My car doesn't have heated side mirrors. I think it is very essential in this weather. I cleaned my side mirrors before start of journey. Then I discovered thin layer of ice again formed over them while I'm on motorway! Changing lanes was frightening experience!
I also wish I had heated front windscreen. My rear window clears faster than front one.... grrrr.....
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I also wish I had heated front windscreen. My rear window clears faster than front one.... grrrr.....
I REALLY miss that from my old Ford S-Max. Other than that, I wish that manufacturers would put quicker heating heaters in modern diesel cars. The modern diesel engine takes so long to warm up that it can take a long time for heat to get into the cabin.
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IIRC many modern diesel cars have auxiliary heaters for this very purpose.
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Well I must say I have heated front and rear screens and mirrors, heated seats and IT DOES HELP in these conditions.
What I need-
heated washer nozzles with a heated(slightly) washerfluid,
and proper winter tyres, I used them while living in NORWAY what a difference they make.
drive with a light foot.
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My car has heated windscreen/rear window/mirrors.
But I would like heated washer jets, heated steering wheel, better heating for my feet and heated side windows.
movilogo, what car do you have?
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movilogo, what car do you have?
2006 Suzuki Ignis - everything is very basic :)
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I know it's sad, but having had heated mirrors, washer jets and seats, the only thing I really would like is a heated steering wheel.
I'm a wuss, I know... :)
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Heated washer jets and a heated front screen. Oddly enough I've been using the old 2wd Mondeo with the quickclear screen rather than the new 4wd Squashy for local runs in this stuff. Mind you there's nothing steeper than a speed hump round here so it doesn't really make a lot of difference.
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I have a Volvo with Winter pack (heated seats, headlight washer jets and extra thick over carpets) however, it has no heated washer jets.
Not so important for the windscreen but the headlight washer jets end up frozen in the out position in a foaming froth of ice which has, in the past, snapped the return spring in one of the jet covers.
A heated wheel would be nice too as I hate wearing gloves when driving.
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I have a heated front screen on my elderly Mondeo. The two elements that still work are brilliant, shame about the rest though.
What about heated pedals, and perhaps the gear lever too?
And surely the manufacturers must have realised how cold the buttons on the radio get in this weather. Damn near got frostbite on my index finger this morning.
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You missed out a heated headlining Robin.
I went to a football match in Eindhoven a few years ago and they had what looked like two bar electric fires in the stands above the fans.
Edited by gmac on 04/01/2010 at 19:27
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Wife's car has a heated screen which is handy...but...the wipers freeze into slightly the wrong shape, so don't properly sweep the window
my car does not have a proper heated screen...but...does have a heating element down where the wipers sit, so they properly de-frost and do sweep the screen...that has proven more useful than the full heated screen and is IMO quite thoughtful.
I find with the diesels that if you hold them unnecessarily in a gear and rev them more than you normally would (once they're not stone cold of course), then the heater warms up dramatically quicker, you can feel the difference coming out after about 5-10 seconds
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A nice big garage to put my car in and all the above problems would not exist for me.!!
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"but...the wipers freeze into slightly the wrong shape, so don't properly sweep the window"
Exactly the problem I'm having, well almost. The snow melts on the screen then drips down and freezes on the wipers - in huge, glassy chunks. I had to pull over twice during the school run to break large pieces of ice off the blades.
"but...does have a heating element down where the wipers sit, so they properly de-frost"
Sounds like a really sensible option to me. Nearly 20 below here in the mornings and I'm even getting ice forming on the insides of the passenger rear windows.
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I'm like a broken record on the need for heated nozzles/washer bottles on cars. Every day at this time of year thousands of drivers will have set off with cleared windscreens into low morning or evening sun and then after a few miles of driving on salted roads that fine spray will scatter the light so that they are driving as if into thick fog, made even worse of you give in to the temptation to try and clear it with your wipers and smears the whole lot.
A few quids worth of wiring and you'd have many safer cars out there.
There are one or two after-market kits out there but they are not cheap
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The only winter feature I have missed on the altea and the lancer is heated washer jets.
They gave up the ghost at -4 and 50mph.
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You haven't got enough jollop in your doofer AE. More green stuff and less aqua minerale dear boy !
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You haven't got enough jollop in your doofer AE.
Depends on where the washer jets are positioned. One car I had ran the washer fluid through a tube up the wiper arm spraying the jollop directly in front of the wiper blade.
100% concentrate 0% aqua they still froze solid.
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Agree you don't need heated washer pipes, just enough de-icer fluid. Most people don't use enough. Modern car washers contain a lot of water. Just adding a few splashes of de-icer won't do the job. In very cold weather you need at least 25% fluid
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Yeah ya dead right Humph. Just watched local news and they interviewed RAC man and he said a lot of call outs were for people not been able to see due to frozen windscreen washers. You need plenty of jollop and less H2o. However in this day and age and for what price it would put on the car. I would have thought heated washer nozzles would be mandatory now. Keep safe Br,s.
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I am missing a few things on my A4 which would make life a little nicer!
In no particular order
- auxillary heater as it takes for ever to warm up!
- heated washer jets - antifreeze is fine but freezing in jets anything below -4
- heated door mirrors.
Maybe I dont expect the top one but the bottom two should be standard on a car that was over £25K new only a few years ago!
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sq
Really - I thought these were still standard on the A4 B8 ? They certainly were on my B5 and B7 versions, the B5 had heated door locks too IIRC. Now the glovebox light being an optional extra on a £30K+ A4 B8 is quite another matter IMHO.....
