How does the BMW i3 handle in winter?

The new BMW i3 made its U.S. debut this past Spring, therefore many i3 owners are wondering how the electric-vehicle will handle in the snowy winters of the Midwest or Northeast. Since European customers received their first i3 models this past winter, we set to look for a report that outlines the winter experience aboard the BMW i3.

Meet this i3 owner from Sweden who spent a few months of heavy winters with his BMW electric car. He begins to outline his experience by starting with some of the i3 features that makes it an acceptable winter car, such as the built-in heat pump, insulated heated batteries and functionality to set heating preset times or start it immediately through an app. He also mentions the good traction control system.

BMW i3 has a heat pump as standard for all cars sold in Sweden but it’s available only the BEV model – fully electric. The REx models do no have a place for the heat pump due to that space being used by the fuel tank and the little combustion engine.

Heat Pump

A heat pump reduces energy about 30% and since the display says that the interior heating consumes about 12 km during a charge cycle the heat pump should be able to increase the range 5-10 km.

Insulated Battery

To protect the battery from the extreme cold temperatures, sometimes seen in the Midwest or Northeast, BMW has insulated batteries on the i3 and heats them to get the optimal energy. The insulation also helps in the summer when it cools down the batteries.

But despite all the insulation, temperatures affect the range of electric cars. Low temperatures require cabin heating which requires more energy spent and therefore a lower driving range. The Nordic i3 owner says with the car in comfort mode, heat on and a normal driving you can expect in winter time 80 – 100 km drive on a single charge (20 – 25 kWh / 100 km).

“But BMW says that one should be able to go 130-160 km on single charge – is that not true?,” says the owner. “Well, my experience is that if you turn off the heat and drive really carefully you can without difficulty drive at 12 kWh / 100km. But then it is neither convenient nor fun.”

Traction in the snow

With an impressive 1000 km of winter driving, the i3 owners came out to be impressed with the i3’s handling and traction.

“A rear wheel drive with tremendous torque should be difficult to drive but it is not. The traction control system works well. It slips a little bit in the back at times but never so that it is unpleasant.”

But he encountered some issues strong crosswinds which are noticeable in the car, we suspect due to the fairly low weight of the i3.

In the next few months, we will learn more from the U.S. i3 owners about the winter driving, as well as from our own BMW i3.

By: Unknown On 12:30

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Beating The Winter Blues

Maintaining your car for the punishing UK winter is vital. Grit, salt, and plummeting temperatures play havoc. The first step is checking antifreeze. Carry out a radiator flush before winter to ensure the system is free of cloggy deposits. Then make sure the mixture is around 50% water, 50% antifreeze, and the volume is correct. A squealing noise on start-up is a warning the water pump is frozen.

Secondly, check tyres. Look for depth of tread; you need about an eighth of an inch minimum. Check pressure too. Your pressures might drop in cold snaps; pressure and temperature are linked. Be ready to top pressures up. However, some people choose to drive with a little less pressure, saying there’s more grip. At temperatures below 7°C, winter tyres offer additional, significantly better grip, but they cost around £500.

Ensure windscreen wipers are clean, wipe evenly, and don’t smear. Smearing is worse in winter and refracts light and interior condensation, confusing you regarding distance and speed of other drivers. If in doubt, replace the wipers, and check the windscreen washer fluid. Use less water than in summer, as a 90% water mix won’t shift ice. Screen washes vary, so make sure yours works to at least -10°C.

Clean and check the battery, wipe off corrosion with a wire brush and ensure contacts are clean. Minimising the load, by switching off unnecessary devices like unused heated rear seats will prolong battery life too. During February 2012, the RAC went to more than 50,000 battery-related call-outs.

Batteries run on chemicals, and chemical reactions are slower in winter. Your battery could be up to a third less effective in cold temperatures. Maintaining sufficient charge is crucial. A low charge battery could actually freeze.

It’s crucial to check lights too. Make sure all bulbs are bright; replace any faulty ones. Keep the lenses clean, check the fog lights are working before you set off.

