Your best 'car related purchase' -aka next years xmas list
Discussion
A few hours spent motorway driving through the night last week gave me ample time to think about what I want to buy next.
I know I have a list of things which have been brilliant purchases over the years, so I'm assuming everyone else must too. Some things have been useful, some have just made me smile like a true petrolhead, and some have surprised me.
The list of things ranges from a few pence to £250, and each sticks in my mind as a good buy.
Anyone else got some good ideas?
Useful budget buy - A bottle of RainX on the windscreen (£4). Motorway driving in the rain without wipers is actually possible and I wouldn't be without it now, especially at night.
Cheapest memorable HP improvement - a couple of washers (5p) to space out the turbo wastegate actuator on a 1988 VR4 RS Mitsubishi increasing the boost noticably.
Relevant to me in New Zealand (but not sure if they work in the UK) - A uniden radar detector (£150). In rural areas, with lovely 'PH roads' everywhere and minimal traffic, it had a great detection range and hardly ever false alarmed. A true money saver as fines out there are hugely in excess of the standard UK £60 ticket.
Biggest PH grin factor - 2 lengths of straight through pipe with flanges welded on (£70) to temporarily replace the silencers on my Monaro just for fun. Raw V8 noise is something to behold
Biggest surprise - Dunlop wintersport tyres with 6mm tread (£250). I was such a sceptic (even living in Scotland and being a skiier), but after having them on for the past 2 months through snow, ice, and general freezing cold weather I am completely astounded. They turned the scary Volvo ice skating barge, into a Volvo Snowplough.
Practical purchase of the year - The only handsfree that actually seems to work... the Jawbone (£60). Road noise/ kids/ radio all cancelled out, and decent battery life.
5 years and still doing the job perfectly - TomTom One (£85). Does what it says on the tin, hasn't broken, and takes itn files easily. Enough said.
Nightime necessity - Osram Nightbreaker bulbs (£12) A pittance for long range, white headlight bulbs which are far superior to the standard ones for minimal difference in cost.
I know I have a list of things which have been brilliant purchases over the years, so I'm assuming everyone else must too. Some things have been useful, some have just made me smile like a true petrolhead, and some have surprised me.
The list of things ranges from a few pence to £250, and each sticks in my mind as a good buy.
Anyone else got some good ideas?
Useful budget buy - A bottle of RainX on the windscreen (£4). Motorway driving in the rain without wipers is actually possible and I wouldn't be without it now, especially at night.
Cheapest memorable HP improvement - a couple of washers (5p) to space out the turbo wastegate actuator on a 1988 VR4 RS Mitsubishi increasing the boost noticably.
Relevant to me in New Zealand (but not sure if they work in the UK) - A uniden radar detector (£150). In rural areas, with lovely 'PH roads' everywhere and minimal traffic, it had a great detection range and hardly ever false alarmed. A true money saver as fines out there are hugely in excess of the standard UK £60 ticket.
Biggest PH grin factor - 2 lengths of straight through pipe with flanges welded on (£70) to temporarily replace the silencers on my Monaro just for fun. Raw V8 noise is something to behold
Biggest surprise - Dunlop wintersport tyres with 6mm tread (£250). I was such a sceptic (even living in Scotland and being a skiier), but after having them on for the past 2 months through snow, ice, and general freezing cold weather I am completely astounded. They turned the scary Volvo ice skating barge, into a Volvo Snowplough.
Practical purchase of the year - The only handsfree that actually seems to work... the Jawbone (£60). Road noise/ kids/ radio all cancelled out, and decent battery life.
5 years and still doing the job perfectly - TomTom One (£85). Does what it says on the tin, hasn't broken, and takes itn files easily. Enough said.
Nightime necessity - Osram Nightbreaker bulbs (£12) A pittance for long range, white headlight bulbs which are far superior to the standard ones for minimal difference in cost.
kiwifraser said:
Useful budget buy - A bottle of RainX on the windscreen (£4). Motorway driving in the rain without wipers is actually possible and I wouldn't be without it now, especially at night.
Truely agree with this one. I think for me it has been some HID's (correctly alligned). Great light output and nice colour to them too.
Oh and some simple Fabreeze, works wonders.
Saved many a car from smelling of Dog 
Flexible head ratchet spanners - The first tool I reach for. Sometimes space is too tight to use them, but most of the time they make spannering a much quicker and less frustrating task. Can't believe I waited this long to spalsh out.
Android phone with Google navigation - Great system and instead of having to splash out on a Sat Nav or an expensive app, it was a free upgrade and has proved useful even to someone who likes to know where he's going.
Android phone with Google navigation - Great system and instead of having to splash out on a Sat Nav or an expensive app, it was a free upgrade and has proved useful even to someone who likes to know where he's going.
SaltyToe said:
kiwifraser said:
Useful budget buy - A bottle of RainX on the windscreen (£4). Motorway driving in the rain without wipers is actually possible and I wouldn't be without it now, especially at night.
Truely agree with this one. robsco said:
SaltyToe said:
kiwifraser said:
Useful budget buy - A bottle of RainX on the windscreen (£4). Motorway driving in the rain without wipers is actually possible and I wouldn't be without it now, especially at night.
Truely agree with this one. Only problem is with it, it doesn't really work once you get dirt on the windows and the dirt drys (for rear windows with no wiper mostly).
SaltyToe said:
Only problem is with it, it doesn't really work once you get dirt on the windows and the dirt drys (for rear windows with no wiper mostly).
I tried RainX on the rear window of my Passat (Saloon) just to try to get rid of the water/dew on the window as it drove me insane - one of the few things that I hated about the Passat.My best car purchase? Not recent, but I've got a Navman icn520 - ancient in comparison to other Sat Navs, but it's now got a proper version of Windows CE and TomTom and I no longer need any other SatNav (the one on my iPhone is near as useless anyway).
robsco said:
Whereas I can't abide the stuff; I find it awful to use, unless I'm doing something wrong. Autoglym Glass Polish is my preferred route, water runs off the windscreen like nobody's business!
I also wondered if that glass polish worked. I've got some tiny scratches/ marks that a hard to see past when driving towards morning/ evening low sun.
parapaul said:
I haven't got any ideas yet, but xmas 2010 saw the addition of a vortex socket set and a torque wrench to my toolbox. My family think I am slightly strange
I generally ask for tools too The best was unwrapping a petrol chainsaw from my inlaws a couple of christmases back
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