Are you ready ?
Here are what I consider best practices during the winter months !
It’s official, winter is here for the next few months. I wanted to share some of what I consider best practices. Hopefully these tips will help you ride in comfort and safer during the remainder of the season.
Tips
AC button on, check
Yes, during the winter ! It is recommended to keep the AC button on even during the winter months ! Actually, did you know this helps with better visibility ? You may even notice the button activating itself if using Volkswagen’s CLIMAtronic auto setting. For those techies out there, the compressor will not turn on below a 5 degrees Celsius.
Essentially, it acts like a dehumidifier, and removes any form of condensation build up in the car. This prevents the condensation to stick to your windows and frost up. In turn, this leaves you with a perfect 360 degree visibility (minus those blind spots) 😉
Heatable mirrors
I absolutely love my heatable mirrors, I especially use them when it rains. (see the timelapse video above). When you notice droplets build up on your side mirrors, all of a sudden it’s difficult to see anything. Turning on the heated mirrors (10 minutes is sufficient) will evaporate and virtually wipe everything clean !
Also, if you have an indoor parking garage, I recommend that you activate the heated function before arriving home. This will prevent the fogging effect from the sudden cold/warm clash.
Park position for wipers
For over a decade, Volkswagen vehicles have a built in park position for wipers. You might have forgotten the explanation from your sales rep, or maybe no one ever showed you… With this automatic function, you no longer need the old trick of shutting down the car while sweeping the windshield ! (Watch the video for a step by step process). It’s super simple, once you get to your destination, shut down the car and depress the wiper arm. You’ll notice the wipers go up and stop halfway. This procedure will allow you to better clean your windshield from snow and freezing rain the next time you take the car.
Winter tires
Unsure if you should keep your fancy 17-18 mags in the rugged cold slush ?Instead, I recommend that you get yourself the smallest tire that will fit on the car whether it’s 15 or 16 inches. Then, install them on black steel rims (or winter mags if you prefer style above all). A rule of thumb, you can use the same size as the base model of any model.
For example, the Golf family is equipped with 15, 16 and 17 inch mags for select trims. Say you have 17 inch as your summer tires, then store them away and get a 15 inch tire kit. WHY ? A 15” winter tire demonstrates better traction over a lower profile tire. Plus, the two sets of wheels will also save you money on installation costs, by roughly half the price !
Thanks for reading
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