Use lighter oil in winter. Viscosity rises with temperature, so when you start the car on chilly days, the oil inside is thick and glutinous. This can blow seals and break crucial components. To avoid this, check your manufacturer’s guide and fill with a suitable light oil.

If you are looking for a used alternative to see you through the winter months, Hertz Rent2Buy has a good range of cars available, capable of seeing you through the coldest winters. These vary from small runabouts to people carriers and vans.

By: Unknown On 10:30

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10 perfect cars for winter driving

Normal winter driving tips usually talk about putting winter tyres on as soon as the temperature drops below seven degrees centigrade and leaving plenty of time for your journeys.

That’s all good advice, but what if you just fancy buying a new car and the only way to justify it to the rest of your family is to tell them it’ll make for safer travel over the winter months? Don’t worry, we’re on your side. There’s always room for a new car on the drive…

Here are carwow’s top winter cars – and there’s something for every budget and mentality, from the sensible to the rather silly. Let’s get stuck in. 

Best for people in a hurry: Ford Fiesta

The Ford Fiesta is perhaps not the first car you’d think of if you’re in a rush (unless it’s maybe the brilliant ST version). But bear with us – if you can spare a second. One of the frustrating aspects of winter driving is having to scrape away the thick frost that builds up on the windows overnight. It takes ages to remove, and you’ll probably ruin another loyalty card – or worse still, your own knuckles – in the process.

Thanks to Ford’s ‘Quickclear’ windscreen, much of the time-consuming hassle can be removed. Identical in principle to heated rear windows, you just flick a switch, and in a matter of seconds, hey presto! The frost has gone, and you can be on your merry way far sooner than you would otherwise.

The heating elements running through the windscreen are tiny, so they don’t obstruct your forward vision. This handy feature is available on almost any Ford, save for the Ka and the most basic Fiesta and Focus models.

Best for winter driving on a budget: Dacia Duster

There’s a whole range of bargain off roaders on the market these days. Cars like the Skoda Yeti and Fiat Panda 4×4 are very capable thanks to their four-wheel drive systems, but our pick of the bunch is the Dacia Duster.

It’s so hard to overlook the value though. Prices start at just £9,495, which makes the Duster the cheapest off-roader on sale in the UK. Sure, compared to some rivals it makes one or two sacrifices, including a cabin that lacks the slightest hint of style. But it looks nice and rugged on the outside, it’s decent – if not class-leading – to drive, and the 1.5-litre diesel engine is more than adequate.

You won’t win any points with the family, but it’s so cheap you could probably afford to just keep it in the garage for those slippery days…

Best for remaining un-stuck: Skoda Citigo

Contrary to what many believe, one of the best ways to make it through the snow is in a car with a low kerb weight, skinny tyres, and a modest amount of power driving the front wheels. If you’ve ever seen a Citroen 2CV happily toddle about through a snow drift while everyone else struggles for traction, you’ll have an idea of what we’re talking about.

We appreciate that many of you will find the little old French ‘tin snail’ somewhat slow and unrefined by modern standards, but the excellent Skoda Citigo shares many similar principles. Weighing in at a featherweight 929kg, the narrow tyres help it to cut through the soft snow onto the grippier tarmac below.

Meanwhile, when pleasant weather breaks out during the other weeks of the year, you’ll have an extremely well-rounded city car; one that is is economical, well-built and fun to drive. If the Skoda badge isn’t your thing, the Seat Mii and Volkswagen Up! are pretty much identical machines.

Best for keeping your neck warm: Mercedes Benz E-Class Cabriolet

A cabriolet car for the winter? No, we haven’t lost leave of our senses. We Brits love our cabriolets – we buy more than the French, Italian and the Spanish, despite our generally miserable weather.

The second the sun pops out, the roofs are down, even if it is minus five outside. That’s where Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet, equipped with the’ brilliant ‘Airscarf’ system sweeps in to rescue our cold ears. An air vent neatly tucked into the seat back blows a warm draft around your shoulders and neck, keeping you nice and toasty even in the most baltic of British winters.

