I've worked from home for the last decade or so. Never had the recent joy of commuting in the scoob in winter. So, any tips and tricks? I'm after a winscreen cover to stop the ice etc. Best de-icer? Winter tyre choice (should I ask?)? Winter oil recommendations?

Sky's the limit. Hopefully I can get sorted before it all goes **** up and the real weather comes in.

 

Bin bag for the screen and a set of winter tyres are a bonus but you don't really need to to anything other than be careful in the cold conditions!

Oil???

 

Lower viscosity oil for cold starts.

 

Stop at home?

OK, when it snows treat everyone on the road as a idiot. Mayhem ensues and people just seem to intentionally go out there with the intention of panicking, crashing, getting stuck and crawling around everywhere at 1mph causing motoring chaos.

Winter tyres? By all means. IIRC Nokian are supposed to the best for cold weather.

Up your screen wash concentration to 50:50 mix.

Oil....in this century (and the last) we now have multigrade oils. and is probaby what you already have in there. Just keep using whatever you already use. Unless its due for a change (12months max) or is a 50 weight monograde intended for a Austin A30 LOL. If by any chance you have put in a thick multigrade, like 10w-60, you shouldn't really be using it anyway, unless its a big BHP car suffering from with oil temp problems where there is a need for it.

And finally...watch out for the road salt. It's eats your car.....a good jet-wash underneath every week under so and around the suspension and behind the wheel arches will help wash off any accumulated salt/grit.

 

The real pita is the iced up screen - bin bag sounds good. Anything else work. I remember a fair few years back there was a night before de-icer. It was useless.

 

Best bet is to sell your car to me and you buy an old discovery to get you through the winter lol

 

Newspaper was always my choice (until the wife thought the neighbours would think I was a perv with a windscreen full of Page 3 girls).

 

Wouldn't have thought about that one. I would have thought the paper would have froze to the screen and trapped moisture? Obviously not though. May give it a try. Certainly better than buying one of the expensive screen covers.

 

I have been trying to convince the Mrs to buy a Discovery funnily enough. But she loves her Forester.

 

I just use a piece of carpet on the windscreen,take it off in the morning and throw it in the boot then re-apply at night.

 

I think what happens is that the paper absorbs any moisture already on the screen. Its insulation properties prevent ice forming on it (the paper) anyway, and moisture that would freeze doesn't get as far as the covered windscreen.

Once or twice had the strange situation where it's rained then frozen again during the night. Car's been covered in ice (couldn't even open the doors !).
Lift the frozen mass of newsprint off the car and bingo - screen's completely clear !

Windscreen covers aren't worth it imo also.

 

I was given a piece of specially made light nylon fabric (probably bought from Halfords) that wraps inside the doors, so it stays secure. Saves some hassle and helps prevent cold hands. If I haven't put a cover on, Comma Xtreme Deicer works well. Take car to pay special attention to windscreen wiper blades, and don't turn them on until you're sure the ice has completely melted, otherwise you'll get a thin veneer of ice spread over the windscreen. And don't use an agressive, hard plastic scraper: it could scratch your windows.

But before doing all that, turn the engine on, put the AC on its demisting setting at the highest temperature.

Winter tyres? Only used them in Iceland in winter and the difference between them on a FWD and a Scooby 4WD on fat, low profile, summer tyres on compacted snow and ice is astonishing. Braking is pretty normal (amazingly enough!). If I lived somewhere that regularly gets snow, I'd definitely invest in a set.

Driving? Stay in as high a gear as possible so as to keep torque low. Take care at T junctions where you're leaving a snowy road: if you're not using winter tyres, braking distance (if your brakes actually stop the car moving!) will be far, far longer than on even wet tarmac. And finally, watch out for the idiots who think that 4WD helps in the snow, but forget about braking distances!

 

Forget de-icer., use a large jug of warm water over door rubbers, windows and light clusters. Whole car done in 1 minute ready to drive.

Before anyone suggests it will crack screen, think again, i have been using this method on all family cars for years. Warm water not boiling

 

Exactly!