How to Prepare Your Car for Winter
Make sure your vehicle starts in the cold and that you don’t get stuck in a snowbank (plus how to get out if you do get stuck).
Ensure that your car will start in extreme temperatures
Winter is coming! If you live in a cold weather climate, as I do here in rural Quebec, and are preparing to hunker down, here are some tips to make sure that a cold snap won’t prevent you from getting around. If you are shopping for a vehicle that you will need to depend on in the winter and you are likely to experience extremely low temperatures, note that gas engines start up more easily than diesel, and that smaller engines with less cylinders start up more easily than a big V8. This is because initially, it is your car’s 12 volt battery that needs to get everything going and the fewer parts it has to move, and the smaller those parts are, the more likely your vehicle is to fire right up.
This brings us to our first point: change your oil and check your battery. Fresh oil, preferably synthetic, will allow parts to move smoothly and easily, making it as easy as possible on your battery. If you have a multimeter, you can test the voltage of your battery. See the detailed guide in this video:
Note that batteries usually last at least four years and that though you can test the voltage at home, they also lose their output of Cold Cranking Amps (CCA), so an overnight cold snap may leave you in trouble. I don’t recommend preemptively changing your car’s battery if it is still performing well though, as it is wasteful and batteries are expensive. Instead, invest in a jump starter and have it charged up before the winter starts. Many people keep them in the trunk of their cars, but I recommend instead that you keep it in the house. Your car’s battery is most likely to fail in the morning after having sat for hours through the cold night. The jumpstarter is also a battery, so don’t leave it in the vehicle to freeze as well! Keep it in the house and it will be ready to go when you are. Then, only once the battery has failed, go and pick up a new one with the highest CCA rating you can find.
Check your air filter also. The vacuum effect caused by a plugged air filter puts additional strain on the battery.
Don’t get stuck in the ditch
You’ve probably seen your fair share of sketchy situations related to driving in winter. Maybe you’ve even had a close call or two yourself. I have. When driving in the winter, there are a few key things that you can do to ensure that you, your passengers and your property get to point B intact.
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First thing is to slow down, but not stop. Nobody ends up in the ditch because they were going too slow. The less G force there is on your tires when you are turning or stopping, the better they can grip. However, especially since most cars have open differentials, even if only one of your drive wheels is on ice, and therefore has zero traction, that wheel will spin and your car will not move. To be clear, you need to follow the rules of the road and I do not accept responsibility if you are rolling through stop signs in the winter and get in trouble, but know that if you are trying to get moving from a dead stop and you are on ice, you may literally not be able to. How can you prevent this? Get a set of winter tires with studs. There are tons of videos that showcase the performance of studded winters over all-seasons. Go ahead and do your own research. Note that though this may seem like an extra cost, it extends the life of your summer tires so they will last for years longer AND, it will protect your vehicle and all the people and things that you transport in it.
Tires are the most important performance part on any vehicle. Your car won’t live up to its horsepower rating if the tires are spinning. You high-performance brakes won’t stop the vehicle if the tires are sliding. Your car performs at its absolute best when the wheels don’t slip, so get a dedicated set of winters and summers.
In case I still get stuck in a snowbank, how do I get out?
Get Trac Grabbers. First, make sure that the rims on your winter wheels have spokes through which you could pass a strap. Trac Grabbers are straps that you can put on your drive wheels once you are already stuck, unlike chains which you need to put on before entering a low traction situation. They work in sand and mud as well, so if you get stuck on your way to the cottage in the summer, they may come in handy as well. You can try throwing cat litter under your spinning wheel, or using a shovel to dig yourself out, but the straps are better and will last forever.
Should you warm up your car?
You should not put the car in gear until it idles down, but don’t wait for the temperature gauge on the dash to reach its normal operating temperature. For example, if you drive a four cylinder car, your normal idle speed is probably just under 1000 rpm. When you start the car, it will be revving at around 1500 rpm, and you will notice the needle dropping slowly. This should take less than one minute. Give your vehicle that much time to get the oil flowing. Check that your glass is clear, brush off the snow, set up your GPS, etc … Then start driving, but keep rpms as low as possible until your motor has reached operating temperature (temperature gauge needle right in the middle). You don’t need to wait until it reaches normal idle speed, just wait at least until you see the needle start to drop.
This way, you minimize friction inside the engine, and it will last as long as possible. You should do this all year long. Never start the car, put it in drive, and immediately speed off first thing in the morning.
If you have a sketchy winter driving story, please leave a comment. If you found this article useful, share it and follow me for more!
Thank you,
-Alexander Spear