If you’d rather something a little more sporty looking, the same system is available on the Mercedes SLK, too. Also, recent research has shown that winter is the cheapest time of year to buy a convertible (surprise!), so you could be quids in if you turn up at a carwow dealer on Christmas Eve…

Best for those who like to see where they’re going: Audi R8 LMX

With the cold winter months come longer nights, making a good set of lights vitally important. Help is on the way in the sleek shape of the Audi R8 LMX. It is the first car on sale in the UK to feature laser headlights as standard.

They offer a truly fantastic depth of field, illuminating the road up to twice as far as LED headlights are able to, and six times farther than your bog-standard halogen bulb. The LMX also features software which, via a front mounted camera, recognises oncoming traffic and adjusts the beam accordingly to reduce dazzle.

If the fact that you can tell your mates that your car has frickin’ lasers still isn’t enough, then perhaps the 5.2-litre V10 may be enough to sway you? The monster 562hp it produces is transferred to the road via all four wheels, too, so the R8 LMX really is the ultimate winter supercar.

If the R8 isn’t your thing, then laser lights are also available as an option on the stunning BMW i8, which isn’t quite as quick, but offers spectacular fuel economy figures thanks to its hybrid powertrain.

Best for affordable winter performance: Audi TT

Is the R8 just a little too pricey? Then perhaps its baby brother might be for you. The TT still features Audi’s renowned quattro four-wheel-drive system on some models, and although the LED headlights aren’t quite up to the level of the LMX’s lasers, they still do a brilliant job of lighting the road ahead, allowing you to distinguish between snowman and snow-covered man with ease.

You have a choice of strong diesel or petrol engines – topping out at the seriously rapid 306hp TTS – and you’ll get what is undoubtedly one of the finest automotive interiors money can buy. Just remember that four-wheel-drive systems don’t help you slow down any faster in the snow.

Best for warming bums and hands: Kia Cee’d

Getting up for work on a freezing cold morning is only slightly preferable to having cattle released into your living room.

Forcing yourself to trudge outside when you’d rather just hibernate in a nice warm bed takes considerable willpower, so anything else that can offer that feeling of warmth during your commute will always be welcome.

The Kia Cee’d, in the top-spec ‘4’ and ‘4 Tech’ models, comes equipped not only with heated seats, but a heated steering wheel too. It isn’t quite a substitute for a thick duvet, but at least you wont have to wrap up like Sir Ranulph Fiennes just to hop in your car.

Best for those with clumsy neighbours: Citroen C4 Cactus

It may be considered slightly odd that one of our top ten winter choices is a car named after a plant evolved to survive in hot, dry weather, but the Citroen C4 Cactus does have its wintry blessings.

Those quirky ‘Airbump’ panels on the side of the Cactus not only look cool, but can withstand small bumps and dings without damaging any of the precious paintwork. So, if someone is clumsy with a car door when they’re in a hurry to escape the cold, they slip and crash their shopping trolley into your car, or even drift on some black ice and bump their car into you at a gentle speed, the Cactus is more than likely going to escape largely unscathed.

The Citroen is both practical and great value for a car of its size, too, so there is much else to recommend besides its squidgy exterior.

Best for doing all of the sensible stuff: Nissan Qashqai

Sometimes it’s just nice to appreciate the basics that will take the stress out of winter driving, and that is where the Nissan Qashqai comes in. With optional four-wheel drive, an elevated driving position, excellent reliability and top safety marks, Nissan’s popular crossover would be a perfect companion for the long, dark winter nights.

Given the fact that the rest of the year round you’ll be left with a practical family hatchback that is cheap to run and pleasant enough to drive, it is easy to see why the Qashqai is consistently one of the strongest selling cars in the UK.

Best for everything else: Range Rover

Put simply, the latest Range Rover is the perfect machine for winter driving. Not only is it staggeringly capable whether being driven on road, off road, in poor weather or while wading through up to 90cm of water, but it comes equipped as standard with a heap of winter-repelling goodies.