Edited by Pugugly on 05/01/2010 at 13:09
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I thought the A4 came with heated washer jets or is that an option.
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A snow button for my auto box.
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......... the wipers freeze into slightly the wrong shape so don't properly sweep the window
While the electrically heated windscreen is melting the frost before I drive off I lift the wipers to make sure they're not stuck to the screen and manipulate the blades and wiper joints to make sure the blades are flexible.
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Main thing I miss is a rear wiper. It may be a saloon car but snow still falls on the back window when it's moving slowly and I'd like to be able to wipe it off, especially when I'm reversing into a parking space.
Otherwise I have few complaints, and it's in its eighth winter now. The heated seats make up for the lack of waste heat from the engine, and 600 miles between fuel stops means less shivering on forecourts.
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Main thing I miss is a rear wiper. It may be a saloon car but snow still falls on the back window when it's moving slowly and I'd like to be able to wipe it off especially when I'm reversing into a parking space.
When discussed before IIRC there were few booted cars with rear wipers. The list was Honda Prelude, Ford Orion and maybe the first Mondeos.
I guess it is a cost /style thing.
I did consider looking into a retro fit on my Mondeo but the effort involved including switch gear etc. proved too much.
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Only features missing on SWMBOs car is traction and steering, traction and steering,and traction and steering. Her fault for wanting a BMW 3 series!
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The S60 needs a rear wiper. Badly.
Don't need heated seats because they're not made of that silly dead cow stuff, but a rear wiper would be good, as would a heated screen (once you've owned a Ford with this feature, you miss it badly).
Otherwise the Volvo's all good in this weather. Heater warms up quickly, and can still make you uncomfortably hot in the car when it's -7°C outside, car is surefooted etc etc.
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When discussed before IIRC there were few booted cars with rear wipers.
>>
Early 406 saloons.
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A heated windscreen and hot air that blows from the base of the screen. The C8 windscreen is biggish and the heated air blows to strike the screen about halfway up. This leaves the wipers to pack the wiped snow into an icy mound at the top of the bonnet. Manual clearing seems to be the only answer.
Other than that gripe, we're getting along OK in the snow.
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a nice cossack lady with just her hat and coat on
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I assume bb likes the smell of horses. ;>)
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I drove a Lexus LS600h recently and that had some handy features on it:
Heated steering wheel
Aux heater that preheated the car before you got in
Wipers that moved slightly so they didnt stick to the screen in the cold of the night.
Heated washer jets
By the way what car manufactures install Aux heaters? If i recall Honda do with the Accord (may be an option). Do Ford, GM or any run of the mill manufactures offer these as an option?
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VW do with the sharon and touran.
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My Mk4 Mondeo has an auxiliary air heater, but it's not a pre-heater it comes on when the car is started and warm air is coming out of the heater vents after 30 seconds or so.
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Keith
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My car is getting old, and it was never that high spec. It has PAS, electric front windows and mirrors, air conditioning that still works and remote central locking. That will do for me. I would rather another 50hp and cheaper fuel than toys.
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Most valuable winter features are those things we normaly have, but well designed.
Powerful rear screen heaters, well designed defrosting vents to front screen and side windows, with good strong wide airflow. full control over where that air goes and at what temperature. Wipers that dont pack snow into places and sieze up. Locks that dont attract water, door seals that dont stick. Roofs that dont dump a ton of snow onto the drivers seat when you open the door.
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Montego wipers parked themselves off the glass area under the lip of the bonnet when not in use, made it easier to scrape the screen and less likely for the wiper to freeze. A clever system, they stayed on the screen between intermitent wipes though parked off it when switched off.
Edited by cheddar on 04/01/2010 at 23:12
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The Altea wipers hide behind the A posts in a recess, so dont freeze there. That works fine, however in heavy snow they fill the recess up with packed snow and ice, so cant return there.
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There had to be a virtue to a Montego...mind you I do recall being amazed at how deep the glovebox was.
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heating to the seats as they are leather - very cold botty for a few miles -- My car has washer nozzels out on top of bonnet - froze up --SWMBO has hers under back lip of bonnet and a good dollop of washer fluid in water keeps them free. - even rear one works.
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My old Daihatsu 4x4 had an after-market water pre-heater fitted. Plug it in with a timer to go for about 30 mins before needed and the engine and heater was warm from the start. I am sure that the cost of the electricity used was much less than the rich mixture needed when cold and of course the convenience and comfort were wonderful.
If my motoring needs were the same (I work from home now) I would have another fitted but in many modern cars there isn't any space to fit the system under the bonnet.
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SWMBO's new Golf VI does without heated washer jets, only available with the winter pack on any model and a 5 month wait when we bought it last month so we had to forego them, having said that the washer jets worked fine this morning at -4DegC. Driver's door is frozen shut though - the seal goes all the way around (for quietness) so when frozen forms an effective glue.... One less than perfect feature is that you have to 'park' the wipers in an upright position if you want to be able to lift them from the screen when you return to the (frozen) car.
My 330d has pretty much everything you could wish for bar a heated windscreen (I miss that from my Mondys) and actually acquitted itself well at -4DegC in frozen snow whilst towing yesterday - even on 225 section summer tyres, probably all the weight in the boot / trailer but it worked well. It also provides warm air pretty quickly so must have any an auxiliary heater I guess.
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I miss refrigerated champagne flutes with an automatic champagne dispenser.
Only Taittinger bottles fit.
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Snow plough blade.
;-)
Edited by L'escargot on 05/01/2010 at 15:25
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