Winter Driving Tips

Around the country the arctic explosion, polar vortex and swirling dervish are all barreling down the bobsled run that is Canada and headed straight for us. We are currently experiencing a situation on the verge of panic, except for you, you are cool and confident that your car is ready for sub-Otter Pop temperatures. The best thing you could have done is prepare your vehicle for the coming weather, but what if you haven't done that yet? Well never fear! At Honda Acura Online we have all of the parts necessary to give your car a good winterization.

First thing is first, let's compile a list of parts you will need to winterize your Honda or Acura.

1. Engine oil, engine oil filter and an air filter.
2. A fresh bottle of windshield washer fluid (and maybe one for your trunk).
3. An engine coolant flush and fill kit and the recommended capacity of engine coolant/antifreeze.
4. A transmission filter and the appropriate amount of transmission fluid.
5. A new pair of vanilla scented fuzzy dice for your rear view mirror.

Batteries

Now it is important to understand that you may need a battery as well, as cold is exceptionally hard on batteries. In fact if your battery is more than four years old, it is much better to replace it than risk having a dead battery. Dead batteries by nature will die at the most inopportune time, like right before work or right after your cheesemaking class. A battery is generally marked for this particular reason, so it is easy to tell if a replacement is imminent.

Wipers

Your wiper blades should be inspected and if they are split or cracked they will not function properly. In fact, if they are not in decent shape they will actually stick to your windshield when you are scraping the small peep hole for visibility on the driver's side, causing rippage and a zero wiper situation. It is a good idea to switch to winter wiper blades as they are built a little stronger, not that you can't utilize winter wiper blades in the summer but you get the idea.             

Tires

Now all kidding aside, snow tires are pretty important in the northern United States due to the ice that collects on the roadways. Many times roads will be treated with anti-icing materials but many streets are still not plowed. Regular tires are not as aggressive as snow tires and are mainly made to grip on hard asphalt and concrete. Snow tires, on the other hand, are designed with lines cut into them, called siping, that maximize grip area and traction in slippery or snowy surfaces. Tire shops can modify your current tires with siping and studs to make snow tires; if you have studs on your tires it is extremely advisable that you remove the tires after the winter season as the studs tend to shoot sparks when accelerating from stop lights.

Coolant

In the list above, we talked about the need for an engine coolant flush. Engine coolant is not only necessary in the summer to prevent overheating, but extremely critical in the winter to prevent freezing. Needless to say, modern engine coolant is pretty amazing stuff. If your coolant is not in good shape it can actually crack your engine block or create a blown head gasket situation, and that is bad. Luckily, flushing your coolant system is really pretty easy, but one key component that many people neglect is the radiator. The radiator is the heat exchanger for your engine and it is critical that it is free of debris. A flush will clean out the radiator and the heater core, making your heater much more effective.

As you can see, getting your Honda or Acura ready for winter is super easy, in fact the best way to get it done is to order the parts online from Honda Acura Online and have someone else do it. No matter if you have someone do it for you or you perform the work yourself, please, be safe and make sure your vehicle is ready for the winter weather that so many of us will experience this season. Please, give us a call or shop online for the best selection possible, our experts can point you in the right direction! Happy winter driving!