How to prepare your car for winter

Rain, snow, ice, fog… in winter, weather conditions make the roads dangerous and there is also less light. That is why it's important to properly prepare equipment before facing the bad weather.

When we're preparing a vehicle for winter, we often think more about wheels than lights. Yet powerful and good quality lighting is essential to better anticipating hazards. The key to safety is reaction speed: designed for optimal visibility and performance, Philips X-tremeVision vehicle lights allow driver reaction times to be reduced by two seconds. 130% brighter than the competition (with a color temperature that can reach 3700K), these are the most powerful lights on the market. Their light beams can reach 130 meters, which is 45 meters more than standard lights.

As a reminder, it is dipped headlights that are most frequently used in bad weather, in snowfall, rain or even fog (with the fog lights in addition or instead).

And so you can be better prepared:

Winter checklist

If you're driving during winter, you should check certain things before you set off.

1. Lighting: replace faulty bulbs, clean your lights and check adjustments

2. Battery status: your battery is put under heavy demand in winter because it is used to power the lights, the electric defroster, the headlights and the heating. This means that its effectiveness can fall by a third at temperatures below 0°C

3. Levels: check your oil level and fill the reservoir between the two notches on the dipstick without exceeding the maximum; check the level of engine coolant liquid when the engine is cold; and add antifreeze to the windscreen washer fluid

4. Tyre pressure (including the spare tyre): it is recommended that you increase the normal usage pressure by 0.2 to 0.3 bar when the external temperature is low

5. Tyre wear: check the tread depth using a depth gauge. It should be at least 1.6 mm over the entire circumference of the tyre

6. The heating system: check the liquid refrigerant level in the air conditioning, and replace the liquid every three years (to be carried out by a mechanic). Check the condition of the cabin air filter and the receiver/drier

7. Wiper blades: they must be clean. Check the condition of the rubber too.

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