A heated leather steering wheel, heated windscreen, heated door mirrors, heated windscreen wipers (which ‘park’ away from screen when not in use to prevent freezing to the glass), and heated seats all round are available on the Rangie. Thanks to the beautiful, comfortable cabin, and a fantastic Meridian hi-fi system, you’ll even be able to keep yourself relaxed and entertained if you’re stuck in a two-hour traffic jam induced by a mild covering of sleet.

Save money this winter

If you need to change your car this winter but don’t want the hassle that’s usually involved, then use the carwow configurator to get dealers to send you their best offers on new cars – and you can do it from in front of the fire. You might save a pretty penny too, so there’s no excuse for giving the kids a lump of coal for Christmas…

By: Unknown On 13:00

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The top 9 causes of auto breakdown in the winter

While ice, snow and conditions both soggy and cold are the worst possible circumstances for a breakdown, winter means a higher incidence of car trouble. More drivers find themselves stuck by the side of the road with an ailing auto between the months of October and February than any other time of the year. Winter- related breakdown causes a rise in roadside assistance programmes, like breakdown cover from the AA. Whether you are likely to call the pros for help or fix the underlying problem yourself, its best to be prepared for the very real possibilities of car trouble this winter. We’ll discuss the most common causes for immobile auto-mobiles, as well as some less frequently seen concerns.

Battery issues are the leading cars of winter car trouble, year in and year out. Nearly half of all breakdowns result from battery problems. By having your battery routinely checked (a free service in many parts of the world), you can make this difficulty much less likely to emerge at the worst possible time.

Minor accidents and fender benders are the second most common cause of finding oneself suddenly stranded on the road. This is true in the winter because conditions are more dangerous for driving. If you routinely experience ice and snow, or simply anticipate roads that are often wet, make sure you are prepared to drive in these conditions like these can be surprised by them suddenly, resulting in more accidents because people don’t know how to handle the conditions.

The third most common cause is blown out tyres. Keep your tires filled and replace them as necessary. See that your tyre is fit for the conditions you drive upon. Properly maintained, tyres last longer and perform much better than tyres that are improperly filled or are created for different road surfaces than they are commonly driven on.

The next most common breakdown causes are not as immediately obvious as the previous three. Electrical, mechanical, drive and cooling systems are the site of multitude of potential problems. By personally maintaining your car, or hiring a professional to do it for you, you can eliminate many issues before they turn into crises on the road. Sudden system failures can be very dangerous, especially when moving at a high speed. In this way, maintenance pays in the useable life of your vehicle, in damage and insurance costs, and in your own health and health of others. Don’t let a lurking systemic problem leave you broken down on the side of the road this winter.

The 8^th and 9^th most common causes for roadside breakdown and easily avoided, but common nonetheless. Locking the keys inside the car and running out of gas are a sudden inconvenience to thousands of drivers every year. It has happened to all of us, and the solution is simple. If you have trouble keeping up with these, leave reminders for yourself or develop some other system.

While other breakdown causes come up from time to time, these are the most statistically likely. For those of us without exhaustive mechanical knowledgeable, roadside assistance services bring peace of mind on the road. On top of this, regular maintenance and the exercise of common sense can make a big difference in keeping you on the road without trouble most or all of the time. We wish you safely and reliability on the road this winter.

By: Unknown On 11:30

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The cold is starting to creep in

Hello all, 

With the cold starting to creep in, scraping the ice off our car windscreen’s and windows is inevitable.

Nobody likes having to wake-up and leave the house ten minutes early to clear their screens of ice and we've heard of so many different ways of preventing ice form forming. From things like covering the windscreen with towels, using spray to stop ice forming to throwing hot water over the car in the morning to melt the ice.

Now, we want to know what you do to stop ice from forming or the quickest way to get rid of it? Drop us a comment below and let us know your tricks! 

By: Unknown On 15:15

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