How to Prepare the Vehicle for Winter Driving Conditions

Winter driving in the UK presents quite a challenge to vehicles, one that summer conditions cannot even compare to. Cold weather, frost, ice, and poor visibility are all some of the factors that not only affect a vehicle's performance but also its safe handling. A vehicle that is ready for the changes of the season will have a substantially reduced risk of breaking down and will be safer on any trip, even if it is a spontaneous one.

Why Winter Vehicle Preparation Matters

When the temperature goes down, it is possible for a variety of vehicle systems to be impacted at the same time. Engine oil gets thicker at low temperatures, thus resulting in more work to be carried out by the starter motor and less lubricating action at the beginning of a run. The amount of energy that a battery can give drops by 20% at the freezing point and by 50% at -20°C. Tyre rubber hardens below 7°C, thereby decreasing grip on both wet and dry surfaces due to a reduction in the contact patch.

These are far from being merely small issues. Instead, they are major safety and reliability risks with the additional factor of getting even worse if one happens to, either intentionally or unintentionally, go into the winter season with a vehicle that is not properly prepared. A well-organised winter inspection can, indeed, help a vehicle fail less in the coldest months.

Key Areas Covered in a Winter Vehicle Check

When checking the vehicle in the winter, professionals focus their attention on the parts most likely to suffer from the cold temperature. Therefore, each part needs to be checked thoroughly instead of doing a simple visual inspection.

Battery and Electrical Systems

During winter, a car battery is expected to do a lot more work than in summer. Screens with a heating function, windscreen demisters, heated seats, and headlights on for longer durations, to name a few, are the heavy users all running off the same power source. This is the reason why a battery that is already on its last legs might still give someone some performance in summer, but will most likely fail in winter.

Battery performance is checked by technicians through testing cold cranking amps (CCA) — this is an indicator of how well a battery is able to start an engine at very cold temperatures. If, upon testing, there is a battery that gives a CCA value lower than the one it was rated for, then it makes sense to change it even before the onset of winter, rather than at the time of a breakdown on a freezing morning.

People in South Yorkshire who want to ensure that their car's battery, alternator, and charging system are in perfect condition can take the opportunity of a professional winter check at a garage near them. This way, one can avoid failure, keeping them waiting on the roadside out of their hands quite early.

Engine Coolant and Antifreeze Concentration

Engine coolant is a versatile product that is used to heat and cool the engine compartment of a car during the hot summer days and even during the frosty winter months by preventing freezing of the coolant circuit. By changing the amount of antifreeze in the mixture, the freezing temperature of the coolant can be altered. For example, 50% antifreeze in the mixture will protect the system from freezing down to about -34°C, which is far colder than any winter temperature encountered in the UK.

It is worthwhile noting that antifreeze deteriorates after a while and can no longer offer protective properties. So, it is a good habit to check the coolant condition annually before the onset of winter with the aid of a refractometer or a test strip and see if the concentration still falls in the safety levels. In fact, most drivers skip this check and assume that coolant lasts forever.

Lighting Inspection

Daylight hours drastically diminish from October to December, and vehicles depend on lights for visibility. For this reason, family cars and commercial fleet vehicles must have their bulbs checked regularly to ensure that all headlights, backlights, brake lights, fog lights, and indicators are fully operational and are aimed at the correct distance.

More specifically, a car's headlight alignment greatly affects safety and needs to be double-checked. On the one hand, a beam that is too low will hardly give enough street illumination. On the other hand, a beam that projects too high will blind other drivers and therefore create danger for both.

Choosing the Right Tyres for Winter Conditions

Regular summer tyres are made with a rubber compound designed to perform well at temperatures above 7°C. If the temperature goes down, the compound becomes hard, and the tyre grip decreases significantly. Winter tyres are made of a softer compound with a high silica content, which keeps them flexible even at low temperatures, thereby providing good traction on cold, wet, and icy roads.

Changing winter tyres in October and the summer tyres in April is in line with the temperature changes in the UK. Those who do not want to have multiple tyre sets can consider all-season tyres, which give a good performance all year round, albeit not as good as the dedicated winter tyres in very cold weather.

One can try to buy tyres from a reliable local supplier. This not only provides one with access to a good range of winter and all-season tyres but also a knowledgeable tyre technician who will recommend the correct type based on their vehicle and driving conditions.

Tyre Pressure in Cold Weather

When the temperature drops, the air inside the tyres also contracts, which means reduced tyre pressure. A 1 to 2 PSI drop in tyre pressure can be expected from just a 10°C decrease in the outside temperature. Besides the fact that under-inflated tyres have a higher rolling resistance (which means they waste more fuel), they also have poorer handling of the vehicle.

A simple yet effective maintenance habit is to check and adjust the pressure of the tyres once a month during the winter.

Conclusion

A properly prepared vehicle will undoubtedly be more dependable in the wintertime than a car that is neglected completely from the change of season perspective. Getting the battery, coolant, lights and tyres checked will sort most of the issues that lead to winter breakdowns and accidents. Time and cost of prep are minuscule when compared to what one would get with a roadside rescue or emergency repair, which in winter can sometimes be very expensive.