the car refuses to obey on a winter morning.
TAKE CARE OF WASHER LIQUID
Of course, we do not like when winter surprises road workers and the roads on which we travel are snow-free and spilled. However, when they are covered with a layer of salt and the snow melts, our windows will be met with a lot of slush and the consumption of windshield washer fluid will be greater than in summer. It is worth being ready for it and replacing the fluid with the winter one in good time. If we forget about it, we risk that the lukewarm liquid will freeze in the nozzles and they will not spray the liquid on our windows.
But maybe instead of pouring out the summer fluid, leave it in the tank and add winter fluid to it? There is a risk involved in doing so. The mixture of both fluids will not freeze at temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius, but when it is a bit colder, it may stop providing us with the effective operation of the washer.
WINTER ACCESSORIES IN THE CAR
It is worth to properly prepare for the winter by throwing useful accessories into the trunk. When you live in or go to piedmont areas, it is worth equipping yourself with chains (in some places their use may even be necessary). However, it is also worth thinking about a folding shovel, in case we get stuck in larger snow or a window scraper on the way. In the case of the last of these devices, it is worth taking care of its appropriate size. Otherwise, scraping windows will be laborious and time consuming… and very irritating.
It is also worth equipping yourself with a de-icing spray for car locks for the winter. Just remember that locking it in a car left in the cold is not necessarily the best idea 🙂
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